[author : Marlin Ouverson] #Edito
Extract : « [...] If this year’s Faire is a valid indicator, and I believe it is, then all the prophecies of the original homebraumeisters, of the ComputerTown, USA! folks and of others involved in computer literacy, are coming true. It appears the circle of microcomputerists is opening outward to include not only technicians and hobbyists, but result-oriented application-minded laymen as well. »
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[author : Jonathan Mills] #Listing #Assembly #Programming
Extract : « In this article, which may be the first in a series, you will find a major piece of software and a new central processing unit (CPU) card described. The first installment of the software source listing is offered.
Although most magazines publish software tid-bits, large software packages are seldom seen. Exceptions exist. Dr. Dobb’s several version of Tiny BASIC are notable.
This condition exists for several reasons. First, relatively few hobbyists write complex systems software. Most computer enthusiasts today expect to find the systems software as a reliable part of the package. Next, those who do write this type of software intend to sell it. I am no stranger to these motives, but have another one, too. Some form of low-cost development tool is needed to get the 16-bit hobbyist market off the ground. I hope that XASM-86 will become that tool. Finally, large complex software tends to be difficult to design and debug. A commitment to completion and unflagging enthusiasm are sine qua non software!
XASM-86 bridges the gap between the popular 8080/Z80 and the powerful new 8086. XASM-86 will run on an 8080 or Z80 CPU, but since it is a cross-assembler, it will generate object code for any 8086 or 8088 processor. XASM-86 is fast, efficient, and innovative. Techniques used in compiler design have been applied to create a reliable, state-of-the-art program. The source listing is fully documented. It requires over 500,000 bytes on disk, and lists on almost 200 pages [...] »
[author : Susan Sonderstrup and Mogens Pelle] #Listing #Languages #Programming #BASIC #COMAL
Extract : « [...] As described above, COMAL-80 appears as an improvement of BASIC. The most important aspect is that it works as an interpreter. Among the many important reasons for this, you will find that program errors can be dealt with very efficiently. [...]
That is why COMAL-80 offers the programmer a chance to work as if it was the good old BASIC, and slowly move to the expanded facilities when the need occurs. Not only can one still be a BASIC-freak and run COMAL-80, but even the valuable programs already made in BASIC can run in COMAL-80. [...] »
[author : William B. Brogden] #Method #Software #Programming
Extract : « The Problem
It seems to me that a great obstacle to better programming is the lack of an editor that is as well adapted to its purpose as VisiCalc is adapted to calculation in rows and columns. We are writing programs, essentially, in the order and style required by a compiler or interpreter, not that best adapted to thinking about programs. This is, I think, the root of many objections to Pascal and FORTH (for instance DDJ #48, #51 letters.)
The order in which the programs have to be written does not seem to suit the way in which people think about programming. I don’t propose to change the way the languages work, but the way we edit programs. If you will bear with me for a little hand waving, perhaps I can explain what I mean. [...] »
[author : Jim Scott] #Listing #Assembly #Encoding
Extract : « For almost three years after I got my H8 computer I put up with the increasingly frustrating vicissitudes of cassette I/O. During this time I built up a large collection of tape files: assembler source, Tiny Pascal source, and general data, as well as BASIC source and "memory image" (load-execute) files. When I finally bought two disk drives and CP/M, I wanted to be able to transfer some of these files to disk without having to key them in by hand.
I wrote the TAPECOPY program, whose source is included here, to do this job for me. In planning the program, I realized that I really only needed to convert files which had been created by the Text Editor (TED-8). This included assembler source, Pascal source, and data files. Converting BASIC source and memory image files involves special problems, and I did not feel that I needed this capability. [...] »
[author : William A. Gale] #Listing #Assembly #OperatingSystem
Extract : « How can we describe the machine-dependent parts of a portable system? I’ve been working on a portable operating system which now includes a small editor, a small compiler, and a compiler generator based on MetaII. But they all rest on file input and output which is very machine-dependent. This is an attempt to specify a simple file system that I hope I can replicate on my next computer. It works on my current Apple II and has supported further development of a single user bootstrap operating system.
This "tiny" file system is to a complete file system as tiny BASIC is to BASIC. That is, it is severly truncated. Space allocation is sequential, which is too simple for a complete file system. Directory maintenance, along with file entry and removal, rest entirely in human hands. However, these minimal files can be used to implement a more elaborate file system which need not see the machine dependencies of this tiny file system. [...] »
#Book
Extract : « Computer Consciousness: Surviving the Automated 80’s By H. Dominic Covvey/Neil Harding McAlister Published by Addison-Wesley Publ. Co. $5.95, 212 pages [...]
The MC6809 Cookbook By Carl D. Warren Published by TAB $6.95, 176 pages [...]
Microcomputer Interfacing Handbook A/D & D/A By Joseph J. Carr Published by TAB $8.95, 350 pages [...] »
[author : Bert Smart]
#Experience
Extract : « This is the second appearance of Dr. Dobb 's Clinic, which is a place for the display of techniques, discoveries, and pitfalls. We want to cover any sort of method or trick you’ve found in your exploration of any sort of personal computer software. The Clinic is the place to expose errors in published documentation, to warn others away from pitfalls, and above all to show off those eureka! moments that make systems work so rewarding.
The first Clinic used up all the material we had on hand. We scrambled to find some more for this one (and it’s pretty thin, too). The Clinic needs material, or it will have to be dropped. Where will that material come from? From you, the readers, or not at all. The requirements are very simple, much easier than those for an article.
Write to us. Describe your discovery or technique in a couple of pages, in any format you like so long as we can read it. Don’t worry about being "literary." Don’t bother with a tutorial introduction for the novice reader; this isn’t a column for novices. Do include a daytime phone number so that if we have questions we can call you.
Special note to OEMs: if you have any interesting application notes or user tips that you feel deserve wider circulation, send them to the Clinic. If they’re of general interest, we can use them. [...] »
[author : Dave Cortesi] #Event #Book #Software
Extract : « One Fantastic Weekend [...] PACIFICON, the Seventh Annual Wargaming Convention. [...]
The Spring Lists
The major publishers are out with their spring lists, and several titles are worth noting. [...]
Addison-Wesley has released the second edition of Donald Knuth’s Seminumerical Algorithms, Volume 2 of that author’s Art of Computer Programming. [...]
McGraw-Hill has Digital Harmony by John Whitney [...]
The same publisher has what sounds like a gem: The Devil’s DP Dictionary by Stan Kelly-Bootle [...]
Osborne McGraw-Hill has released the Apple II User’s Guide by Poole, McNiff, and Cook ($15), and claim it is "the definitive guide to the Apple II and Apple II Plus computers." [...]
Osborne has also brought out 6809 Assembly Language Programming by Leventhal ($17) [...]
A Mainframe Item [...] large libraries of FORTRAN subroutines. IMSL, Inc. [...]
A FORTRAN Daisy-Driver [...]
A FORTH for OSI [...]
Bisynch for Oasis [...]
Two for the North Star (BASIC compiler and word processing system) [...]
Bargains for CP/M (programs) [...]
TRS-80 Secure from Prying Eyes [...]
...Gets Analog Input [...]
...Goes on the Air [...]
... With Either of Two Modems [...]
Boards for the SS-50 Bus [...] »