41
votes
Accepted
Where and when did the `0x` convention for hexadecimal literals originate?
This did not exist in B as of 1972, though B did support octal integer literals via a 0 prefix.
True, but B's predecessor, BCPL, had a notation of # for octal and #x for hexadecimal. So the idea '...
- 198k
29
votes
Accepted
When and where did the $ convention for hexadecimal literals originate?
Short Answer:
Motorola used it for their 6800 and MOS (6500) inherited it from Motorola. After all, the 6500 team members came out of the 6800 project so they were already used to it.
Long Answer:
...
- 198k
22
votes
What is the hex versus octal timeline?
Addressing the "why" part of the question - from my point of view as an assembly-code programmer on PDP-11 and VAX, the "standard" radix is most usefully chosen to match the instruction layout.
PDP-...
- 31.7k
19
votes
Was there ever a microcomputer with a full-size keyboard and a hex numpad?
Apparently you misunderstood the reasoning behind a hex keypad: It never was a means to ease input of hex characters, but rather the cheapest method to input anything at all. Early single board ...
- 30.7k
16
votes
What is the hex versus octal timeline?
The when and why of use of hexadecimal over octal representation
is intimately tied in with where and what: the use of one over the
other depended greatly on environmental factors, as well as the
...
- 23.6k
10
votes
Was there ever a microcomputer with a full-size keyboard and a hex numpad?
I'm going to point at the TK-80 with the TK-80BS external keyboard:
(The image is from [NEC] TK-80 (IPSJ Computer Museum).)
Unfortunately this doesn't answer your question fully, since you ask for a ...
- 201
9
votes
What is the hex versus octal timeline?
When and why
That is quite close tied to the IBM /360 and its introduction in 1964. The /360 is based on the use of an 8 bit byte, 32 bit word (16 bit half word) and 24 bit address. Thus all basic ...
- 198k
8
votes
What is the hex versus octal timeline?
Minicomputers and mainframes typically used octal, as many early mainframes had word sizes that were a multiple of 3 bits, and so did some minis. Operators and engineers within those environments ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
Was there ever a microcomputer with a full-size keyboard and a hex numpad?
None that I know of (*1).
Where would the use case be (*2) - it's allways about the use case. On a single boarder all data is hex, so the keyboard needs hex plus function keys. They are not ...
- 198k
1
vote
What is the hex versus octal timeline?
As others stated, of course this is related to word size on your machine.
I started learning higher programming languages on a WANG 2200T in 1977, and everything was hexadecimal there. My "Junior ...
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