Marty
Veteran Member
Hi All;
I have been reading a book.. And in it He mentions about Fewest instructions needed to program a computer, And so I am asking what Everyone Else would think would Qualify for this List of Instructions needed..
I Quote from the Book, "Computing in the Middle Ages" by Severo M. Ornstein.. (Page 5)
" After I'd mastered the EDSAC's bootstrap program, Howie lent me a manual describing Whirlwind and how to program it.
Under his tutelage I worked my way through the manual and wrote out the suggested exercises. Of course these programs were never going to be executed since Whirlwind was hundreds of miles away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and remote computing still lay far in the future. Besides, Whirlwind had far more important things to do. Mine were just paper exercises designed to teach one how to write programs.
After I became somewhat proficient, Howie made the startling announcement that most of the instructions I'd been using were actually unnecessary and were provided only to save memory and make programs run faster. He explained that there were, in fact only a handful of truly basic instructions and that all the others could be emulated (i.e., the machine could be made to perform precisely the same function) by programs made up of only this basic set.
I tested the validity of this claim by programming one or two of the more complicated instructions using the basic set, and once again I was stunned: the bloody thing seemed to consist almost of entirely sheer ingenuity, balanced atop the merest pinpoint of material reality. "
So for my starting list I can think of Add, ( I know that there was a computer that didn't have an Add instruction, but a Subtract Instruction instead).. But, I will for this discussion lump them both in as the same basic Instruction..
So, I have Add, Load and Store (I will put these as basic I/O Instructions), a Jump or Conditional Jump Instruction and possibly a Logic Nand Instruction.. Since other basic Logic can be combined and made from a Nand..
So, with that what would You all take away from my List and what Would You Add to my List ?? Feel free to change add or subtract from what I have put down..
THANK YOU Marty
I have been reading a book.. And in it He mentions about Fewest instructions needed to program a computer, And so I am asking what Everyone Else would think would Qualify for this List of Instructions needed..
I Quote from the Book, "Computing in the Middle Ages" by Severo M. Ornstein.. (Page 5)
" After I'd mastered the EDSAC's bootstrap program, Howie lent me a manual describing Whirlwind and how to program it.
Under his tutelage I worked my way through the manual and wrote out the suggested exercises. Of course these programs were never going to be executed since Whirlwind was hundreds of miles away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and remote computing still lay far in the future. Besides, Whirlwind had far more important things to do. Mine were just paper exercises designed to teach one how to write programs.
After I became somewhat proficient, Howie made the startling announcement that most of the instructions I'd been using were actually unnecessary and were provided only to save memory and make programs run faster. He explained that there were, in fact only a handful of truly basic instructions and that all the others could be emulated (i.e., the machine could be made to perform precisely the same function) by programs made up of only this basic set.
I tested the validity of this claim by programming one or two of the more complicated instructions using the basic set, and once again I was stunned: the bloody thing seemed to consist almost of entirely sheer ingenuity, balanced atop the merest pinpoint of material reality. "
So for my starting list I can think of Add, ( I know that there was a computer that didn't have an Add instruction, but a Subtract Instruction instead).. But, I will for this discussion lump them both in as the same basic Instruction..
So, I have Add, Load and Store (I will put these as basic I/O Instructions), a Jump or Conditional Jump Instruction and possibly a Logic Nand Instruction.. Since other basic Logic can be combined and made from a Nand..
So, with that what would You all take away from my List and what Would You Add to my List ?? Feel free to change add or subtract from what I have put down..
THANK YOU Marty