11 Nov
2020
11 Nov
'20
2:31 p.m.
On 2020-Nov-06 10:07:21 -0500, Clem Cole <clemc(a)ccc.com> wrote:
Will, I do still the same thing, but the reason for 72
for email being that
way is still card-based. In FORTRAN the first column defines if the card
is new (a blank), a comment (a capital C), no zero a 'continuation' of the
last card. But column 73-80 were 'special' and used to store sequence #s
(this was handy when you dropped your card deck, card sorters could put it
back into canonical order).
Since no-one has mentioned it, the reason why Fortran and Cobol ignore
columns 73-80 goes back to the IBM 711 card reader - which could read any
(but usually configured for the first) 72 columns into pairs of 36-bit words
in an IBM 701.
--
Peter Jeremy
11 Nov
11 Nov
6:21 p.m.
New subject: The Elements Of Style: UNIX As Literature
Peter Jeremy via COFF <coff(a)minnie.tuhs.org> writes:
Since no-one has mentioned it, the reason why Fortran
and Cobol ignore
columns 73-80 goes back to the IBM 711 card reader - which could read any
(but usually configured for the first) 72 columns into pairs of 36-bit words
in an IBM 701.
...and for those who, like me, did a double-take on that, thinking "WTF?
That would mean it read *rows* of bits from the card into machine words!",
I checked, and yes, that's exactly what it did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card_input/output#Binary_format
-tih (who learned FORTRAN using punched cards on a UNIVAC)
--
Most people who graduate with CS degrees don't understand the significance
of Lisp. Lisp is the most important idea in computer science. --Alan Kay
12 Nov
12 Nov
3:09 a.m.
New subject: The Elements Of Style: UNIX As Literature
On Wed, 11 Nov 2020, Peter Jeremy via COFF wrote:
Since no-one has mentioned it, the reason why Fortran
and Cobol ignore
columns 73-80 goes back to the IBM 711 card reader - which could read
any (but usually configured for the first) 72 columns into pairs of
36-bit words in an IBM 701.
I'll be damned... So obvious when it's pointed out!
-- Dave
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Dave Horsfall -
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Tom Ivar Helbekkmo