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Think your compiler works too slow ? "The programmer had to do everything: Write the whole operating system from scratch, design all the graphics, write the to
by walkingolof 9y ago
Think your compiler works too slow ?
"The programmer had to do everything: Write the whole operating system from scratch, design all the graphics, write the tools to do the graphics, create sound tools, and do the sound design – everything from scratch for every game….I’d write the code on programming sheets and turn it in to the typists who’d type them in to a DEC computer, then give us a tape with the resulting compiled/linked program. We’d then take that to a blue box [which used the FORTH programming language] for debugging. We’d mark changes to the code on a listing, give it back to the typists who’d edit our files and give us a new tape. Repeat ad infinitum."
- throwaway7645 9y agoWas Forth just for debugging the hardware, or did the full thing run in Forth?
- segmondy 9y agoActually, our compiler has never changed speed. The true compiler is our brain. A programmer in the 80's and a programmer today have the same brain compiler speed. Before you can write any program, you have to build, run and execute it in your head. That's the challenge most of us face today. Hardware/Software doesn't matter much. The average indie developer is writing games in about 20k-50k line of code. Doesn't matter if it's 6502/z80 asm code in 80's or Unity/C# or Java code in 2018.