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Sinclair BASIC
Sinclair BASIC is a dialect of the programming language BASIC used in the 8-bit home computers from Sinclair Research, Timex Sinclair and Amstrad. The Sinclair BASIC interpreter was written by Nine Tiles Networks Ltd. Designed to run in only 1 KB of RAM, the system makes a number of decisions to lower memory usage. This led to one of Sinclair BASIC's most notable features, that the keywords were entered using single keystrokes; each of the possible keywords was mapped to a key on the keyboard, when pressed, the token would be placed into memory while the entire keyword was printed out on-screen. This made code entry easier whilst simplifying the parser. The original ZX80 version supported only integer mathematics, which partially made up for some of the memory-saving design notes which had negative impact on performance. When the system was ported to the ZX81 in 1981, a full floating point implementation was added. This version was very slow, among the slowest BASICs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timex Computer 3256
The TC 3256 or Timex Computer 3256 was a 1987 computer created by Timex Sinclair, Timex of Portugal, a branch of Timex Group USA, Timex Corporation. It was a third generation Sinclair Research, Sinclair ZX Spectrum compatible computer, with expanded capabilities and new ''TEC - Timex Extended Commands'' BASIC commands supporting the AY-3-8912 sound chip, RS-232 network and the 512x192 pixel high resolution graphic mode. Besides the legacy Sinclair BASIC, the ROM included a word processor (''Timeword''), Sinclair_BASIC#Timex_Extended_Basic, Timex Extended Basic (with support for the ''Tenet'' network, floppy disks and RAM drive) and a CP/M terminal emulator. RAM was expanded to 256kb. At least one prototype was built, but the machine never reached the market due to Timex of Portugal shutting down its production line before its release. Technical specifications Central processing unit, CPU *Zilog Z80A Read-only memory, ROM * 64K **16K Sinclair BASIC **16K Timeword text process ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperative Programming
In computer science, imperative programming is a programming paradigm of software that uses Statement (computer science), statements that change a program's state (computer science), state. In much the same way that the imperative mood in natural languages expresses commands, an imperative program consists of command (computing), commands for the computer to perform. Imperative programming focuses on describing ''how'' a program operates step by step (with general order of the steps being determined in source code by the placement of statements one below the other), rather than on high-level descriptions of its expected results. The term is often used in contrast to declarative programming, which focuses on ''what'' the program should accomplish without specifying all the details of ''how'' the program should achieve the result. Procedural programming Procedural programming is a type of imperative programming in which the program is built from one or more procedures (also termed s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parsing
Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a String (computer science), string of Symbol (formal), symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar by breaking it into parts. The term ''parsing'' comes from Latin ''pars'' (''orationis''), meaning Part of speech, part (of speech). The term has slightly different meanings in different branches of linguistics and computer science. Traditional Sentence (linguistics), sentence parsing is often performed as a method of understanding the exact meaning of a sentence or word, sometimes with the aid of devices such as sentence diagrams. It usually emphasizes the importance of grammatical divisions such as subject (grammar), subject and predicate (grammar), predicate. Within computational linguistics the term is used to refer to the formal analysis by a computer of a sentence or other string of words into its constituents, resulting in a par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trigonometry
Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and side lengths of triangles. In particular, the trigonometric functions relate the angles of a right triangle with ratios of its side lengths. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies. The Greeks focused on the calculation of chords, while mathematicians in India created the earliest-known tables of values for trigonometric ratios (also called trigonometric functions) such as sine. Throughout history, trigonometry has been applied in areas such as geodesy, surveying, celestial mechanics, and navigation. Trigonometry is known for its many identities. These trigonometric identities are commonly used for rewriting trigonometrical expressions with the aim to simplify an expression, to find a more useful form of an expression, or to solve an equation. History Sumerian astronomers studied angle me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferranti
Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid systems, defense electronics, and computing, and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company had an extensive presence in the defense sector, manufacturing advanced cockpit displays, radar transmitters, inertial navigation systems, and avionics for military aircraft, including the Tornado fighter jet. It was a pioneer in computer technology, launching the Ferranti Mark 1 in 1951, one of the world's first commercially available computers. Ferranti's global footprint extended beyond the UK, with factories and branch plants in Australia, Canada, Singapore, Germany, and the United States. The company had a strong presence in Edinburgh, with numerous branch-plants as well as an aviation facility. Despite its eventual collapse, some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncommitted Logic Array
