[TUHS] History of non-Bell C compilers?

[Rob Pike]

Yes. Ken wrote the first version for the National 32000 (maybe even 16000?)
on the Sequent. He ported to the MIPS when we started Plan 9.

-rob


On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 12:08 PM Bakul Shah <bakul at iitbombay.org> wrote:

> What is the history of Plan9's C compiler? Was it a from scratch
> implementation?
>
> On Mar 7, 2024, at 4:57 PM, Rob Pike <robpike at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Chris Fraser and Dave Hanson did LLC and wrote a book about it, very clean
> and pedagogically valuable.
>
>
> https://www.amazon.com.au/Retargetable-C-Compiler-Design-Implementation/dp/0805316701
>
> -rob
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 11:31 AM Warner Losh <imp at bsdimp.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 7, 2024 at 5:08 PM Rich Salz <rich.salz at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I believe Snyder was an MIT Master's thesis, finished in 1975[1].  There
>>> was a fair amount of C and compiler work at MIT LCS, perhaps JNC can post
>>> some info. I think Snyder's compiler was used for the MIT PC/IP[2] project;
>>> the links at BitSavers imply they are related. PC/IP brought TCP and
>>> clients to DOS 3 machines and was commercialized as FTP software and was
>>> one of the reasons for the creation of the MIT license[4]. BDS C[3] was
>>> done by an MIT drop-out, Leor Zolman. I bought my first motorcycle from him
>>> :) BDS C was used for the first implementations of MINCE (mince is not
>>> complete emacs -- those kinds of acronyms were popular) and Scribble,
>>> downsized clones of emacs and Scribe, respectively.
>>>
>>> [1] http://www.lcs.mit.edu/publications/specpub.php?id=717
>>> [2] https://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/pcip-1986.pdf
>>> [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDS_C
>>> [4] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9263265
>>>
>>
>> Judging from what's at the bitsavers I posted, the source for pcip and
>> this is the backstory to them.
>>
>> Warner
>>
>
>
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