[Coco] p-code systems was Re: LIF util for OS-9?

[Willard Goosey]

On Thu, Nov 03, 2011 at 08:24:12AM -0400, Steven Hirsch wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Nov 2011, Willard Goosey wrote:

> >I've wondered a couple of times if the OS-9 Pascal compiler's
> >P-code is the same, but never knew even where I'd start looking.
> 
> If it's claimed to be UCSD P-System, then the compiled P-code should be 
> platform-neutral.  

Microware's docs say nothing.  I know they stick a OS-9 module on the
front as a header, but nothing about the p-code itself.

>And, yes, the Pascal P-engine was the philosophical prototype for
>Java JVM.  "Write once, debug, err, run everywhere" has been the Holy
>Grail of computer science since day one.  I'll leave the question of
>whether that promise has ever truly been fulfilled up in the air.

I don't know where I first read about the UCSD P-code being that
portable, but it blew me away.  I knew Java's intermediate code wasn't
anything new, being a old hand at OS-9's Pascal and BASIC-09, and I
knew that the UCSD P-system had existed, but I never imagined the
pcode being portable.  If nothing else, I'd think endian issues would
cause crippling speed penalties, (like the IAPL interpeter under OS-9
-- in order to maintain workspace compatibility with z80/ 8086/ VAX/
whatever versions, it stores its numbers in little-endian.  SLOW!!!)

> I do have to admit that my more recent experiences with Java based 
> applications have been far more pleasant than the first 10 years.  

That's good.  The whole JVM thing seems like a good idea, but forces
continually try to pull it down.  

Willard
-- 
Willard Goosey  goosey at sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
I search my heart and find Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.
  -- R.E. Howard