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The LISP machines were incredibly different with one able to use macros for API's or bottom layers. Or drop down to microcode, were things like eval and the ga
by hga 10y ago
The LISP machines were incredibly different with one able to use macros for API's or bottom layers.
Or drop down to microcode, were things like eval and the garbage collector tended to live, along with graphics primitives and the usual things at that level. The first widely produced Lisp Machine could be outfitted with a very large bank of this vertical microcode if you were willing to pay for the static RAM to populate it. There was also a Lisp to microcode compiler of some level of utility.
- nickpsecurity 10y agoI found a paper on a compiler from Pascal subset to microcode. All kinds of cool stuff one can do if microcoded & open for extension. LISP microcode is new to me. You have a link on that one?
- hga 10y agoNo, all word of mouth, often from the microcoders themselves (Moon and Greenblatt, at least). And it was either a compiler from Lisp to microcode, for making hot code faster, or Lisp primitives implemented in fast microcode. And the virtual machine that implemented the compiler's byte code as well.