I learned Assembler in 1975, that's what we called it at our shop in the UK.
I have a 1960's text book by staff of the Computer Usage Company. It covers the IBM 360, on close inspection, the book refers to Assembly not Assembler. On Wed, Jan 1, 2025 at 10:12 AM Clement Clarke <ad...@oscar-jol.com> wrote: > I cut my teeth on some English computers in the 1960's before the 360 was > invented. We programmed in PLAN on the ICL 1900 and in Intercode on the > English Electric LEOs. I am pretty sure we used to refer to them as > Assemblers. > > Shell Oil in Melbourne had two LEO's. They were paper tape based machines > instead of cards. And interestingly they were fully multiprogramming > machines. > > However, I looked up the first "super computer" - the Atlas. The Atlas was > apparently the first computer to have Virtual storage. And there is some > discussion about Autocoders, which was the name given to what we would call > Assemblers now, i think. > > Regarding machine language, ZAPS would be the closest anyone would get to > that these days, I suspect? Or debugging under TEST perhaps? > > Clem > > On Tue, Dec 31, 2024 at 5:51 AM Phil Smith III <li...@akphs.com> wrote: > > > Oops, I sent too soon: that Wikipedia page also distinguishes "assemblY > > code" from the "assemblER", which is the thing that processes the code to > > create [what I'd call] machine code. That makes a wee bit more sense, > > though it's a tiny distinction that I've never seen before. If so, then > we > > write assembly code that the assembler assembles into machine code. Hmm. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Phil Smith III <li...@akphs.com> > > Sent: Monday, December 30, 2024 1:44 PM > > To: 'IBM Mainframe Discussion List' <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU>; IBM > > assembler list (assembler-l...@listserv.uga.edu) < > > assembler-l...@listserv.uga.edu>; 'z/VM LIST (ib...@listserv.uark.edu)' > < > > ib...@listserv.uark.edu> > > Subject: Assembler vs. assembly vs. machine code > > > > (Cross-posted to IBM-MAIN, IBMVM, and the IBM assembler list) > > > > I just finished a book, The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak, which I > > quite enjoyed. Part of the plot involves characters writing code on a > > Commodore 64, including some "machine code". It seemed clear from the > > description that they meant what I'd call assembler; some Googling > quickly > > found https://project64.c64.org/Software/mlcom.pdf, a guide to such > > programming for the C64 which definitely seems to blur the terms. > > > > I wrote the author, who cheerfully confirmed that yes, they're used > > interchangeably in that world. > > > > Which led me to wonder several things: > > 1. Which platforms call it assembler and which call it assembly? (And > > why?) 2. Am I odd in thinking that in our world, "machine code" is the > hex > > that the hardware expects, and assembler is the opcodes/mnemonics that we > > mostly use? > > 3. What are we "assembling"? > > > > On #1, I suspect that we call it assemblER because that's what ASMXF and > H > > and HL call themselves as much as any other reason. > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language says in part "assembly > > language (alternatively assembler language...or symbolic machine code)", > > which confirms that it's blurry but doesn't otherwise clarify. > > > > It also answers, kinda, #3: > > > > The term "assembler" is generally attributed to Wilkes, Wheeler and Gill > > in their 1951 book The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital > > Computer,... who, however, used the term to mean "a program that > assembles > > another program consisting of several sections into a single program". > > > > So perhaps the two a-words aren't even really appropriate! Too late now, > > of course... > > > > What say ye? Does any of this conflict with your usage/thoughts? > > > > ...phsiii > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > -- Wayne V. Bickerdike ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
