Re: [TUHS] changes in C compilers

[Clem cole <clemc@ccc.com>]

Arnold, I caution on absolutes.   Typesetter C predates V7.  It was for V6 but a release of ditroff  may have been after V7. - do remember something like that in the early 80s.  What I do not remember the order of which compilers.  The driver for writing ditroff was the Labs getting an APS5 typesetter which was in the late 70s.  

And (I’m less) certain here, I think Bourne once told me they used the APS5 for the V7 manual set masters because it supported more fonts.   

Btw. The whole reason why typesetter C had a compiler included was the v6 compiler was not insufficient (primarily missing support for stdio) but V7 was not.  

That said the dates and some of the ordering are fuzzy in my mind at this point.  I’m trying to use other things that I have absolute dates for and trying line them up.   

We had V5, quickly upgraded the V6, then TS and finally V7.  I left in late Spring ‘79.   That order I know is right and Ted was the reason we had TS as he brought it with him in 76 / 77.  (Same for the proofs for K&R1).   

We got typesetter C at some point I thought before Ted brought TS but that’s fuzzy.  

Sent from my PDP-7 Running UNIX V0 expect things to be almost but not quite. 

> On Aug 24, 2018, at 3:02 AM, arnold@skeeve.com wrote:
> 
> My two cents, ...
> 
>> From: Clem Cole <clemc@ccc.com>
>> Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2018 20:30:19 -0400
>> To: ron@ronnatalie.com
>> Subject: Re: [TUHS] C++ / Kernel
>> 
>> Yep.  Im pretty sure I remember void being in typesetter C also.   IIRC the
>> differences between that version of Dennis???s compiler and what was included
>> in 7th Edition was mostly in the libraries ie stdio was first released as
>> part of the typesetter compiler but it was still a work in progress.
> 
> K&R 1 did not have void or structure assignment. Those came later,
> although I'm not sure when.  They may have been mentioned in an
> appendix; my copy isn't handy to check.
> 
> At what point did each struct become its own namespace? I think
> around the time of K&R1.
> 
>> From: Clem cole <clemc@ccc.com>
>> Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:52:24 -0400
>> To: Noel Chiappa <jnc@mercury.lcs.mit.edu>
>> Subject: Re: [TUHS] C++ / Kernel
>> 
>> ...
>> 
>> The big changes to the language were between 6th Edition and Typesetter
>> which were done in concert if not to support Brian???s work on the troff
>> rewrite.  Plus the first draft of book was being written around then also.
> 
> The troff rewrite was later, circa '81 or so. Definitely NOT in the
> V6/V7 timeframe.
> 
> Arnold