Remembering UCSD p-System, the Pascal Virtual Machine
1 min read
Summary
UCSD’s 1980s virtual machine, p-System, offered a cross-platform environment for the Pascal dialect and later for Fortran and Ada.
p-System could operate on an existing OS or as its own OS directly on hardware, which was attractive in the highly segmented home computer market of the 80s.
The final release of version IV came in 1987, and while the software is no longer updated, it is not forgotten, with people like Hans Otten documenting the system’s history and technical details, and Borland Pascal being inspired by it.
Another virtual runtime from the era, CHIP-8, is also no longer updated, but is still discussed and worked on by enthusiasts.
