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The IBM 1401 compiles and runs FORTRAN II

CuriousMarc

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YouTube
  • Recommended by 2 people: 2 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by CuriousMarc
  • Linked in the descriptionlucaseverini/ROPE

Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.

1.3M views8 years ago2 recommendations

History and cultureSystems programmingHistory of computingCompilers and interpretersRetro computing

CuriousMarc and his team attempt to compile and run a FORTRAN II program on a vintage 1959 IBM 1401 mainframe.

We attempt to compile and run a simple FORTRAN program on our vintage 1959 IBM mainframe computer at the Computer History Museum. FORTRAN is a big stretch for this business oriented machine, with 16k memory and a CPU not meant at all for scientific applications. Even integer multiply and divide instructions are an optional feature on the base machine! Success not guaranteed. Come see the IBM 1401 computer at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, USA: computerhistory.org/exhibits/ibm1401/ Simulation and programming environment available here: github.com/lucaseverini/ROPE. Mike Albaugh has made a page that explains how to run the same demonstration in the SIMH simulation: nulli.us/f1401/package.html Some pointers on how to start programming the IBM 1401 on my website (work in progress): curiousmarc.com/computing/ibm-1401-mainframe/ibm-1401-progra… Details on this implementation of FORTRAN: ibm-1401.info/1401-IBM-Systems-Journal-FORTRAN.html IBM 1401 FORTRAN compiler source code: ibm-1401.info/1401-FORTRAN-Illustrated.html E-mail exchanges with the original developers of the IBM 1401 FORTRAN: ibm-1401.info/FORTRAN-e-mails.html Official CHM IBM 1401 Video: youtu.be/ZPpV8X91neQ More CuriousMarc IBM 1401 videos: youtube.com/watch?v=7Lh4CMz_Z6M&list=PL-_93BVApb59MH7pDttB_a… Our sponsor for PCBs: pcbway.com Support the team on Patreon: patreon.com/curiousmarc Merch on Teespring: teespring.com/stores/curiousmarcs-store Learn more on companion site: curiousmarc.com Contact info: youtube.com/curiousmarc/about

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended for its fascinating look at the extreme constraints of early computing and multi-phase compiler design.

CaptArmchairon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Recovering Fossil Data on IBM 8” Floppies [video]”

If you haven't seen this already, CuriousMarc has also done this awesome series on the restoration of an original AGC - Apollo Guidance Computer last year. link And then there are real treats such as the restoration of a Teletype 33 ASR: link Or them trying to get Fortran to compile on an IBM 1401 Mainframe dated 1959. link to this video
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csenseon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?”

Not a link, but a video. A computer from 1959 (IBM 1401) at the Computer History Museum, compiling FORTRAN. The Youtube user has a lot of good material on restoring historical hardware. link to this video Also, be sure to read the email thread linked in the video comments. It's a conversation between the restoration team and the compiler's original authors (now in their 90s). If you're in SF and you want to see the 1401 in action, the Computer History Museum used to show it to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Hopefully those demos will resume once the coronavirus situation's resolved.
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u/superconvergentin r/ProgrammingLanguages • Mentions

On “Help me identify the language used in a 80's research paper”

Remember that those were the days when a line had to be maximum 80 characters long because the input device was not capable of storing more information... ...indeed instructions were passed by punched cards 80 columns long and compacting instructions was key to reduce the physical size of the programs: here how it worked (Fortran II but still, legacy was important): [video here a "floppy disk worth of programs": https://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/uwhpsc-coursera/\_images/PunchCardDecks-agr.jpg P.S. also, did you notice the automatic type declaration of variables?
3View on Reddit

jxramoson Hacker News • Mentions

On “Repairing the card reader for a 1960s mainframe: cams, relays and a clutch”

Cool stuff, I'm watching The IBM 1401 compiles and runs FORTRAN II( link to this video ) and seeing that alternating green and white printer paper brought back some old memories of when dot-matrix printer paper was used as scratch paper during school days. Impressive to even see its still for sale link
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kenson Hacker News • Mentions

On “Miniature 1959 IBM 1401 Console handmade polystyrene scratch build”

Here's a video of Fortran running on the IBM 1401 at the Computer History Museum: link to this video Because memory was so limited (8000 words), the Fortran compiler operates in 63 phases, where each phase consists of 150 to 300 instructions. In other words, the compiler's code was broken into chunks of 150-300 instructions, and that's all that could run in a phase. I'll also mention that memory was 8000 words and not 8192 words, because the IBM 1401 used decimal arithmetic.
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kenson Hacker News • Mentions

On “Booting the IBM 1401: How a 1959 punch-card computer loads a program”

…ery much at one time. Compilation took about 3 minutes plus .76 seconds per statement. Your executable got punched onto a stack of cards that you could then run. Things were faster if you had a tape drive. Your source code would normally be on cards, but the compiler would be on tape. You can see a video of FORTRAN II compilation on the 1401 here: link to this video Other comments described a later system such as the IBM System/360, where you had an operating system so you could use a card specifying Fortran compilation and you were set. Description of the compiler: link…
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