re: choice of languages: since they were hand machine coding,
the choice of high-level language was immaterial, and was a
meta-language only since no compiler was used. Probably the
authors were fluent MAC programmers. Maybe they had MAC OS/360
emulators/interpreters.
In hindsight some things appear odd (read-only core
must be physically assembled with 1's and 0's!, instead of
disabling/modifying drive currents) but embedded control -- with
human beings at .25M miles! -- never mind the mass-media effect
of failure -- was utterly without precedent. Hell embedded
digital control was novel. So --
Extreme conservatism of an kind UNKNOWABLE to COMMERCIAL
programmers was always foremost is space applications.
http://www.unt.edu/UNT/departments/CC/Benchmarks/benchmarks_html/sepoct95/lunar.htm
Received on Tue Mar 16 2004 - 14:09:54 GMT