[Cromemco Dazzler Dazzlemation...] .... Mr. Dompier hand wrote that program LITERALLY (hand, pencil, paper), no editor, no assembler. He then toggled it in (or maybe raw keyed it in with a primitive ROM monitor) and [used paper tape to save/restore it]
I agree, it's informative to look at such code, to see methods of coding. But that's normal activity, given the era. When you don't have a computer with disk drives, an assembler program, a text editor...that's what you did, that's what we did in the era. Much of the earliest 8080 code (6502, 6800, 8008, 4004, 4040...) was hand coded. MOst of the early single-boards, didn't have resident assemblers. There was no choice, but this is how one understood the operation and programming of these processors. They were little logic engines; the code is the logic. It would be a lecture, to explain that further, and the history behind it. Some people today, still code by hand. Many 1802 COSMAC computer owners do that - I support some of that work. Example: I spent a few days recently, disassembling an 1802 FORTH implementation. About 1/3 of it was 1802 assembler; I used a disassembler for that part. The rest was just words - 16 bit addresses, one after another - which represented FORTH definitions. Those, I hand-aligned, determined the dictionary location, and "decoded" which FORTH word was represented. I learned a lot about setting up FORTH with an 1802. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net