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Some interesting stuff you will get out of Dr. Dobbs articles, as someone that was an avid reader. - The Small C compiler set of articles, where you will get t

by pjmlp 7mo ago

Some interesting stuff you will get out of Dr. Dobbs articles, as someone that was an avid reader. - The Small C compiler set of articles, where you will get the sense not even K&R C was used outside UNIX for quite some time, only a common subset. - The toolbox articles creating a Turbo Vision like framework in Object Pascal - The evolution of Python and related adoption - Strange programing languages like Actor, C@+ (try to search this one nowadays), Sather, BETA - The fashionable compiler benchmarks that used to be quite common back in the day - The evolution of C and C++ at ISO, while their standards were being started - A more heterogenous way of software development, when it wasn't only UNIX clones and Windows.

vidarh 7mo ago
A lot of very accessible algorithm articles too. I still remember the article on ternary trees.
raverbashing 7mo ago
> C@+ (try to search this one nowadays) I think not even Wikipedia knows about this (at least with a quick search)
- pjmlp 7mo ago
  Got the name a bit off, see other HNers replies.
andai 7mo ago
Catplus? Edit: Yandex can search for it! But doesn't seem to find anything relevant. (It also hates such queries and will force you to wait 2 minutes for a captcha to load.. but you get the results after a long wait! As our forefathers once did!) I did find C@ and C@++ though. https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B
bayindirh 7mo ago
'"C@+" programming language' query in Kagi returns a single hit from Esolang [0]. [0]: https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B
- pjmlp 7mo ago
  See reply from EdwardCoffin.
EdwardCoffin 7mo ago
I think it was C+@ (pronounced CAT, as I recall). Edit: pasting a comment of mine from here in 2019 [1]: The language is C+@ [2]. I dug up an article about it in Dr. Dobbs Journal, the October 1993 issue. This does not seem to be the article I am remembering, since it does not go into the instruction interleaving technique anywhere near as much as I remember, but they do mention it and say it was called "beading": The binaries produced by the C+@ compiler are independent of the underlying machine architecture. Without recompiling, applications can be moved from SPARC to 68000 to Intel x86, and so on. C+@ is not interpretive--the binaries are encoded using a sophisticated 'beading' technique developed at Bell Labs. Because of the streamlined language design, the C+@ compiler produces these portable binaries with extraordinary speed, without the need for preprocessing or front ends. This is from the article's introduction: The C+@ programming language, an object-oriented language derived from AT&T Bell Lab's Calico programming language, was developed to provide programmers with a true object-based language and development environment. C+@ (pronounced "cat") has the syntax of C and the power of Smalltalk. Unlike C++, C+@ includes a mature class library with more than 350 classes used throughout the system. The C+@ compiler itself is written in C+@, and all of the source for the class libraries is included with development systems. The Calico project was started at AT&T Bell Labs in the early '80s, after the introduction of Smalltalk and at the same time as C++. Calico was originally used for rapid prototyping of telecommunication services; hence, its heavy emphasis on keeping the language syntax simple and showcasing the power of the graphical development environment.* [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20583430 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20583430 [2] https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/C%2b%40 https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/C%2b%40
- pjmlp 7mo ago
  Yeah, thanks.
- bitexploder 7mo ago
  I asked the AI. It’s first reference was this comment. They were really doing a lot in the 80s at Bell Labs.
- Asooka 7mo ago
  Ah, the e2 article says it was patented, so no wonder it never gained traction. Surely that patent is long expired, though?
jhbadger 7mo ago
Actor was fascinating -- basically Smalltalk made to look "more familiar" with a C-like syntax. It was created by odd-language designer Charles Duff (who had earlier created Neon, an object-oriented Forth).
zyxzevn 7mo ago
Here is the mythical programming language C@ It is programming humor with cats. http://www.reddit.com/r/C_AT http://www.reddit.com/r/C_AT

by pjmlp 7mo ago

vidarh 7mo ago

A lot of very accessible algorithm articles too. I still remember the article on ternary trees.

raverbashing 7mo ago

> C@+ (try to search this one nowadays) I think not even Wikipedia knows about this (at least with a quick search)

pjmlp 7mo ago
Got the name a bit off, see other HNers replies.

andai 7mo ago

Catplus? Edit: Yandex can search for it! But doesn't seem to find anything relevant. (It also hates such queries and will force you to wait 2 minutes for a captcha to load.. but you get the results after a long wait! As our forefathers once did!) I did find C@ and C@++ though. https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B

bayindirh 7mo ago

'"C@+" programming language' query in Kagi returns a single hit from Esolang [0]. [0]: https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B https://esolangs.org/wiki/C@%2B%2B

pjmlp 7mo ago
See reply from EdwardCoffin.

EdwardCoffin 7mo ago

I think it was C+@ (pronounced CAT, as I recall). Edit: pasting a comment of mine from here in 2019 [1]: The language is C+@ [2]. I dug up an article about it in Dr. Dobbs Journal, the October 1993 issue. This does not seem to be the article I am remembering, since it does not go into the instruction interleaving technique anywhere near as much as I remember, but they do mention it and say it was called "beading": The binaries produced by the C+@ compiler are independent of the underlying machine architecture. Without recompiling, applications can be moved from SPARC to 68000 to Intel x86, and so on. C+@ is not interpretive--the binaries are encoded using a sophisticated 'beading' technique developed at Bell Labs. Because of the streamlined language design, the C+@ compiler produces these portable binaries with extraordinary speed, without the need for preprocessing or front ends. This is from the article's introduction: The C+@ programming language, an object-oriented language derived from AT&T Bell Lab's Calico programming language, was developed to provide programmers with a true object-based language and development environment. C+@ (pronounced "cat") has the syntax of C and the power of Smalltalk. Unlike C++, C+@ includes a mature class library with more than 350 classes used throughout the system. The C+@ compiler itself is written in C+@, and all of the source for the class libraries is included with development systems. The Calico project was started at AT&T Bell Labs in the early '80s, after the introduction of Smalltalk and at the same time as C++. Calico was originally used for rapid prototyping of telecommunication services; hence, its heavy emphasis on keeping the language syntax simple and showcasing the power of the graphical development environment.* [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20583430 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20583430 [2] https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/C%2b%40 https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/C%2b%40

pjmlp 7mo ago
Yeah, thanks.
bitexploder 7mo ago
I asked the AI. It’s first reference was this comment. They were really doing a lot in the 80s at Bell Labs.
Asooka 7mo ago
Ah, the e2 article says it was patented, so no wonder it never gained traction. Surely that patent is long expired, though?

jhbadger 7mo ago

Actor was fascinating -- basically Smalltalk made to look "more familiar" with a C-like syntax. It was created by odd-language designer Charles Duff (who had earlier created Neon, an object-oriented Forth).

zyxzevn 7mo ago

Here is the mythical programming language C@ It is programming humor with cats. http://www.reddit.com/r/C_AT http://www.reddit.com/r/C_AT