y2k stuff

From: Jgzabol_at_aol.com <(Jgzabol_at_aol.com)>
Date: Tue Jan 12 22:07:46 1999

In einer eMail vom 12.01.1999 15:06:43, schreiben Sie:

<< I've come across enough machines that use 6-bit characters internally....
 
 6 Bit ? thats new - I never have seen a 6 Bit byte computer - I
 know 6 Bit only from some serial line encodings.
>>

6 bit characters were quite the standard BEFORE /360 days, say for
CDC 6600, CDC 7600 (the most powerful computers from mid-60s until
the appearance of the CRAY-1 machines, forerunners of the Cyber 170 series),
or IBM 7030, IBM 7090, IBM 7094 say, back in the '60s.
They were not called bytes, and could not be addressed directly;
there were 36 bit or 60 bit words, and shift / logical instructions used for
character manipulation. In fact this is probably the origin for the
six character namelength limit in FORTRAN IV : 6 chars x 6 bits = 36 bit word.

John G. Zabolitzky
Received on Tue Jan 12 1999 - 22:07:46 GMT