Re: Low-level vs. High-level programming (was My First Computer)

[Roger Johnstone <rojaws@es.co.nz>]

In <3EF54EEB.8C314712@attbi.com> Scott Moore  wrote:

> Lets see. I started at 20 years of age on Z80 and better CPUs in the 
> 1978 time frame. Because CPUs were moving rapidly, I studied not only 
> the CPU designs that were being proposed but also old systems like the 
> IBM 360 and PDP-11. When the 8086 came out, I was disgusted, but 
> eventually made extensive use of the product. I programmed both C and 
> assembly on Unix for the 68000 processor using one of the first Unix 
> ports to microprocessors (Unisoft). Later in the 1980s, I went to work 
> on the design for the sucessor to the Z80, the Z280, because I liked 
> CPUs and wanted to get into the design of one. In the 1990s I did MIPS, 
> Power PC, and pentium designs. Today I work on the AMD 64 bit
> processor family, which just came out only about a month ago.
>
> I'm sure there were 8 bit programmers who let their skills ossify. 
> Most of them are in management now.

Hey! Some of us are still working writing software for 8-bit processors, 
although they're more likely to be a RISC CPU with Harvard memory 
architecture, and they're more likely to have between 8 and 18 pins, not 
940 :o)

-- 
Roger Johnstone, Invercargill, New Zealand

Apple II - FutureCop:LAPD - iMac Game Wizard
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rojaws/
________________________________________________________________________
"But what is it good for?"
    Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM
    commenting on the micro chip, 1968