[SCC_Active_Members] Agenda for 8/25/04 SCC

[Gio Wiederhold]

Software folks,
    I found some documentation for the Student Fortran compiler
written and used at UC Berkeley from 1962 to about 1967, when UC's
Computer Cemter switched from IBM equipment (7090) to a CDC 6400.
That compiler was structually different from the optimizing multi-pass
compilers available then, which were too slow to allow teaching of
Fortran to larger classes.
    By limiting program size, the compiler could stay in memory and
pass sequences of programs through without having to be reloaded.
    Two unusual system adaptations at UC Berkeley's Computer Center
supported the scheme: A double memory (64K), although the memories 
were not directly addressable from each other, because of the 15-bit
address limitations in the IBM architecture, and a front-end 1401 with
a `large' 1405 disk which allowed collecting the student programs into
batches for processing.  

     Is that material of interest to you? The software was also
submitted to public use as part of the Share library, under the name
$tudent, but I don't know what happened to that.

Gio


/Gio Wiederhold/
http://www-db.stanford.edu/people/gio.html