From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.1 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 17532 invoked from network); 3 Feb 2021 04:33:24 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 3 Feb 2021 04:33:24 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 88C9E9C793; Wed, 3 Feb 2021 14:33:22 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C524B9BA43; Wed, 3 Feb 2021 14:32:49 +1000 (AEST) Authentication-Results: minnie.tuhs.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key; unprotected) header.d=dartmouth.edu header.i=@dartmouth.edu header.b="DaFG+mF6"; dkim-atps=neutral Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id DD0B69BA43; Wed, 3 Feb 2021 14:32:47 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-wr1-f54.google.com (mail-wr1-f54.google.com [209.85.221.54]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8EBB99BA40 for ; Wed, 3 Feb 2021 14:32:46 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-wr1-f54.google.com with SMTP id g10so22678640wrx.1 for ; Tue, 02 Feb 2021 20:32:46 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=dartmouth.edu; s=google1; h=mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc; bh=p+TNl2y3JtDXLIyvULYj+8HH+O3ZFNBBHdjQHhuuiiE=; b=DaFG+mF6+bKLH6BtMpR2VKTTOee3CYyGs7eDfGbZK7pgp+dL3ZvzD0CCm/4PKbPPuG ASFZ+0jU4E6/wFuGfnHwF87uJOrlGtBOc+oiA9TRR9xaJEQg2OLq3N2vawW4dQnlv/15 q8858aPjkIF9xIlOyudpuRO9X5xjK2LxgVhLa65LOygA9G18uwNYDiALnVH2jub39vGx O05TP5rpBQ6wcPnD8lgvJz1PWPuDlDTF99YnqqKxf43kdEMLVgnrLjfa3TqODkuXs3xx los0dbMrg4S/6SkMXnQiU0T8ifFW69Z3Y+pe5TdL4VIkU7olGGUFrP/Euyh17ugyFFEI 6Vcg== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date :message-id:subject:to:cc; bh=p+TNl2y3JtDXLIyvULYj+8HH+O3ZFNBBHdjQHhuuiiE=; b=UliM/5sq2BMpS5QzGrKxNgEOsW8v6oN/ebmf6YL8CWixmLe0S4njTnh5CLFC8xsXA7 b4iATmT6cMdm9HdkOdiASp0T96dyAmfBqN0ip6MnDsyLAjf/7Oj/Oq5yr7kRQojezDCH UjIJEXz/WxaXQ0qWFDNgoHKxLcYao1xHG/3Z3CrbrQpVVJdkVvS+M+U6RqSFXirjl6AM 4em0RyO4ABDQoT4Ojt+UMLGQRnjB7DbK9tmeTyMKLi0s2JDygXHhVXKPzkerC71wAVj8 Iq5bKoJmobbNB1Xv8R6bdOjlgeIt7MM2cwx8w2rwD8KV7xlsPPzE9KhcwLH+eP767eLD q/7g== X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM530mXt0m6eL8uWuyAF09AwiClOC2tatfaCv+vhXVouCqzGGcIboj L7OdWiovJC0nk9h4ynnkxpYhcadLzzUJqwoWC9OCow== X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJzmrg1IocGI8b6eQUJ42wtyEz7Nlu/+y/jF7kIk8IJfUmVJLoif7pu4YuKdyjZGgciC36TH37YmMlfe823+EDU= X-Received: by 2002:a5d:6947:: with SMTP id r7mr1250055wrw.150.1612326765115; Tue, 02 Feb 2021 20:32:45 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <202009190151.08J1pYnb066792@tahoe.cs.dartmouth.edu> <202009201842.08KIgn2f022401@freefriends.org> <04211470-AD63-452A-A0BB-6A7A6FD85AAE@gmail.com> <202009202026.08KKQ2x6137303@tahoe.cs.dartmouth.edu> <20210202234703.GH4227@mcvoy.com> <20210203001900.GI4227@mcvoy.com> In-Reply-To: From: M Douglas McIlroy Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2021 23:32:29 -0500 Message-ID: To: Dave Horsfall Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="00000000000018df2c05ba6714e8" Subject: Re: [TUHS] reviving a bit of WWB X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" --00000000000018df2c05ba6714e8 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > I 'm trying to get my head around a 10-bit machine optimised for C. How about 23-bits? That was one of the early ESS machines, evidently optimized to make every bit count. (Maybe a prime wordwidth helps with hashing?) Whirlwind II (built in 1952), was 16 bits. It took a long while for that to become common wisdom. Doug On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 10:32 PM Dave Horsfall wrote: > On Tue, 2 Feb 2021, Richard Salz wrote: > > > BBN made a machine "optimized" for C. It was used in the first > > generation ARPAnet gateways. > > > > A word was 10bits. The amount of masking we had to do for some portable > > software was unreal. > > I'm trying to get my head around a 10-bit machine optimised for C... > Well, if you accept that chars are 10 bits wide then there shouldn't be > (much of) a problem; just forget about the concept of powers of 2, I > guess. > > Shades of the 60-bit CDC series, as handling strings was a bit of a > bugger; at least the 12-bit PDP-8 was sort of manageable. > > -- Dave --00000000000018df2c05ba6714e8 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>=C2=A0 I 'm trying to get = my head around a 10-bit machine optimised for C.
How about 23-bi= ts? That was one of the early ESS machines, evidently
optimized t= o make every bit count. (Maybe a prime wordwidth helps
with hashi= ng?)
Whirlwind II (built in 1952), was 16 bits. It took a long wh= ile for that
to become common wisdom.

Do= ug

On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 10:32 PM Dave Horsfall <dave@horsfall.org> wrote:
On Tue, 2 Feb 2021, Richard Salz wrote= :

> BBN made a machine "optimized" for C.=C2=A0 It was used in t= he first
> generation ARPAnet gateways.
>
> A word was 10bits.=C2=A0 The amount of masking we had to do for some p= ortable
> software was unreal.

I'm trying to get my head around a 10-bit machine optimised for C... Well, if you accept that chars are 10 bits wide then there shouldn't be=
(much of) a problem; just forget about the concept of powers of 2, I
guess.

Shades of the 60-bit CDC series, as handling strings was a bit of a
bugger; at least the 12-bit PDP-8 was sort of manageable.

-- Dave
--00000000000018df2c05ba6714e8--