On Mon, Nov 06, 2006 at 04:58:18PM -0800, Steve Lamb wrote: > Douglas Tutty wrote: > > Sometimes its too easy to keep trying to solve the wrong problem. > > True, but it sure does answer the question "How do you keep a programmer > geek busy?" :) >
If you want to keep busy, write this in assembler or better yet machine code. I haven't written assembler since the Z-80. The first computer I made was an 8-way Z-80. 64 MHz 8-phase clock, 8 K shared fast static ram, each 8 MHz processor on a clock phase. All hand-wired using TTL with a 50 A 8V main linear powersupply. Only input a Hex pad, only output hex front panel. No long-term storage so the THING had to stay powered from the time programming started untill the result was printed. All programming was in hex machine code. I was 16 and got interested in orbital mechanics and wondered how you calculated Homan (I forget how to spell it) transfer orbits. Regular calculator couldn't do enough precision. The THING did everyting in 128-bit integers. It kept me busy and I learned a lot. Compared to that, Fortran is a snap. Keep on learning. Doug. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
