Re: The joy of FORTRAN

John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> wrote:

On Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:06:25 GMT
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:
 

From what I've seen of the PDP-10, the VAX-11 instruction set
was superior.   I'm sure the PDP-10 folks will disagree, but
simply thinking about character handling on the PDP-10 gives one
a headache.

 
Now, for *real* fun, try the PDP-8, where you don't even have a
subtract instruction...!
 
(Truthfully, I kind of enjoy it - it has a very ultra-minimalist
tinkerer feel, like working on an oldschool single-cylinder lawnmower
or a classic VW. But goodness does it make you *think* about how to
synthesize a bunch of things we take for granted on pretty much *any*
other architecture...)
 
 

I never liked the -8, although to be truthful I only did a small amount of
assembler. Minimalist is good, but (IIRC) it had too many quirks for me.

--
Pete