Autocoder: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:41, 8 March 2020

Revision as of 22:10, 8 March 2020

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==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==

The first assembler, [[Symbolic Programming System]]<ref>{{cite manual

| 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 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>

The first Autocoders were released in 1955 for the [[IBM 702]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1956 |date=1957 |publisher=Copyright Office, Library of Congress |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxshAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA305 |accessdate=Aug 23, 2019}}</ref> and in 1956 for the almost compatible [[IBM 705]].<ref>{{cite manual

| title = 705 autocoder system - manual of information

Line 129 ⟶ 139:

| mode = cs2

}}

</ref> is that of the [[IBM 1401]], 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> 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 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.

Line 147 ⟶ 150:

[[Bell Laboratories]] developed a program called ''PEST'', Peripheral Equipment Symbolic Translator, 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/2313}}</ref>

==Notes==