DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE USING THE DEC PDP-11 ETOS MULTI-LINGUAL TIME SHARING SYSTEM FOR THE PDP8 D.D. Cowan, P.H. Dirksen, J.W. Graham, J.W. Welch Department of Computer Science University of Waterloo Thomas Schreier Educomp Corporation Hartford, Conn. 06103 Abstract Abstract During the past two years, the Waterloo Foundation for the Advancement of Computing (WATFAC) and the University of Waterloo have been developing educational software in a number of projects using DEC PDP-11 minicomputers. These projects include the development of WATFOR-11 (a load-and-go FORTRAN compiler), WATBOL-11 (a load-and-go COBOL compiler), and WIDJET ~ student editing and job-entry system). This paper presents a survey of these projects and discusses several problems encountered during their implementation. EDUCOMP's Time-shared Operating System (ETOS) is an integrated package of hardware and software designed for maximum utility of a PDP8 computer. ETOS supports up to 16 users, with each user able to use the system as if he were operating on a stand-alone PDP8 with 64K bytes of memory. This paper will contrast the various modes of computer operation and illustrate how the combination of batch, real-time, and interactive usage results in the optimum fulfillment of the all-important criterion of price/performance. Emphasis is placed on the maintenance of continuous system performance. This is especially important to the educational user. In many situations, if the machine must be shut down for one type of user, the educational user is the first one to be sacrificed. Computer assisted instruction, drills, simulations, and general student motivation are somehow viewed as less important than the use of the computer to collect taxes. ETOS is EDUCOMP's solution to this misguided allocation of resources. ETOS requires a 16K omnibus PDPS, clock, an RK8e controller with an RK05 drive, a backup peripheral for the RK05 drive, and a Time Share Control Module. A MICROPROGRAMMING DESIGN LABORATORY Christopher Vickery Queens College of CUNY Abstract Sophisticated design aids are available to help automate microprogram development both for large, complex computers and for microprocessor-based systems. These aids include procedures for source code verification, object code generation, microprogram simulation, and interactive debugging. For various reasons, such aids are generally not well-developed for microprogrammable minicomputers. This paper describes a microprogramming laboratory developed for the Interdata 85 minicomputer which uses both the minicomputer itself as well as the time-sharing and batch facilities of a large computer center. Ezperience with the laboratory has shown that the facility for interacting with a microprogram is as important as the availability of complete diagnostic information. The argument is made that design automation aids for microprogramming minicomputers could be produced efficiently from standardized assembly and simulation programs. -9- ABACUS/X AN INCREMENTAL COMPILER FOR MINICOMPUTER USE David L. Fulton and Richard T. Thomas Department of Computer Science Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 Abstract This paper describes an incremental compiler which has been developed for use on minicomputers.

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