h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi i am trying to find out a bit more information about ICL's CECIL ( computer education in schools instruction language ) progamming language, that was use in the the 70/80's in school computer studies lessons/books. I aim to teach my self a bit about computing and as a starting point i have gone back to what i should have learnt when i was doing computer studies in the mid eighties( i aim at starting with basic&logo and cp/m & msdos os's, i will probably end up learning something of z80 assembler and 8086 ) and i have come accross "CECIL" , i can work through the chapters on it in a book i have but it is frustrating that i havnt a clue how to test any programs i write on a computer.
If anyone can help me i would be very grateful.

Thanks Mike

(PS anyone here still interested in old Amstrad computers?)

http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/da/research/cecil/resources.php

this seems to be the guy, yes?
The resources page seems to link (can't try them out at the moment) to some simulations for CECIL and a Java based sim20 emulator. Might be of use

Not that I know much, vaguely recall the name, but found the above on t'net.


p.s. I had an amstrad 6128 when they came out (none of your speccy tosh for me ) and every now and then I get all nostalgic and download the emulator for it. Used to see them at computer fairs but not been to one for ages.

Wow that was quick! Thanks!

I have to say though i have been there already, in fact i have sent the guy an email , he is a from the University of Southamton, i hope he might get back to me .

The version of CECIL he is talking of on that site is an object oreinted language from late 80's/ early 90's and it seems is used to program microcontrollers and theregy teach the hardware concepts on degree courses.
I on the otherhand am looking for info on the earlier version of Cecil which was is a very basic assembly language and was used as an introduction to computer concepts for school children in 70's/80's( apparently- that apparently goes for all i have just said i think ) I came across cecil in book one of the textbooks i used at school ( not that i remember anything about the books or computers in general from school[ although it was just the beginning of the homecomputer revolution][silly aint i?]having only become interested in them in the last couple of years [ since getting online] )
Yes my young bro has a 6128, i have a little (Joyce , pcw 8256)which will hopefully teach me the basic computer stuff i should have learned to start with ( maybe not the best way to start, but as good as any i think.?)
Thanks again for your help , i really wasnt expecting anyone to get back to me that quickly but i should have known better round here , eh?

Mike

Oh! Btw; would you say hi to: oh you know, that:- Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Spoonwinner, Cheese Namer & Zaphodista-if you see him.

Oh yea Peet!

He knows an Amstrad from a speccy i think

ah, so do you mean CESIL then?
as in:
http://www.obelisk.demon.co.uk/cesil/

?

I remember the Joyce's! The old PCW 8xxx - they installed them in the school library when I had me 6128, although the CPM versions were different - still, I knew more about how they worked than the school did I wonder how many of the 'inventive' library codes and descriptions have been purged from the system in the intervening years!

ah! thats it .
actually i have been there too , and i have downloaded the jvm but couldnt get it to work.
well thanks again, i will have to try that visual cecil again .
Yes these little machines are a bit eqasier to understand for me, , i like em no hdd

ah yes, the days of instance boot up! And inline programming languages and ease of compiler access. Ah the fun I used to have Although no internet - not sure if that was a good thing or not.

What problems you having with the Java emulator?

,,,,Hi , well i tried downloading the Java virtual machine from the sun website so i could run the visual cecil that someone wrote in the last site , am i making any sense so far(?) , and i tried to get it working but it didnt; i downloaded the standalone cecil program on that site too, which should work on the command line ( its a dos batch file but i cant get it to work ).
All i can say is the problem lies with me i should learn a bit more about it all, but i am right in thinking that if i get it working that i can run a few simple cecil programs using the original ICL cecil instructions?

All i need is a yes and i can figure it out as i work thru it, i have yet to dry run a cecil program yet so it is not of immediate importance- its just that i couldnt find hardly anything on the web about it.

Thanks again
I will have it all sussed one day, like i said it was just a something that was bugging me , but i will be working thru it all in detail soon.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

What operating system are you trying to run it in? 2000, XP and Vista don't get on well with batch files, you need to find an old Win98 machine.

Hi,
yes i am running windows xp on this machine , i have a vintage laptop with dos 3.3 i am just gonna try that batch file on it right now now.
(There was also a executable AR file in the download .)

Hmm cant get the batch file working on my dos machine either .
I will get back to it . Thanks for your interest.

I meant to say an executable JAR file, which i supose needs to be run in JAVA ? That would mean i could compile my own simple cecil programs, yes ? I hope so . The dos batch file is now on a disk with a load of examples for me to veiw( if i could get it working), so at least i can look at the contents of the disk in the knowledge i should be able to open those files ( in msdos 3.3).

I will get back on it soon

Just thought i would say i did mean ICL CESIL ( wish i had never typed[typoed?]it in capitals <shrugg&gt

This post has been removed.

Hi , thanks thats great, the CESIL i was after is a bit less intresting maybe(??) , it was an computer language developed in the 70's for use in schools ( a very basic sort of assembly language ) taught alongside the BASIC language.

I have found sufficient info on "CESIL" to be getting on with it(even a version was produced for the spectrum "zxcesil" ; which i can use in an emmulator[just got that one actually]) , but the CECIL you gave me that link to is a very interesting language which was influenced by the earlier "CESIL" (taught to school children), and seems a good vehicle towards learning computer hardware concepts.

two for the price of one


Thanks again, i did read through that site, as i have the germ of an intrest in microcontrollers and programming the type of chips that are used in that course, but never looked at the Java applet.

Thanks again!

[Unsuitable link removed by Moderator]

That link is horrible. It shut down my browser twice, but kept running a virtual browser. 150MB of invisible IE7.

In fact I'm going to report it.

OMG! I wonder, did someone comment i was talking a load of old s***e, or was it my poor spelling*???*

how strange! Weren't those the posts with the links someone else posted? Could be the sites linked to were a bit dubious?

yes very strange, yes sounds dodgey doesnt it " The University of S**th**p**n "?

i hope someone lets us know what happens(Explanation????<flyingpigswhooshby&gt


Hey i did say it was an interesting link, didnt i? Jeez i must have been asleep when i looked at it, maybe i need a pair of bifocals?