uploaded them as pdf's :S?
DUH!... sorry, I missed that. Thank you very much for going to all that trouble
1ajs.
Ok, I downloaded and looked it over... and at the risk of sounding unappreciative of all your fine efforts, it's not what
I'd hoped for.
:hide:
You guys will need to decide, but for example, there isn't a single opcode listed in the whole thing. [you'd still need a Programming Card] No mention is made of compiling, loading and running your programs. It does reference the
PDP-11/20 Processor Handbook and The
PDP-11 Paper Tape Software Programming Handbook, :lookroun: both good DEC references.
Another point is it seems to assume a knowledge of the PDP-11 Architecture on the student's part from these other documents or perhaps a lecture. Yes, there is a general verbal description, but that's just not the same thing.
Once again, like others, this workbook assumes the student is being taught
programming, and that the PDP-11 happens to be his first machine.
It's not intended for an individual who simply requires the Architecture, Instructions, Addressing Modes, Opcodes and Syntax, but already knows programmatic structure and habits. [Maybe the PDP-11/20 Handbook is closest to that]
I found a copy of
"Assembly Language Programming for PDP-11 and LSI-11 Computers - Edouard J. Desautels" in my collection. It takes 0ver 500 pages to end up falling short too. At least it has a copy of the Programming Card information in an appendix, which is the only place
Opcodes are found or mentioned. On the positive side, it does cover Interrupts pretty well, and other topics like Disk I/O to a degree. But it's answer section doesn't even have traditional "Program Listings" with Opcode next to the instructions that produced them. Instead, they are at the end of some examples, without related Mnemonics.
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice book, but an experienced programmer needs a more concise reference and a few examples. They don't need to wade through an otherwise irrelevant tome for students needing to get their feet wet on topics like "binary numbers" and "Who is a
register and what's he doing in my computer??"
Yeah... I'm being harsh I guess. But you guys need to be able to work with hardware... To sit in front of your machines and toggle in a few words of routines to check things out and get them to the point of bootability. You need to be able to "think in opcode".
So far I can't recall anything quite like that in a book. A good programming card, and a program listing with a few examples of the use of every instruction with comments would do more for you than anything I've seen yet.
