Xref: utzoo comp.lang.misc:2287 comp.lang.fortran:1592 comp.lang.c:14539 comp.lang.pascal:1251 comp.lang.c++:2191 comp.lang.modula2:1157 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!husc6!wjh12!redsox!campbell From: campbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.pascal,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.modula2 Subject: Re: Linkage Declaration (was Re: Standardization (of FORTRAN, Ada, ect.)) Keywords: linkage,BLISS Message-ID: <567@redsox.UUCP> Date: 4 Dec 88 15:22:53 GMT References:<395@ubbpc.UUCP> <311@csun1.UUCP> <2086@garth.UUCP> Reply-To: campbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell) Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc. Lines: 37 In article <2086@garth.UUCP> phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps) writes: }There was an interesting source-level mechanism reported }from Carnegie-Mellon U.: } } William A. Wulf: } "The Problem Of The Definition Of Subroutine Calling Conventions", } _SIGPLan Notices_, 1972 December, p. 3..8. } }It was intended to allow definition of machine-level information }on routine invocation mechanisms from BLISS source code: ... description of syntax omitted ... }I don't know whether it became a conventional part of BLISS. It did become part of the BLISS in use at DEC. On the VAX there are only two styles of subroutine call, but on the PDP-10 there were literally dozens, plus system calls implemented by illegal opcode traps. The BLISS compiler on the PDP-10, BLISS-36, had built-in subroutine linkages for the system calls and the more common subroutine calls. You could also, of course, define your own linkages for interfacing with funky old code. BLISS is an interesting language that has received less attention than I think it deserves. Unfortunately, only CMU and DEC ever did much with BLISS, as far as I know. If you read any BLISS literature you should be aware that DEC has added *lots* of enhancements to the language. The first BLISS compiler, BLISS-10, was originally designed for the PDP-10 and had lots of PDP-10-isms wired into it. CMU also did a PDP-11 version that was quite different. DEC essentially merged the two, added a powerful macro preprocessor, a condition handling facility, and other features, producing what is, in my opinion, a very nice language for implementing machine-dependent code (device drivers, operating system kernels, etc.) -- Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. campbell@bsw.com 120 Fulton Street wjh12!redsox!campbell Boston, MA 02146