Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Keith Thompson Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: 8 bit cpu Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 16:14:42 -0800 Organization: None to speak of Lines: 39 Message-ID: <87ikdzwex9.fsf@example.invalid> References: <10i1vam$o2j0$1@dont-email.me> <87a4zftla2.fsf@example.invalid> <20251220112211.421@kylheku.com> <87zf7cfvjt.fsf@example.invalid> <10i8o83$2n2mf$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:14:43 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="8a66cf714faeaf5a9531013dfb88ccc7"; logging-data="3302438"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+VqUSpPdqtwyCXhSgabFlF" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Cancel-Lock: sha1:OHauoVe2sEtKcF9QaiHTmOi2yQo= sha1:GQPu3R6zSmc2VhSqludEOMal5DA= Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:395873 David Brown writes: > On 21/12/2025 02:55, Keith Thompson wrote: >> Kaz Kylheku <046-301-5902@kylheku.com> writes: >>> On 2025-12-18, Keith Thompson wrote: >>>> BGB writes: >>>> [...] >>>>> There are no "true" 8 bit systems in this sense, as pretty much every >>>>> existing 8-bit CPU has had support for 16-bit operations in some way, >>>>> though often by using register pairs. >>>> >>>> I vaguely recall reading about a true 8-bit system, maybe from the 1950s >>>> or so. >>> >>> Any guitar pedal with an electronic bypass toggle is a 1 bit system. >> But not a 1-bit computer. >> >> The system I referred to above was an actual computer with 8 bits of >> storage. > > Do you really mean a total of 8 bits of storage, or do you mean > storage addressable by 8 bits (thus avoiding the need for any 16-bit > registers or other registers bigger than 8 bits) ? As I wrote in the original followup, in context that was later snipped, "It had a total of 8 bits of storage." I think it used vacuum tubes. I can't find a reference. As you can imagine, web searches for "8-bit computer" are not productive. There could be any number of reasons why it wouldn't qualify as a programmable computer. I don't remember, or never knew, the details. [...] -- Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */