![WDR paper computer, addition program](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/WDR_paper_computer%2C_addition_program.svg)
The WDR paper computer or Know-how Computer is an educational model of a computer consisting only of a pen, a sheet of paper, and individual matches in the most simple case.
This allows anyone interested to learn how to program without having an
electronic computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
at their disposal.
The paper computer was created in the early 1980s when computer access was not yet widespread in Germany, to allow people to familiarize themselves with basic computer operation and
assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
-like programming languages. It was distributed in over copies and at its time belonged to the computers with the widest circulation.
The Know-how Computer was developed by and Ulrich Rohde and was first presented in the television program
WDR Computerclub WDR may refer to:
* Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company
* Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group
* WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signalli ...
in 1983. It was also published in German computer magazines
mc and .
The original printed version of the paper computer has up to 21 lines of code on the left and eight
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
s on the right, which are represented as boxes that contain as many
match
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
es as the value in the corresponding register.
A pen is used to indicate the line of code which is about to be executed. The user steps through the program, adding and subtracting matches from the appropriate registers and following program flow until the stop instruction is encountered.
The instruction set of five commands is small but
Turing complete
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical co ...
and therefore enough to represent all mathematical functions: incrementing ("inc") or decrementing ("dec") a register, unconditional jump ("jmp"), conditional jump ("isz", skips next instruction if a register is zero), and stopping program execution ("stp").
An emulator for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
is available on Wolfgang Back's website,
but a JavaScript emulator also exists.
Emulators place fewer restrictions on line count or the number of registers, allowing longer and more complex programs.
The paper computer's method of operation is nominally based on a
register machine
In mathematical logic and theoretical computer science a register machine is a generic class of abstract machines used in a manner similar to a Turing machine. All the models are Turing equivalent.
Overview
The register machine gets its name fro ...
by Elmar Cohors-Fresenborg,
but follows more the approach of
John Cedric Shepherdson and
Howard E. Sturgis in their
Shepherdson–Sturgis register machine model.
A derived version of the paper computer is used as a "Know-How Computer" in
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n school education.
See also
*
Digi-Comp I
*
Digi-Comp II
The Digi-Comp II was a toy computer invented by John "Jack" Thomas Godfrey (1924–2009) in 1965 and manufactured by E.S.R., Inc. in the late 1960s that used marbles rolling down a ramp to perform basic calculations. A two-level masonite platfo ...
*
Geniac
Geniac was an educational toy billed as a " computer" designed and marketed by Edmund Berkeley, with Oliver Garfield from 1955 to 1958, but with Garfield continuing without Berkeley through the 1960s. The name stood for "Genius Almost-automatic C ...
*
CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation
*
Turing Tumble
''Turing Tumble'' is a game and demonstration of logic gates via mechanical computer. Named after Alan Turing, the game itself could (abstractly) duplicate the processes of any computer whatsoever if the game field itself were sufficiently large. ...
*
Little man computer
References
Further reading
*
https://web.archive.org/web/20220617112552/http://dieterjohn.spdns.de/Programme/Know-How-Computer-2.zip]
*
* (NB. Javascript implementation of a paper computer)
**
* {{cite web , title=Ein Bit ist genug , language=de , date=2021-04-06 , author= , work=HNF-Blog - Neues von gestern aus der Computergeschichte , publisher=Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum
The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) in Paderborn, Germany, is the largest computer museum in the world (as of 2018). It is named after the Paderborn computer pioneer and entrepreneur Heinz Nixdorf.
History
In 1977, Heinz Nixdorf received numero ...
(HNF) , url=https://blog.hnf.de/ein-bit-ist-genug/ , access-date=2022-06-17 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613231535/https://www.blog.hnf.de/ein-bit-ist-genug/ , archive-date=2021-06-13
Computers
German inventions
1983 in computing
Models of computation
Educational abstract machines
Educational programming languages