A gate array is an approach to the design and manufacture of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) using a prefabricated chip with components that are later interconnected into logic devices (e.g. NAND gates, flip-flops, etc.) according to custom order by adding metal interconnect layers in the factory. It was popular during the upheaval in the semiconductor industry in the 1980s, and its usage declined by the end of the 1990s. Similar technologies have also been employed to design and manufacture analog, analog-digital, and structured arrays, but, in general, these are not called gate arrays. Gate arrays have also been known as uncommitted logic arrays ('ULAs'), which also offered linear circuit functions, and ''semi-custom chips''. History Development Gate arrays had several concurrent development paths. Ferranti in the UK pioneered commercializing bipolar ULA technology, offering circuits of "100 to 10,000 gates and above" by 1983. The company's early lead i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimal BASIC
Minimal BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language developed as an international standard. The effort started at ANSI in January 1974, and was joined in September by a parallel group at ECMA. The first draft was released for comments in January 1976 and the final standard, known alternately as ANSI X3.60-1978 or ECMA-55, was published in December 1977. The US Bureau of Standards introduced the NBSIR 77-1420 test suite to ensure implementations met the definition. By this time, Microsoft BASIC was beginning to take over the market after its introduction on early microcomputers in 1975, and especially after the introduction of the 1977 "trinity" - the Apple II, Commodore PET and TRS-80, all of which would cement MS-style BASICs as the ''de facto'' standard. ISO standardization of Minimal BASIC began as ISO 6373:1984 but was abandoned in 1998. An effort to produce a more powerful dialect, Full BASIC (also known as Standard BASIC), was not released until January 1987 and ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide. ANSI accredits standards that are developed by representatives of other standards organizations, government agencies, consumer groups, companies, and others. These standards ensure that the characteristics and performance of products are consistent, that people use the same definitions and terms, and that products are tested the same way. ANSI also accredits organizations that carry out product or personnel certification in accordance with requirements defined in international standards. The organization's headquarters are in Washington, D.C. ANSI's operations office is located in New York City. The ANSI annual operating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forth (programming Language)
Forth is a stack-oriented programming language and interactive integrated development environment designed by Charles H. "Chuck" Moore and first used by other programmers in 1970. Although not an acronym, the language's name in its early years was often spelled in all capital letters as ''FORTH''. The FORTH-79 and FORTH-83 implementations, which were not written by Moore, became '' de facto'' standards, and an official technical standard of the language was published in 1994 as ANS Forth. A wide range of Forth derivatives existed before and after ANS Forth. The free and open-source software Gforth implementation is actively maintained, as are several commercially supported systems. Forth typically combines a compiler with an integrated command shell, where the user interacts via subroutines called ''words''. Words can be defined, tested, redefined, and debugged without recompiling or restarting the whole program. All syntactic elements, including variables, operators, and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MK14
The MK14 (Microcomputer Kit 14) was a computer kit sold by Science of Cambridge of the United Kingdom, first introduced in 1977 for £39.95. The price was very low for a complete computer system at the time, and Science of Cambridge eventually sold over fifteen thousand kits. The design was unusual in that it used the National Semiconductor SC/MP microprocessor, which was not widely used in this role. The original design was custom, based on a Sinclair calculator as the main input and output device. National Semiconductor offered them the design of National's IntroKit single board computers for free if they agreed to a purchase agreement on the parts, which would be lower than what they could negotiate separately. The original design was dropped in favour of National's offer. Several upgrades for memory were available, allowing a maximum of 2 kB of RAM, as well as a variety of other add-ons. History Design From 1974, Ian Williamson was working at the engineering firm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TRS-80
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer developed by American company Tandy Corporation and sold through their Radio Shack stores. Launched in 1977, it is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers. The name is an abbreviation of ''Tandy Radio Shack, Z80 [microprocessor]'', referring to its Zilog Z80 8-bit microprocessor. The TRS-80 has a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, 4 kilobyte, KB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) standard memory, small size and desk area, floating-point Level I BASIC language Interpreter (computing), interpreter in read-only memory (ROM), 64-character-per-line computer monitor, video monitor, and had a starting price of US$600 (equivalent to US$ in ). A cassette tape drive for program storage was included in the original package. While the software environment was stable, the cassette load/save process combined with keyboard bounce issues ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics in the 1970s and early 1980s. After spending several years as assistant editor of ''Instrument Practice'', Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics Ltd in 1961. He produced the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator (the Sinclair Executive) in 1972. Sinclair then moved into the production of home computers in 1980 with Sinclair Research Ltd, producing the Sinclair ZX80 (the UK's first mass-market home computer for less than £100) and in the early 1980s, the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and the Sinclair QL. Sinclair Research is widely recognised for its importance in the early days of the British and European home computer industry, as well as helping to give rise to the British video game industry. Sinclair also had several commercial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
