Saturday, December 13, 2008

Burroughs 205 Programming Languages

Bob Kubic's note below made me think that I should add a page to the Datatron site about the various languages that we used to program the 205. If anyone has suggested additions to this list, please add a comment to this post or e-mail me with them.

I'll be working on this over the next couple of weeks along with a page that features the package design so well-illustrated by Bob's photos.

205 programming languages that I am aware of include:
  • Machine Language
  • Shell Symbolic Assembly Program (Shell Oil)
  • The Burroughs Algebraic Compiler for the 205 (Don Knuth)
  • Datacode 1 (Saul Rosen)
  • Dumbo (Bob Kubic)
  • Machine Language Simulator (Tom Sawyer)
That last one was my own contribution, utilized at the University of Portland for student programs.
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3 comments:

  1. The ElderlyJune 6, 2011 at 11:03 PM

    You surely haven't forgotten Fortocom. My recollection is that it resembled Fortran. Unfortunately, Fortocom didn't work and therefore perhaps does not deserve to be in the list.

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  2. T J SawyerJune 6, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    I can't believe that I didn't include FORTOCOM on this post! I did include it on the Programming Languages Page over on my main Datatron site:

    http://tjsawyer.com/B205Lang.htm

    I am unclear on whether it ever worked at all since the developers used it and successfully sold a Datatron to Philips based on it.

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  3. The ElderlyJune 9, 2011 at 11:41 PM

    I can just about see that Machine Language Simulator now. Chunk, chunk, chunk, pulling cards through the card ready. Compute for a few seconds, spin the loop of paper tape, jerk the tape drive around a little and start over. Pretty cool in a primitive sort of way.

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