Re: OpenVMS system programming language

On 12/19/2024 01:56, David Meyer wrote:

Does VSI have a preferred or official language for system programming
for OpenVMS?
 I know system programming for VAX/VMS was done in MACRO-32 and BLISS-32,
and at least some system programs were written in C when Alpha was
introduced.
 VSI has the BLISS reference manual on the Legacy shelf.
 Have all the MACRO and BLISS programs been ported to C or C++, or will
they be in the future?

About 40% of the operating system is now written in C, 30% in both MACRO-21 and BLISS.
Work was done in the mid-90's to make it easier to write kernel mode code in C;
most of the MACRO-only JSB interfaces were jacketed with the ability to call them from C.
As a result, the "Writing OpenVMS Alpha Device Drivers in C" book (Szubowicz, Sherlock)
describes some of those changes.
--
-- Rob