Telefunken TR 4, designed 1958, first delivered in 1962. This predates
IBM/360
by at least 4 years. The fastest mainframe built in Europe at that time.
The internal code ("Zentralcode") was an 8-bit code using 256 characters.
Word structure, a word had 48 bits plus 2 tag bits (tagged architecture)
plus some parity bits, not seen by the programmer.
Mostly used with ALGOL; the TR 4 was "a Hardware implementation of ALGOL"
(quote from E.J. Dijkstra).
A word could hold up to six characters, but some later languages
(like Fortran) decided to store only 4 characters in one word,
to be more compatible with IBM Fortran.
Kind regards
Bernd
Am 15.11.2020 um 03:25 schrieb Mike Schwab:
You have to remember that S/360 was the first 8 bit computer. Prior
computers used 4 bits for a digit and 6 bits for a character. They
designed EBCDIC to be easily converted for use with existing 7 track
tape drives, printers, card and tape readers and punches. There was a
proposed ASCII code that was put on documentation but dropped for the
370 virtual memory bit in the PSW.
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