Abstract
BACK at the beginning of the Internet, Unix machines programmed mainly in C dominated.
This meant that applications were (usually!) portable - they could be run on a wide range of computers without being rewritten for each one.
The programmer's "source code" was compiled, or translated automatically, into the most efficient form for the computer. To run it on another computer the same source code would be recompiled for another machine. Then the PC and the Mac arrived on the scene, and suddenly portability was a big problem. A program which ran on one machine might not run on another.
This meant that applications were (usually!) portable - they could be run on a wide range of computers without being rewritten for each one.
The programmer's "source code" was compiled, or translated automatically, into the most efficient form for the computer. To run it on another computer the same source code would be recompiled for another machine. Then the PC and the Mac arrived on the scene, and suddenly portability was a big problem. A program which ran on one machine might not run on another.
Original language | English |
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Specialist publication | The Irish Times |
Publisher | Irish Times |
Publication status | Published - 19 Aug 1996 |
Externally published | Yes |