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The DEC Alpha was a 64 bit CPU architecture that came out in 1992. Java support it from Java 1.0 to ~ Java 3 Interestingly, I can't find any information on Goo

The DEC Alpha was a 64 bit CPU architecture that came out in 1992. Java support it from Java 1.0 to ~ Java 3 Interestingly, I can't find any information on Google about this, but ChatGPT does support this. Unfortunately all the primary sources it gave me are for docs that no longer exist on the web. The Wayback machine was no help. The old web is dead :(

cesarb 3y ago
> Interestingly, I can't find any information on Google about this, but ChatGPT does support this. Unfortunately all the primary sources it gave me are for docs that no longer exist on the web. Or perhaps that never existed. It's well known that ChatGPT often hallucinates non-existing references (see for instance the discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33841672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33841672).
fweimer 3y ago
Apparently, there was a Java port for Windows NT running on the DEC Alpha: https://archive.org/details/jdk-v1-alpha_nt https://archive.org/details/jdk-v1-alpha_nt It's unclear whether it's actually a 64-bit build. Did Windows even have a 64-bit userspace on Alpha, or was it all ILP32? Anyway, it's not really possible to implement the Java memory model on Alpha: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/memoryModel/AlphaReordering.html https://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/memoryModel/AlphaReorderin... So it's not really a natural target for Java code.
- twoodfin 3y ago
  Wikipedia matches my recollection: Windows NT was actually ported to 64-bit using Alpha workstations, so there were probably some pre-release versions floating around. But by the time 64-bit Windows was ready, Alpha was a dying platform and the original release was only for the 64-bit platform with a real future, Itanium.
  - iainmerrick 3y ago
    the 64-bit platform with a real future, Itanium Ouch!
  - zactato 3y ago
    Yeah I also remember this. My Dad was at DEC/Compaq at the time and had access to the Windows NT prerelease. He was explaining to me why it was cool, but as an 8 year old I didn't really get it.

cesarb 3y ago

> Interestingly, I can't find any information on Google about this, but ChatGPT does support this. Unfortunately all the primary sources it gave me are for docs that no longer exist on the web. Or perhaps that never existed. It's well known that ChatGPT often hallucinates non-existing references (see for instance the discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33841672 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33841672).

fweimer 3y ago

Apparently, there was a Java port for Windows NT running on the DEC Alpha: https://archive.org/details/jdk-v1-alpha_nt https://archive.org/details/jdk-v1-alpha_nt It's unclear whether it's actually a 64-bit build. Did Windows even have a 64-bit userspace on Alpha, or was it all ILP32? Anyway, it's not really possible to implement the Java memory model on Alpha: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/memoryModel/AlphaReordering.html https://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/memoryModel/AlphaReorderin... So it's not really a natural target for Java code.

twoodfin 3y ago
Wikipedia matches my recollection: Windows NT was actually ported to 64-bit using Alpha workstations, so there were probably some pre-release versions floating around. But by the time 64-bit Windows was ready, Alpha was a dying platform and the original release was only for the 64-bit platform with a real future, Itanium.
- iainmerrick 3y ago
  the 64-bit platform with a real future, Itanium Ouch!
- zactato 3y ago
  Yeah I also remember this. My Dad was at DEC/Compaq at the time and had access to the Windows NT prerelease. He was explaining to me why it was cool, but as an 8 year old I didn't really get it.