Autocoder: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Computer assembler}}

{{about|the IBM Autocoder assemblers|the generic term used in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s for a family of "simplified coding systems"|Autocode}}

{{Distinguish|Autoencoder}}

{{aboutAbout|the IBM Autocoder assemblers|the generic term used in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s for a family of "simplified coding systems"|Autocode}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020|cs1-dates=y}}

'''Autocoder''' is any of a group of [[assembly language|assembler]]s for a number of [[IBM]] [[computer]]s of the 1950s and 1960s.

The first Autocoders appear to have been the earliest assemblers to provide a [[Macro (computer science)|macro]] facility.<ref>Solomon 1993, p. 8.</ref>

==Terminology==

Both ''autocoder'', and the unrelated ''[[autocode]]'', a term of the same era used in the [[UK]] for languages of a higher level, derive from the phrase ''[[automatic programming|automatic coding]]''. This referred generally to programs which eased the burden of producing the numeric [[machine language]] codes of programs.<ref>Hopper 1955.</ref> ("Autocoding" is seen occasionally, and can refer to any kind of programming system.) In some circles "autocoder" could be used in a rather generic waygenerically to refer to what is now called a macro-assembler.<ref>For an example see Allen 1981, p. 540.</ref>

==History==

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| publisher= IBM Corporation

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/705/22-6726-1_autocoder_Feb57.pdf

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| publisher = IBM Corporation

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| publisher = IBM Corporation

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1410/C28-0326-2_1410_OS_Autocoder.pdf

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| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/7070/C28-6102-1_7070_Four_Tape_Autocoder_Apr61.pdf

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<ref>{{cite manual

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[[IBM 7080]],

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and the [[IBM 1400 series]].<ref>7010: Weik 1964, p. 0160; 7030:{{cite web

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}}; 7080: [http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/052/ibmsj0502B.pdf]; 1400 series: [https://web.archive.org/web/20100820215557/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/dpd50/dpd50_chronology2.html], {{cite book

| title = 1410 Autocoder

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1410/C28-0309-1_1410_autocoder.pdf

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==Autocoder as implemented on the IBM 1401==

[[Symbolic Programming System]]<ref>{{cite manual

| title = IBM 1401 SYMBOLIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM: PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS

| mode id = cs2J28-200-1

| format year = PDF1960

| publisher = IBM

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1401/J28-200-1_IBM_1401_Symbolic_Programming_System_Preliminary_Specifications_Jan60.pdf

| format mode = PDFcs2

}}

</ref> (SPS), was the assembler offered when theIBM originally announced [[IBM 1401|1401]] originally was announced as a punched-card-only computer. SPS had different mnemonics and a different fixed input format from Autocoder. It lacked Autocoder's features and was generally used later only on machines that lacked tape drives, that is, (punched-card only).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thelen |first1=Ed |title=IBM-1401 |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/ibm-1401.html |accessdate=Mar 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name=THVV>{{cite web |last1=Van Vleck |first1=Tom |title=1401s I have known |url=https://www.multicians.org/thvv/1401s.html |website=multicians.org |accessdate=Mar 5, 2020}}</ref> Autocoder also had the ability to process code written for SPS. A copy of the source programs for SPS-1, SPS-2 and Autocoder was donated to the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota in 1985, by [[Gary Mokotoff]], author of SPS and coauthor of Autocoder.<ref>{{Citation|title=Gary Mokotoff Collection of IBM 1401 Program Listings, 1959-1961|url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/3/resources/2313}}</ref>

[[File:IBM 1401 AUTOCODER programm select and print.jpg|thumb|Autocoder coding sheet]]

The most well known1401 Autocoder<ref>{{cite manual

| title = Autocoder (on Tape) Language Specifications and Operating Procedures IBM 1401 and 1460 Program 1401-AU-037

| series = IBM Systems Reference Library

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| publisher= IBM Corporation

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1401/C24-3319-0_Autocoder_on_Tape_Laguage_Specifications_and_Operating_Procedures_Nov64.pdf

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</ref> is thatthe ofmost thewell [[IBMknown 1401]]Autocoder, undoubtedly due in part to the general success of that series of machines. Autocoder was the primary language of this computer, and its macro capabilities supportedfacilitated use of the [[Input/Output Control System]] which eased the programming burden.
<ref>[{{cite book |last1=IBM Corporation |title=Executive Guide to the IBM 1440 Data Processing System |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/IBM.1440.1962.102646251.pdf]; |accessdate=Mar 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>Solomon 1993, p. 8; </ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/showlanguage2.prx?exp%3D3872 |title=ArchivedThe copyEncyclopedia of Computer Languages |accessdate=2007-03-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917100201/http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/showlanguage2.prx?exp=3872 |archivedate=2007-09-17 }}.</ref> AnotherAutocoder assembler,also [[Symbolichad Programmingthe System]]<ref>{{citeability manualto process code written for SPS.

