[Simh] BLISS and C

[Richard Cornwell]

> On Mon, 29 Jan 2018 16:35:42 -0500 (EST)
> Rich Alderson <simh at alderson.users.panix.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Clem Cole <clemc at ccc.com>
> > Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2018 14:21:36 -0500  
> 
> > My point was less on PL/1 and more to the point that Ken had access
> > to BCPL and did not have BLISS.   But he still decided to create
> > what would become B.  
> 
> Ken had no tools for the PDP-7, which was part of a Graphics-1 setup
> (with a Type 340 display), not even an assembler.  The first thing he
> wrote on the GECOS system (not yet shortened to GCOS, since it was a
> GE 635) was an assembler, which shared absolutely nothing in terms of
> syntax with the DEC assembler for the system.
> 
> Remember that BCPL originated on a PDP-7, and had an 18-bit word as
> its only data type.  Since Ken had only a cross assembler to start
> with, B was the simplest interim solution (a BCPL subset in an
> interpreter).

  BCPL originated on the IBM 7090 under CTSS. It only supported 36 bit
  word data types. I am not sure BCPL was ever ported to the PDP-7. 

Rich

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