Autocoder: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:30, 17 December 2020

Revision as of 12:47, 21 March 2021

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{{ConfuseDistinguish|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.

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</ref> is the most well known 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 facilitated 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=Archived copy |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> Autocoder also had the ability to process code written for SPS.

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 Autocoder. 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.

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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 "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>

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==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 State (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]

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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]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Assembly languages]]