#PDF of Henry #Baker and Clinton Parker’s 01979 language "Micro-SPL", used to write #microcode for the #Xerox #Alto. It is much more similar to Parker’s later Atari language “Action!” than to HP SPL. “The Micro-SPL compiler generates microcode which is competitive with hand microcode, yet takes only 30-50% as long to write and 10% as long to debug. Micro-SPL generated microcode runs over ten times faster than an equivalent BCPL program and perhaps half as fast as good hand written microcode without losing the advantage of writing in a high level language.” #retrocomputing #history
on 02025-09-09Ken Shirriff's analysis of how the #8086 pipelines its #microcode interpretation
on 02023-01-15