RIP Prof Wirth Side note: can we get a better tag on this to show it's a PDF file? I think the source is reputable but I always freak out when a url goes to a pdf.
The URL already ends in .pdf .
Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
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Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#12Back when I took compilers in college we wrote a compiler for Oberon. I couldn’t quite find my original class site, but this one seems roughly right (from a few years before I took the class): https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~wgg/CSE131B/
It was a great teaching language.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#13Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#14> The largest chapter of the 1992 edition of this book dealt with the compiler translating Oberon programs into code for the NS32032 processor. This processor is now neither available nor is its architecture recommendable. Instead of writing a new compiler for some other commercially available architecture, I decided to design my own in order to extend the desire for simplicity and regularity to the hardware. The ult…
Nand2Tetris is the perfect introduction project of this field that spans Hardware, OS and compiler design. That said, I completed the project and found it lacking depths and in-depth investigation of all topics. But this is what makes it the perfect introduction project.
The University of Tokyo has a similar project that I believe can serve as a stepping stone. Check out the CPU experiment: https://ytsmiling.tech/2017/04/02/cpuex.html
If you don't like it (probably due to lack of documentation), at this stage you can also design your own projects. Basically a CPU sub-project that uses Verilog or any HDL, which leads to an OS and compiler project.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#15After this follow up on the Oberon System 3, with its Gadgets component model, and a mix of JIT/AOT compilers, "The Oberon companion - a guide to using and programming Oberon System 3" https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Oberon-companion-a... You can access the source code from Rochus fork, https://github.com/rochus-keller/OberonSystem3 Or the Active Oberon evolution, although not directly done by Niklaus Wirth…
The Active Oberon evolution started with the Active Object System (AOS) and the Bluebottle window manager; the source code of the last "Current" release can be accessed e.g. here: https://github.com/OberonSystem3/AOS_Bluebottle_Sources. If you want to study the source code, you can use this tool: https://github.com/Rochus-Keller/ActiveOberon.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#16I re-typeset the text in TeX and have a nicer looking PDF for those that care: https://github.com/guidoism/tex-oberon
I really liked reading the README. It shows that you are passionate about Project Oberon and the book. This in turn motivates me to read it. Thank you for your work.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#17I re-typeset the text in TeX and have a nicer looking PDF for those that care: https://github.com/guidoism/tex-oberon
Thank you for your hard work and dedication in keeping this alive.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#18I re-typeset the text in TeX and have a nicer looking PDF for those that care: https://github.com/guidoism/tex-oberon
Awesome! I'm guessing there's a not-too-hard way to change change the paper format? I'm thinking of going to A5 so I can bind myself a nice book.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#19> The largest chapter of the 1992 edition of this book dealt with the compiler translating Oberon programs into code for the NS32032 processor. This processor is now neither available nor is its architecture recommendable. Instead of writing a new compiler for some other commercially available architecture, I decided to design my own in order to extend the desire for simplicity and regularity to the hardware. The ult…
As another user said, it's not oriented towards a beginner. You would want some, maybe most, of the background in NAND 2 Tetris first. Chapter 16 about that mentioned processor for example, and it just throws you in the deep end with the Verilog code. Here's the CPU interface with the system bus, the registers, and how the multiplier unit works.
The good part is the commentary about the design decisions and trade-offs. That is invaluable, because it is the wisdom of Niklaus Wirth, towards the end of his career, drawing on a lifetime of experience. He was one of those rare polymaths, with a broad and deep understanding, of both the circuitry, and the more abstract parts of CS. He always generalized, tried to understand the principle, and places things in their historical context and explains how they developed. Because it's Wirth, the history lesson is often based on personal experience. It produces a good synthesis, in my opinion. For example:
> The second [interface] (MouseX) is included here for historical reasons. It was used by the computer Lilith in 1979, and used the same Mouse as its ancestor Alto (at PARC, 1975). It is distinguished by a very simple hardware without its own microprocessor, which is currently contained in most mice. This goes at a cost of a 9-wire cable. But today, microprocessors are cheaper than cables. We include this interface here, because it allows for a simple explanation of the principle of pointing devices.
Re: Project Oberon: Design of an operating system, a compiler, and a computer [pdf]
#20In an interview with Niklaus he was talking about a 500 page document...