6 Aug
2018
6 Aug
'18
8:48 a.m.
[Moved from TUHS to COFF]
On 2018-Aug-02 08:44:56 -0400, Doug McIlroy <doug(a)cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
My collection of early computer manuals includes Brinch
Hansen's manual
for the RC 4000, which stands out for its precise description of the
CPU logic--in Algol 60! It's the only manual I have seen that offers a
good-to-the-last-bit formal description of the hardware.
The book "A Programming Language" by Kenneth Iverson included a formal
description of the IBM 7090 in Iverson Notation (now APL). I believe that
is the first formal description of any computer. The success of that led
IBM to include a formal description of the System/360 architecture in the
IBM Systems Journal issue introducing the S/360.
I've been told that IBM has since regretted that decision since it opened
the way for other manufacturers to clone the S/360.
--
Peter Jeremy