I had mostly forgotten about the bus architecture wars. The S-100 bus
was another one that was very popular for a time. Every bus
architecture had its manufacturing proponents, development systems,
development environments. That was when computer magazines like BYTE
were at their fattest--there was just so much to cover.
In about 1984 I convinced an employer to purchase a Modula-2 compiler
for the PDP-11 running RSX-11M+. The vendor was Brown Boveri and Co.
(now part of ABB) in Switzerland. I remember how excited I was that
the package had cleared Customs, and a few days later, I had the large
reel-to-reel tapes in my hand. As I recall, the project never got off
the ground, to my chagrin. Imagine allowing a single developer to
choose a language that way now!
Paul Baumgartel
- Jared.Still_at_radisys.com wrote:
> Things seem a little slow on the list ( like I need more email :)
>
> Some choice bits from Dr Dobbs Journal, November 1988.
>
> Some you may actually have been working in IT then. ;)
>
> Jared
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> If a single word sums up the current state of computing, that word is
>
> confusion. It's hard to remember a time when the PC industry
> was in a more confounding state of affairs. Now, more than ever,
> there is
> a bewildering array of choices in everything from
> operating systems to hardware architectures. And the choices aren't
> getting any easier.
>
> Take a look at operating systems, for example. It was only a few
> years ago
> that developers had a scarcity of options. There was
> CP/M, AppleDOS, and a few other systems available--TRS-DOS (boy,
> there's a
> stab from the past) was one I worked
> with--but for the most part, choices were few and the stakes
> relatively
> low.
>
> Today, developers must decide between DOS, OS/2, Unix (pick your
> favorite
> flavor), the Macintosh, and a host of other more
> specialized alternatives. If you pick the wrong development platform,
> the
> results may not be a pretty sight.
>
> In the same sense, the Macintosh was basically the only dominant
> windowing
> system three or four years ago. Today, there's at
> least a dozen, including Windows/Presentation Manager, the Macintosh,
>
> X-Windows, Rooms, GEM, and New Wave, to
> mention a few.
>
> Now, throw in a wildcard, like Display Postscript (Steve Jobs'
> choice),
> and take into consideration the rumor that former
> operating system rivals Digital Research and Microsoft are
> considering
> offering DRI's GEM application-development tool kit as a
> development tool for Presentation Manager. Now you're faced with a
> perplexing array of opportunities or quagmires, depending
> on your perspective.
>
> And things are just as confusing on the hardware side. We've somehow
> moved
> from a couple of accepted architectures (the AT
> bus and a closed-system Mac) to a plethora of standards that include
> the
> Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), the NuBus, and,
> more recently, the Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA).
> (EISA
> is a 32-bit extension of the AT bus that has been
> endorsed by several PC manufacturers--IBM not among them--that
> supposedly
> provides the performance benefits of the MCA,
> yet is compatible with existing AT-bus cards.) Not to mention, last
> month's introduction of Steve Jobs' NeXT workstation and the
> whisperings about an 80386 machine waiting in the wings at Apple. I'm
>
> getting an ulcer just writing about it.
>
> Now consider the various incarnations and implementations of
> programming
> languages. Should you go with C or begin thinking
> about C++? What about Modula-2? There are some powerful new Modula
> compilers out there that deserve consideration, and
> the renewed promise of Basic (hearken back to Bill Gates' remarks
> about
> Object-Basic) as a serious development platform.
>
> Anecdotically, a developer I know wrote a complicated Windows
> application
> in Pascal. He wound up rewriting the entire project
> after he figured out that Modula-2 would enable him to better
> accomplish
> what he was trying to do.
>
> Regardless of what the soothsayers predicted a couple of years ago,
> nothing about computing--from either the developer's or the
> end user's perspective--is getting any easier. Now, I'm not
> complaining
> about more powerful systems, you understand, or about
> the diversity of choices we're faced with today. I'll put it this
> way,
> it's better to be rich and healthy than sick and poor.
>
> The point to all of this is that developing for and porting between
> different environments is no easy matter. Developers must
> choose wisely and well. Some platforms won't be alive and kicking
> tomorrow. For that matter, neither will developers who've
> made the wrong choice.
>
>
> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> --
> Author:
> INET: Jared.Still_at_radisys.com
>
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Author: Paul Baumgartel
INET: treegarden_at_yahoo.com
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Received on Wed Nov 06 2002 - 18:28:26 CST