Older Languages?

[RaleTheBlade]

I have a Windows 3.11 machine and a few older Windows machines, 95 and 98. I was curious as to what languages developers used to create applications on those operating systems? C/C++? BASIC? Im not too familiar with anything other than .NET and I wanna get into something more basic to prepare me for assembly language. Thanks :)

[JVene]

I used one of the older Borland c++ compilers 'back in the day'. I don't know if recent versions still do this, but Borland C++ 2.0 and I think 3.0 would generate anything from a win32 to a win16 or even DOS executables.


The last MS compiler to support win16 was VC 1.5.

Of course, there was win32s, a DLL for Windows 3.1 that could run non-threaded win32 executables.

Windows95, with a few caveats, will run win32, with threads, so you can use more recent compilers for that. Just set the 'WINVER' define appropriately.

[RaleTheBlade]

Awesome, thanks. I was actually going to get into operating system development but I dont even know where to start. I know I would have to build a boot loader, and then a kernel. And I really wanna get started because I love the very grass root basics of computers.

[TheCPUWizard]

Turbo Pascal was also quite popular back in those days... [early 1980's]

[darwen]

Hey hey ! Back to when I started PC development !

Visual C++ 1.5. Oh joy ! It didn't have a lot of things which we now take for granted like having to set the stack size. And intellisense. And wizards for ATL/COM.

And good old EMM386 : the extended memory manager.

And it taking 2 days to install and configure Mosaic (yep, the first ever web browser).

I even remember my first 486DX2 - 66MHz. The first time I booted it up I was amazed at how fast the memory check was with 16Mb of RAM !

Nope, I don't think I miss those days at all :D

Darwen.

[GremlinSA]

Now can i SCARE YOU .....

How many of you know about the Commodore 64 (C64) .. A home computer of note from the 80's...

Production of these little buggers ended ~ 1989 ... and the company folded in 1994.... HOW EVER...

They still have a hugh following.... Current events/Comps involving a C64 (http://noname.c64.org/csdb/upcomingevents.php)
Stats about the C64 Sceen (http://noname.c64.org/csdb/funstuff/stat.php)

and back to topic.. These have only two languages you can program them in .. M.S. Basic 2 or 8 bit Assembler...

And the Assembler only has 56 valid mnemonics (Instructions/Commands) - listed and detailed here (http://www.atariarchives.org/2bml/chapter_10.php)

TBH.. I can still only Assembler in 8 bit... but i carried the basic over to the PC, and into windows....

And just for kicks.. DYK... Assembler is the oldest language...

Gremmy...

[MrViggy]

Now can i SCARE YOU .....

How many of you know about the Commodore 64 (C64) .. A home computer of note from the 80's...
Oh, that's nothing. I learned BASIC on a TI 99/4A. I'm sure there are others here that worked with even older machines.

Viggy

[TheCPUWizard]

Learned on DEC PDP-8 (mfg in 1968) starting in 1972. PAL-8 and FOCAL. Currently restoring an equivilant machine (complete with ASR-33 teletypes and paper tape).

First Built an Altair 8080 in 1974. Front Panel Switches

First Purchased TRS-80 Model I - 1976

(also owned a VIC-20 the precursor to the Commodore 64)...Still have that one.

[S_M_A]

Eh, seems like my second hand 1Mb RAM 286 at home (late 89 but with turbo button!) and VAX750 at work as quite new machines... :) (Whe're not talking education time I guess)

VC 1.52?, Borland OWL v? was popular developer tools those days. For DOS I would say all Borland products was to prefere, in those days Borland ruled.

[darwen]

Do you think that TheCPUWizard's last name is Turing ? Or Babbage ?

:D :D

I learned Z80 machine language on the ZX Spectrum when I was just a wee little boy. Lovely rubber keys !

I only encountered PC's when I started my PhD.

Darwen.

P.S. I thought VAX750's were a vacuum cleaner with cleaning fluid ?

[S_M_A]

Almost seems like that darwen. :) ZX Spectrum was one of the favourites when I was in (swedish counterpart of) high school. We used some Heathkit HW during education.

VAX was a very nice machine to work on with a Facit Twist... :)