The R1000 is a micro-coded computer built from approx 5k TTL functions, with an instruction set consisting of Ada Primitives like "Define a type for a variant structure with 3 variants, you'll get the details later".
It processes 64bit data and 64 bit type information about that data in parallel, in hardware.
It is also object oriented in hardware, there is no linear address space or VM-tree,
Three left in the world, plus one mostly empty chassis.
My Covid19 project was writing a software emulation of it, starting from 400 pages of schematics, because the instruction set is not documented.
And yes, I'm way behind on documenting it, because I also have a life :-)
shawn_w · 48m ago
So basically an AdaMachine?
neilv · 1h ago
I knew Rational did Ada (and later acquired awesome products from Atria and Pure), but didn't know they had their own workstation hardware in the '80s.
And it had a nice portrait orientation monitor like some early Xerox workstations (the PARC ones like Alto, and the fancy word processors like 850 and 860 IPS).
Later, starting as a teen, I was working for Cadre, a competitor of Rational on workstation software engineering tools. The company started with Apollo Domain workstations (not rolled their own), and, by the time I joined, had added Sun, HP, IBM, DEC, and MS Windows.
The Cadre site I started at (a spinoff of Tektronix, which did high-end hardware in-circuit emulators with CASE workstation frontends) was practically across the street in the OGI science park from Verdix, which, a bit like Rational, did Ada development tools and related neat systems work like (IIRC) secure compartmentalized workstation technology.
It was an exciting time in computers, and in hindsight, as a kid I saw engineers picking up and applying broader mixes of skills than we usually do in today's fairly rigid skills silos.
Is this the same Rational as Rational ClearCase etc as acquired by IBM back in the day? Crazy
phkamp · 1h ago
This is not only where ClearCase comes from, this is where "The Booch Method", UML, and the software for the Space Shuttle, The International Space Station, EuroControl (= pan-european air traffic control) and the F-22 fighter jet comes from. (Plus who knows how much other militarg hardware...)
It is a truly astonishing software development environment which with a a single key-press can answer questions like "what other code is affected if I change the default value of a parameter to this function". (Think about that one for a second!)
palmotea · 3h ago
> Is this the same Rational as Rational ClearCase etc as acquired by IBM back in the day? Crazy
> Rational Machines is an enterprise founded by Paul Levy and Mike Devlin in 1981 to provide tools to expand the use of modern software engineering practices, particularly explicit modular architecture and iterative development. It changed its name in 1994 to Rational Software, and was sold for US$2.1 billion (equivalent to current US$3.59 billion[1]) to IBM on February 21,[2] 2003.
It processes 64bit data and 64 bit type information about that data in parallel, in hardware.
It is also object oriented in hardware, there is no linear address space or VM-tree,
Three left in the world, plus one mostly empty chassis.
My Covid19 project was writing a software emulation of it, starting from 400 pages of schematics, because the instruction set is not documented.
And yes, I'm way behind on documenting it, because I also have a life :-)
And it had a nice portrait orientation monitor like some early Xerox workstations (the PARC ones like Alto, and the fancy word processors like 850 and 860 IPS).
Later, starting as a teen, I was working for Cadre, a competitor of Rational on workstation software engineering tools. The company started with Apollo Domain workstations (not rolled their own), and, by the time I joined, had added Sun, HP, IBM, DEC, and MS Windows.
The Cadre site I started at (a spinoff of Tektronix, which did high-end hardware in-circuit emulators with CASE workstation frontends) was practically across the street in the OGI science park from Verdix, which, a bit like Rational, did Ada development tools and related neat systems work like (IIRC) secure compartmentalized workstation technology.
It was an exciting time in computers, and in hindsight, as a kid I saw engineers picking up and applying broader mixes of skills than we usually do in today's fairly rigid skills silos.
Notably it needs KiCad to run and takes ~140 hours to boot.
Appears to be an ADA-based workstation?
Is this the same Rational as Rational ClearCase etc as acquired by IBM back in the day? Crazy
It is a truly astonishing software development environment which with a a single key-press can answer questions like "what other code is affected if I change the default value of a parameter to this function". (Think about that one for a second!)
Looks like it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_Software
> Rational Machines is an enterprise founded by Paul Levy and Mike Devlin in 1981 to provide tools to expand the use of modern software engineering practices, particularly explicit modular architecture and iterative development. It changed its name in 1994 to Rational Software, and was sold for US$2.1 billion (equivalent to current US$3.59 billion[1]) to IBM on February 21,[2] 2003.