Live data from Hacker News

Sorcery in the open: is generated code still source code?

semisafe.com

1–3 of 3 posts

Re: Sorcery in the open: is generated code still source code?

#2
"Interpreters were conceived of only one year later, in 1958, but the mainstream was catching up in 1995."

Minor nitpick: BASIC in early homecomputers (~1980) was usually interpreted. I'd certainly call those machines mainstream at the time (and as article notes, interpreters go back way further).

Re: Sorcery in the open: is generated code still source code?

#3

"Interpreters were conceived of only one year later, in 1958, but the mainstream was catching up in 1995." Minor nitpick: BASIC in early homecomputers (~1980) was usually interpreted. I'd certainly call those machines mainstream at the time (and as article notes, interpreters go back way further).

That’s a valid nitpick. I definitely started on some Basic variant in the 1980s.

My thought on the use of the word “mainstream” there was a population larger than computer enthusiasts.

(I can definitely see the ambiguity in how it’s written)