{"guid":"4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","title":"Building a B compiler for the PDP-8","subtitle":null,"slug":"vcfb19_-_129_-_en_-_201910131615_-_building_a_b_compiler_for_the_pdp-8_-_robert_clausecker","link":"https://c3voc.de","description":"The B programming language is a simplified BCPL dialect developed at Bell Labs to program their PDP-7. Later evolving into C, B is largely forgotten but remains an important milestone that shaped the familiar syntax and basic features of many, if not most modern curly-brace languages. With 8bc, I implemented a B compiler for the PDP-8, a widely popular family of minicomputers built from 1965 until well into the early 1980s. Despite being contemporaries, B and the PDP-8 seem to never have met before. In this talk, we have a look at the unique design of the PDP-8, the concessions made in B in comparison to BCPL, and how B was implemented both historically and for comparison, in 8bc.","original_language":"eng","persons":["Robert Clausecker"],"tags":["vcfb19","129","2019"],"view_count":418,"promoted":false,"date":"2019-10-13T00:00:00.000+02:00","release_date":"2019-10-13T02:00:00.000+02:00","updated_at":"2026-01-31T04:45:03.551+01:00","length":1934,"duration":1934,"thumb_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/vcfb/2019/129-hd.jpg","poster_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/vcfb/2019/129-hd_preview.jpg","timeline_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/vcfb/2019/129-hd.timeline.jpg","thumbnails_url":"https://static.media.ccc.de/media/events/vcfb/2019/129-hd.thumbnails.vtt","frontend_link":"https://media.ccc.de/v/vcfb19_-_129_-_en_-_201910131615_-_building_a_b_compiler_for_the_pdp-8_-_robert_clausecker","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_title":"Vintage Computing Festival Berlin 2019","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19","related":[{"event_id":8026,"event_guid":"010aea78-c81a-90a8-a570-54da06c0d632","weight":10},{"event_id":8028,"event_guid":"65cb155d-1df8-368f-3408-dba818022285","weight":13},{"event_id":8029,"event_guid":"04ff742c-e944-7e0b-c9fe-0f285b86020e","weight":10},{"event_id":8030,"event_guid":"aa51017b-ccf0-96fc-b298-4098e3c12385","weight":6},{"event_id":8031,"event_guid":"b9aed6ea-86e3-a2bb-79b7-08d74536e474","weight":9},{"event_id":8032,"event_guid":"9ada5415-17ef-05fd-fd14-36d46008adb5","weight":19},{"event_id":8034,"event_guid":"eb79922b-362c-cbc4-b42f-62205d3f2f0d","weight":12},{"event_id":8035,"event_guid":"e6057ab0-ab12-ee44-8cd6-973c1a183978","weight":16},{"event_id":8036,"event_guid":"996c1876-2000-e506-e7b0-a4b01ebe849a","weight":26},{"event_id":8037,"event_guid":"5d30a50e-b89b-70c3-8725-6c96c2f57523","weight":14},{"event_id":8038,"event_guid":"57e2ca9e-d25d-6481-ff79-5c04461953df","weight":27},{"event_id":8039,"event_guid":"c33c2673-3345-7e54-63a6-d3b181dc8e36","weight":9}],"recordings":[{"size":294,"length":1934,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_hd.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T19:14:53.549+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/h264-hd/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_hd.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41206","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"},{"size":17,"length":1934,"mime_type":"audio/opus","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_opus.opus","state":"new","folder":"opus","high_quality":false,"width":0,"height":0,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T19:16:56.454+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/opus/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_opus.opus","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41207","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"},{"size":29,"length":1934,"mime_type":"audio/mpeg","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_mp3.mp3","state":"new","folder":"mp3","high_quality":false,"width":0,"height":0,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T19:17:09.232+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/mp3/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_mp3.mp3","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41208","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"},{"size":87,"length":1934,"mime_type":"video/mp4","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_sd.mp4","state":"new","folder":"h264-sd","high_quality":false,"width":720,"height":576,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T19:22:13.840+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/h264-sd/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_sd.mp4","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41209","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"},{"size":139,"length":1934,"mime_type":"video/webm","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_webm-sd.webm","state":"new","folder":"webm-sd","high_quality":false,"width":720,"height":576,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T19:39:00.296+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/webm-sd/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_webm-sd.webm","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41210","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"},{"size":417,"length":1934,"mime_type":"video/webm","language":"eng","filename":"vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_webm-hd.webm","state":"new","folder":"webm-hd","high_quality":true,"width":1920,"height":1080,"updated_at":"2019-10-13T20:05:35.868+02:00","recording_url":"https://cdn.media.ccc.de/events/vcfb/2019/webm-hd/vcfb19-129-eng-Building_a_B_compiler_for_the_PDP-8_webm-hd.webm","url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/recordings/41211","event_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/events/4f5dbd77-d923-46da-b158-cfc4a11bd611","conference_url":"https://api.media.ccc.de/public/conferences/vcfb19"}]}