Episode 136 - Getting On TRAC

Advent of Computing

Have you ever formed a bad first impression? Way back when I formed a hasty impression of this language called TRAC. It's been called a proto-esoteric language, and for good reason. It's outlandish, complex, and confounding. But, after the urging of some listeners, I've decided to give TRAC a second look. What I've found is, perhaps, more confusing than I ever imagined. This episode we are looking at the wild history of TRAC, how it actually pioneered some good ideas, and why it feels so alien.

Selected Sources:

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/800197.806048 - 1965 TRAC paper

https://github.com/gmilmei/trac64 - TRAC64 processor in "modern" C

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/365230.365270 - 1966 TRAC paper, with more code!