Ralph Grishman

Seymour Cray was a true genius, and his early death was a terrible loss. Control Data Corporation (affectionately known as CDC) produced computers, and cleverly called the assembly language COMPASS for two completely different architectures, for which they were roundly cursed by many, including myself. This slim volume was a life saver for many, including myself, and I only wish it had been longer.

The 6600/7600 series was an interesting architecture, and although Grisham says, in the introduction, that the Cyber series was just an advanced version of those, that's not really true. I had a love affair with the Cyber that lasted for years, long after I had moved on to other machnes, and only the original Pixar (it was hardware before it was software) came close.

A thousand step look ahead. Special purpose registers. Peripheral Processors. It was a thing of beauty.… (more)