The Story of Mel (1983)
10 hours ago
- #vintage-computing
- #hacker-culture
- #programming-history
- The article contrasts modern programming with the 'Good Old Days,' asserting that real programmers used machine code, not high-level languages.
- It tells the story of Mel, a programmer at Royal McBee who wrote highly optimized, efficient code in hexadecimal for drum-memory computers like the LGP-30 and RPC-4000.
- Mel refused to use an optimizing assembler, preferring manual optimization by strategically placing instructions on the drum to minimize delays, even coining the term 'most pessimum.'
- When asked to modify a blackjack program to cheat customers, Mel reluctantly added code but intentionally reversed the test, making the program cheat in favor of the house, and refused to fix it.
- The author discovers Mel's genius in a loop without an explicit test, where address overflow changes an instruction to a jump, showcasing innovative, self-modifying code.
- The article highlights hacking as an art form, with Mel's work remaining unaltered, and includes historical notes on the LGP-30's role in discovering the Butterfly Effect.