IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System: Difference between revisions

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{{about|The IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System | The IBM 1620 Symbolic Programming System | IBM 1620#Software}}

The IBM Symbolic Programming System (SPS) [[assembly language#Assembler|assembler]] was developed by IBM field engineers as an alternative to the use of [[machine code]] for the [[IBM 1401]] computer, the first of the [[IBM 1400 series]]. One source indicates that "This programming system was announced by IBM with the machine." [http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/1401.html 1401 History]. A similar assembler having the same name was also used for the [[IBM 1620]], the inexpensive scientific computer released in the same period as the 1401. As the 1400 series matured it [http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/ibm-1401.html aquired additonal memory] (first to 4000, then to 16000 characters from the initial 1400 characters) and SPS [http://web.archive.org/web/20031215144652/os390-mvs.hypermart.net/mvs360.htm evolved into] the "[[Autocoder]]" language supported by the later 1401's.

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The '''IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System''' ('''SPS''') was an [[assembly language#Assembler|assembler]] that was developed by [[Gary Mokotoff]], IBM Applied Programming Department, for the [[IBM 1401]] computer, the first of the [[IBM 1400 series]]. One source indicates that "This programming system was announced by IBM with the machine."<ref>[https://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/1401.html 1401 History]</ref>

SPS-1 could run on a low-end machine with 1.4K memory, SPS-2 required at least 4K memory.

Both Autocoder and SPS were [[assembly language]]s using [[mnemonic]]s as a substitute for programming directly in [[machine code|machine language]]. As such they were among the earliest non machine language programming tools. An [http://1401.org/op-codes/ example] of the 1401 mnemonic operation codes is preserved at [http://1401.org/ 1401.org].

:SPS-1 punched one card for each input instruction in its first pass and this deck had to be read during pass 2. At the University of Chicago and many other locations, SPS-1 was replaced by assemblers taking advantage of the commonly available 4K memory configuration to pack the output of pass one into several instructions per card. Other assemblers were written which placed the pass one output into memory for small programs.

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As the 1400 series matured additional assemblers, programming languages and report generators became available, replacing SPS in most sites.

==See also==

* [[Autocoder]]

* [[FARGO (programming language)]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100711134752/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/140x/C24-1480-0_1401symbPgmSys.pdf IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming Systems: SPS-1 and SPS-2, C20-1480-0]

*"''[http://www.multicians.org/thvv/1401s.html 1401s I have known]''" by [[Tom Van Vleck]] includes a description of an operating environment including both early,1401 SPS, and later Autocoder 1401 machines.

*An Encyclopedia of Computer Languages article entitled "[http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/showlanguage2.prx?exp=3872 Autocoder III]" preserves information from the 1961 announcement of Autocoder programming capabilities for the expanded, 4,000 positions of core memory, IBM 1401.

*{{Citation|title=Gary Mokotoff Collection of IBM 1401 Program Listings, 1959-1961|url=http://discover.lib.umn.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=umfa;cc=umfa;rgn=main;view=text;didno=cbi00093}}

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[[Category:Assembly languages]]

[[Category:IBM software|1401 Symbolic Programming System]]

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