On 11/18/2016 10:17 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 11/18/2016 07:59 PM, Jon Elson wrote:
Yes, I think it had to, as it had no adder. Had to be
incomprehensibly slow. I guess it would load the memory to an
internal register a piece at a time.
The last time I dug around a bit for model 20 software, I was surprised
to find that there was not only a FORTRAN, but a PL/I and a COBOL
written for the thing.
By and large, the only applications that I ever saw were RPG. I can't
begin to imagine how slow a COBOL would be, much less a PL/I.
PL/I ?? No, I really can't believe it! Was this a
cross-compiler? Remember, MANY /20s had 4K memory and no
disk. There also was no OS, so no file system support. I
can imagine a cross-compiler being of some use, as small
programs ought to work OK. The only sensible reason for
FORTRAN would be scientific computing, and since the /20 had
no floating point, I can barely imagine how slow a double
precision FP multiply would be. I would have to guess close
to a second! I think a Monroematic calculator could give it
good competition, and some of the early programmable
calculators (Wang and such) could almost certainly outdo it.
I'd rather be hitting myself on the head with a hammer than
try to do serious computing on a 360/20.
It makes even a PDP-8 look like a real workhorse.
Jon
