[vcf-midatlantic] assembler is tedious (was WooHoo!) (Jeffrey Jonas)
Herb Johnson
hjohnson at retrotechnology.info
Mon Aug 7 18:14:22 EDT 2017
My error on "real", Adam meant the old cliche "real programmers use
assembler". I apologize, I thought Adam was asserting that vintage
computing wasn't real when compared to day-job computing.
As for favoring one assembly architecture over another: it's an old
argument. Look at histories of each architecture: they are about
circumstances, or sometimes design choices for purpose. Some are
certainly simpler than others. ARM is usually about three architectures
per processor! It's a fuzzier argument today, when computing resources
are abundant. Not so much, when you haveta count cycles.
Thus one value of preserving vintage computing: lessons learned from
scarcity. And another, from Adam: simplicity, for education.
As for my 'dissing emulators. I have my priorities too: I'm preserving
hardware, because emulators make it easy to throw 'em out! And for
"circumstantial" reasons: my nuts-and-bolts BSEE for instance.
But here's good words for emulators. Some people who use 'em, will want
the real (no quotes) copper and silicon. And: Emulators help debug and
disassemble software, even vintage software. Here's an instance:
http://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/cosmac_dev_sys.html#sim
Emulators are of commercial interest too, in running legacy software,
for purpose. That's why some computers become "vintage"; their software
lives but the computers pass on. This brings us back to "hobby" versus
"commercial". So: some good points, some bad points, on emulators.
Herb
On 8/7/2017 2:14 PM, Adam Michlin wrote:
> My use of quotes was intended to show that I didn't agree with the word
> real, although I understand it was an attitude of the time.
>
> I favor one assembly for educating students foreign to assembly language
> over the other merely because some are more beginner friendly.
>
> Like it or not, emulators are going to become more and more a part of
> our hobby. How else I can get a classroom of students working on an
> Apple II? And then get 10 other teachers doing the same in their classroom?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> -Adam
--
Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA
http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net
preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing
email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com
or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info
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