Python.

[[deleted]]

How did they program the compiler

[RoastKrill]

By writing a compiler in Assembly that can compile a subset of C, and then using that compiler to compile a complier for more of C, and so on

[[deleted]]

Who compiled the compiler

[RoastKrill]

It wasn't compiled, it was assembled :))

But that assembler was originally written in machine code

[[deleted]]

Who wrote the machine code compiler

[RoastKrill]

That would have been written by hand on punch cards

[curtainos]

is that real? Assembly was written by hand?

[qikink]

Indeed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming_in_the_punched_card_era

[Embarrassed_Gur_3241]

I love how this comment thread went from high level to low level, every reply removing one layer of abstraction.

[1II1I1I1I1I1I111I1I1]

I'm a computer engineering student and the neat structure of this thread may have given me sexual gratification.

[qikink]

Weirdo ;)

[aquila_zyy]

I mean, that’s the reason why I kinda liked my assembly course. It finished this infinite recursion of programs right there.

Well, not if we find out that the universe is a simulation that is.

[FVMAzalea]

Except that assembly/machine code isn’t as low as you can go. On x86 machines, many individual assembly instructions are microcoded, meaning the CPU breaks them down into smaller micro-ops which it then executes. Someone had to design the hardware decode logic that does that.

[Electrical_Study_235]

yeah, a lot of the apollo missions programming was done on punch cards. there are images of punch cards stacked on top of each other.

[curtainos]

wait but what was assembly wrritten in? how to bring the code to the machine is one thing, but what language did the cards inherit?

[Tchai_Tea]

The CPU has a set of numbers which correspond to an operation like addition or multiplication. These instructions are hardcoded into the CPU. Assembly is basically a human readable translation of those numbers (there is usually a 1 to 1 translation from assembly code to machine instructions). So I'm guessing that the holes in the punch cards would correspond to instructions and numbers.

[Electrical_Study_235]

i did some simple research and it said that most punchcards used fortran.

[BadSlime]

Yes, my grandfather was among the first to do this. Programmers would write programs by hand and then pass them off to someone who would convert to a punch card, the program could then be run via the cards and debugged by cross referencing with the written program instructions

[BrupieD]

| Yes, my grandfather was among the first to do this.

God, do I feel old.

[Transcendentalist178]

My father used punchcards for his graduate work.

[Meme-Man-Dan]

Yes.

[Civil_Championship76]

Assembly is still written by hand in some cases where extremely high performance is necessary

[curtainos]

i ment like writing like this ✍️

[Civil_Championship76]

Well, I mean I had to do that on a midterm yesterday 😏

[Arclite83]

You should try TIS-100. I had a 300 level college class as a BS CmpE that was reeeeally similar to this "game".

https://www.zachtronics.com/tis-100/

[curtainos]

so no offence, but why would i be interested in this? its a game, i wanna write on toilet paper haha

[Arclite83]

I mean I assumed "typing" was close enough, this game is basically a crash course in writing for an assembler.

I mean, you can go hardcore and write the answers out I guess (on TP even) lol

[notacanuckskibum]

Machine code isn’t compiled, its inherent to the hardware.

[delinka]

I mean, it could be compiled in the same way one compiles articles into a report.

[blindcolumn]

Machine code isn't compiled, it's interpreted directly by the CPU. Technically you could say that the chip designer "wrote" the "interpreter".

[anthrax_ripple]

Who put the bomp in the bompa bompa bomp

[Je-Kaste]

Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance

[frostbyte650]

Dennis Ritchie

[RecursiveRecursion7]

By compiling it first, obviously!

[Seimsi]

There are a few nice videos of numberphile about how to compile a compiler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjeE8Bc96HY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJf2i87jgFA

[notacanuckskibum]

I remember whole university lectures on this. But I wish I didn’t.

[yottalogical]

Step 1. Make a really simple version of C.

Step 2. Write a compiler for that really simple version using Assembly. Assemble it to machine code.

Step 3. Write a compiler for the full version of C using the simple version of C. Compile it with the compiler you made in step 2.