Re: Integer Coersion

In message <NMGdnddgrIG2f1fYnZ2dnUVZ_s-rnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>, glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
They are disappearing fairly fast. I believe Unisys still sells a
ones complement machine, though I don't know the word size.
Most of the 64 bit Cray machines are in museums by now.

It is actually a bit ironic, isn't it. During the 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s we struggled with using Fortran66/77 on hardware with word-lengths which ranged from 12-bits to 72 bits. Around 1990 finally came up with a fully portable way of specifying variable sizes independent of word-length, while just around the same time the hardware industry converged on the 8-bit byte for characters, and the 32-bit word for default integers and reals.

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Clive Page
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