| title = IBM 1401 SYMBOLIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM: PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS

| id = J28-200-1

| year = 1960

| publisher = IBM

| url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1401/J28-200-1_IBM_1401_Symbolic_Programming_System_Preliminary_Specifications_Jan60.pdf

| mode = cs2

}}

</ref> (SPS), was the assembler offered when the [[IBM 1401]] originally was announced as a punched-card-only computer. SPS had different mnemonics and a different fixed input format. It lacked Autocoder's features and was generally used only on machines that lacked tape drives (punched-card only).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thelen |first1=Ed |title=IBM-1401 |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/ibm-1401.html |accessdate=Mar 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name=THVV>{{cite web |last1=Van Vleck |first1=Tom |title=1401s I have known |url=https://www.multicians.org/thvv/1401s.html |website=multicians.org |accessdate=Mar 5, 2020}}</ref> Autocoder also had the ability to process code written for SPS. A copy of the source programs for SPS-1, SPS-2 and Autocoder was donated to the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota in 1985, by [[Gary Mokotoff]], author of SPS and coauthor of Autocoder.<ref>{{Citation|title=Gary Mokotoff Collection of IBM 1401 Program Listings, 1959-1961|url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/3/resources/2313}}</ref>

The 1401 was available in six memory configurations, with 1400, 2000, 4000, 8000, 12000, or 16000 six-bit characters. The 8000-character model was the minimum needed to run the full Autocoder assembler application, including IOCS. However a language subset assembler was available for use with as little as 1400 memory positions. A loadable [[object file]], on punched cards or magnetic tape, could be produced on an 8000-character model which could then be run on a 4000-character machine. The limited language subset only processed punched cards and required 4 passes with intermediate punched card outputs.

==Influence==

The popularity of Autocoder inspired other assemblers. ‘’Easycoder’’ for the [[Honeywell 200]], a computer similar to the 1401, resembled Autocoder. Other manufacturers sometimes built competing products, such as [[NCR Corporation|NCR]]'s "National's Electronic Autocoder Technique" (NEAT).<ref>Weik 1964, p. 0202.</ref>

The Pennsylvania State University developed a "Dual Autocoder Fortran Translator" (DAFT) compiler for the IBM 7074 in the 1960s which made it extremely easy to write (within a single program) lines of autocoder instructions freely interspersed with lines of Fortran code. This allowed symbolic machine instruction level coding within a higher level Fortran program, which was especially useful for optimizing the speed of inner loops, or for making use of the IBM 7074's unusual decimal word architecture.{{cncitation needed|date=August 2019}}

[[Bell Laboratories]] developed a program called ''PEST'', "Peripheral Equipment Symbolic Translator" (PEST), which was a 1401 cross-assembler that ran on the [[IBM 709|709]]/[[IBM 700/7000 series#Later scientific architecture (704/709/7090/7094)|709x]] and accepted a subset of 1401 Autocoder.<ref name=THVV /><ref>{{cite book |last1=IBM Corporation |title=Catalog of Programs for IBM Data Processing Systems KWIC Index |date=1962 |page=248 |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/pgmCatalog/C20-8090_Catalog_of_Programs_for_IBM_Data_Processing_Systems_KWIC_Index_Apr62.pdf |accessdate=Mar 5, 2020}}</ref>

A copy of the source programs for SPS-1, SPS-2 and Autocoder was donated to the [[Charles Babbage Institute]], [[University of Minnesota]] in 1985, by [[Gary Mokotoff]], author of SPS and coauthor of Autocoder.<ref>{{Citation|title=Gary Mokotoff Collection of IBM 1401 Program Listings, 1959-1961|url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/3/resources/231}}</ref>

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

<references />

==References==

* Allen, F. E., "The history of language processor technology at IBM", ''IBM Journal of Research and Development,'' '''25'''(5), pp. 535-548&nbsp;535–548 (September 1981). [http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/255/ibmrd2505Q.pdf]

* Goldfinger, Roy, "The IBM Type 705 Autocoder". ''Proceedings East Joint Computer Conf.,'' San Francisco, 1956.

* Hopper, Grace, "Automatic Coding for Digital Computers" in the High Speed Computer Conference, Louisiana StatState (1955) the High Speed Computer Conference, Louisiana State University, 16 Feb. 1955, Remington Rand, Inc., 1955. [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/HopperAutoCodingPaper_1955.pdf]

* {{cite book |author-first=David |author-last=Salomon |editor-first=Ian D. |editor-last=Chivers |title=Assemblers and Loaders |date=February 1993 |edition=1 |series=Ellis Horwood Series In Computers And Their Applications |publisher=[[Ellis Horwood Limited]] / [[Simon & Schuster International Group]] |___location=Chicester, West Sussex, UK |isbn=0-13-052564-2 |url=http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/asl.pdf |access-date=2008-10-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323010358/http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/asl.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-23}} [http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/AssemAd.html][https://www.scribd.com/doc/7326575/Assembly-Language] (xiv+294+4 pages)

* Salomon, David, ''Assemblers And Loaders'' (Horwood, 1993), {{ISBN|0-13-052564-2}}. [http://www.davidsalomon.name/assem.advertis/AssemAd.html]

* Weik, Martin H., ''A Fourth Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems,''BRL Report No. 1227, January 1964 (Ballistic Research Laboratories, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland). [http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL64-i.html]

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* [http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/ibm/1410/C28-0309-1_1410_autocoder.pdf 1964 IBM 1410 Autocoder manual from Bitsavers]

* [http://99-bottles-of-beer.net/language-assembler-(1401-autocoder)-1071.html IBM 1401 Autocoder example]

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[[Category:Assembly languages]]

[[Category:IBM software]]

[[Category:IBM 700/7000 series|Assembler Autocoder]]

[[Category:IBM 1400 series]]