The iAPX 432 and block languages (was Re: RTX-2000 processor PC/AT add-in card (any takers?))

[Sean Conner]

It was thus said that the Great Eric Smith via cctalk once stated:
> 
> The Intel iAPX 432 was also designed to explicitly support block-structured
> languages. The main language Intel pushed was Ada, but there was no
> technical reason it couldn't have supported Algol, Pascal, Modula, Euclid,
> Mesa, etc. just as well. (Or just as poorly, depending on your point of
> view.)
> 
> The iAPX 432 could not have supported standard C, though, except in the
> sense that since the 432 GDP was Turing-complete, code running on it could
> provide an emulated environment suitable for standard C.

  What about C made it difficult for the 432 to run?  

  -spc (Curious here, as some aspects of the 432 made their way to the 286
	and we all know what happened to that architecture ... )