templ@inf.ethz.ch (Josef Templ) (05/16/91)
Archive-name: languages/oberon/oberon/1991-05-15 Archive-directory: neptune.inf.ethz.ch:/Oberon/ [129.132.101.33] Original-posting-by: templ@inf.ethz.ch (Josef Templ) Original-subject: Public Domain Oberon Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN) Public Domain Oberon Oberon - the successor of Modula-2 - is both a programming language and an operating system designed by N.Wirth and J.Gutknecht at ETH Zurich. It is available as public domain software from ETH. Currently there are implementations for Apple Macintosh II, Digital Equipment DECstation, and Sun SPARCStation. Implementations for IBM PC (OS2) and IBM RS6000 are under development. The following lists some characteristics of the Oberon system and describes how to get it. Language - Strong type checking - Modules with type checked interfaces and separate compilation - Type extension - Support for run-time type tests - Compatibility between all numeric types (mixed expressions) - String operations Compiler - Generates native code; no separate linking necessary - Speed: more than 1000 lines per second on a SPARCStation1 System - Single-process multitasking - Automatic garbage collection - Commands: procedures that can be called like programs - Linking loader - Dynamic loading (adding modules to a running program) - Tiling window system - Text as built-in abstract data type - Tools for text and graphics editing Literature The primary source about the Oberon System, describing the standard module library and how to use the system is the book M.Reiser: The Oberon System. User Guide and Programmer's Manual. Addison Wesley, 1991, ISBN 0-201-54422-9 Other literature about the Oberon language, about implementation aspects of the system, and about the Oberon System on Macintosh and SparcStation: - N.Wirth: From Modula to Oberon and The Programming Language Oberon. Software - Practice & Experience, 18, 7 (July 1988) - N.Wirth, J.Gutknecht: The Oberon System. Software - Practice & Experience, 19, 9 (Sept.1989), 10-18 - M.Franz: MacOberon Reference Manual, Report 142, ETH Zurich, Departement Informatik, 1990 - J.Templ: SPARC-Oberon - User's Guide and Implementation. Report 133, ETH Zurich, Departement Informatik, 1990 Books about the Oberon language and the Oberon project (including main parts of the implementation in source form) are in preparation. How to get Oberon Oberon can be obtained via anonymous internet file transfer ftp (at no charge) or on floppy disks (send 20 Swiss Francs or 20 US Dollars to the address below and specify the desired version of Oberon). If you obtain Oberon via ftp, documentation is included in machine-readable form. If you order it on floppy disks, the basic documentation is included in paper. Hostname: neptune.inf.ethz.ch Internet Address: 129.132.101.33 Login Name: anonymous Password: <your e-mail address> Directory: Oberon (there are subdirectories named MacII,SPARC and DECstation) For any further questions please contact ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Computersysteme (Secretary) CH-8092 Zuerich Tel.: +41-1-254 7311 Fax: +41-1-262 3973 Electronic Mail: goerlitz@inf.ethz.ch - Josef Templ, ETH Zurich -- comp.archives file verification neptune.inf.ethz.ch total 6 drwxrwxr-x 5 1193 512 May 6 18:19 SPARC drwxrwxr-x 2 1193 512 May 6 16:31 DECstation drwxrwxrwx 2 1193 512 Mar 13 23:43 80186 drwxr-sr-x 2 1600 512 Mar 8 09:41 MacII drwxrwxr-x 2 1193 512 Mar 2 16:06 Docu -rw-rw-r-- 1 1193 685 Jan 22 16:12 readme found oberon ok neptune.inf.ethz.ch:/Oberon/