Misplaced Pages

#546453

40-461: In 1986, Tim King left his job at MetaComCo , along with a few other employees, to start Perihelion Software in England. There they began developing a new parallel-processing operating system named HeliOS . At about the same time a colleague, Jack Lang, started Perihelion (later Perihelion Hardware) to create a new Transputer-based workstation that would run HeliOS. While at MetaComCo, much of

80-509: A vulnerability . Software patches are often released to fix identified vulnerabilities, but those that remain unknown ( zero days ) as well as those that have not been patched are still liable for exploitation. Vulnerabilities vary in their ability to be exploited by malicious actors, and the actual risk is dependent on the nature of the vulnerability as well as the value of the surrounding system. Although some vulnerabilities can only be used for denial of service attacks that compromise

120-520: A web application —had become the primary method that companies deliver applications. Software companies aim to deliver a high-quality product on time and under budget. A challenge is that software development effort estimation is often inaccurate. Software development begins by conceiving the project, evaluating its feasibility, analyzing the business requirements, and making a software design . Most software projects speed up their development by reusing or incorporating existing software, either in

160-457: A change request. Frequently, software is released in an incomplete state when the development team runs out of time or funding. Despite testing and quality assurance , virtually all software contains bugs where the system does not work as intended. Post-release software maintenance is necessary to remediate these bugs when they are found and keep the software working as the environment changes over time. New features are often added after

200-486: A code's correct and efficient behavior, its reusability and portability , or the ease of modification. It is usually more cost-effective to build quality into the product from the beginning rather than try to add it later in the development process. Higher quality code will reduce lifetime cost to both suppliers and customers as it is more reliable and easier to maintain . Software failures in safety-critical systems can be very serious including death. By some estimates,

240-443: A legal regime where liability for software products is significantly curtailed compared to other products. Source code is protected by copyright law that vests the owner with the exclusive right to copy the code. The underlying ideas or algorithms are not protected by copyright law, but are often treated as a trade secret and concealed by such methods as non-disclosure agreements . Software copyright has been recognized since

280-629: A number of high-speed effects (128 megapixel fill rates) and blitter functionality, including the ability to apply up to four masks on a bit blit operation in a fashion similar to a modern graphics processing unit 's ability to apply several textures to a 3D object. One oddity of the ATW is that it appears that the Blossom is responsible for the DRAM refresh, although the ATW includes such hardware internally. The video architecture developed by Perihelion for

320-495: A significant role in the distribution of software products. The first use of the word software is credited to mathematician John Wilder Tukey in 1958. The first programmable computers, which appeared at the end of the 1940s, were programmed in machine language . Machine language is difficult to debug and not portable across different computers. Initially, hardware resources were more expensive than human resources . As programs became complex, programmer productivity became

360-514: A specific version of the software, downloaded, and run on hardware belonging to the purchaser. The rise of the Internet and cloud computing enabled a new model, software as a service (SaaS), in which the provider hosts the software (usually built on top of rented infrastructure or platforms ) and provides the use of the software to customers, often in exchange for a subscription fee . By 2023, SaaS products—which are usually delivered via

400-415: A system's availability, others allow the attacker to inject and run their own code (called malware ), without the user being aware of it. To thwart cyberattacks, all software in the system must be designed to withstand and recover from external attack. Despite efforts to ensure security, a significant fraction of computers are infected with malware. Programming languages are the format in which software

440-504: Is Unix-like enough that it ran standard Unix utilities, including the X Window System as the machine's graphical user interface (GUI). HeliOS can run on all of the Transputers in a farm concurrently, which allows all computing tasks to be fully distributed. Powering off an ATW does not affect the overall farm, and the tasks simply move to other processors on other systems. Blossom supports several video modes: Blossom also includes

SECTION 10

#1732780229547

480-522: Is available externally, allowing several ATWs to be connected into one large farm. The motherboard includes a separate slot for one of the INMOS crossbar switches to improve inter-chip networking performance. HeliOS is Unix-like , but not Unix . It lacks memory protection, due largely to the lack of an memory management unit (MMU) on the Transputer, although a number of measures are employed to reduce

520-453: Is written. Since the 1950s, thousands of different programming languages have been invented; some have been in use for decades, while others have fallen into disuse. Some definitions classify machine code —the exact instructions directly implemented by the hardware—and assembly language —a more human-readable alternative to machine code whose statements can be translated one-to-one into machine code—as programming languages. Programs written in

560-498: The Atari Jaguar video game console. The Atari Transputer Workstation system consists of three main parts: All of these are connected using the Transputer's 20 Mbit/s processor links. The motherboard contains four slots for added farm cards containing four Transputers each, meaning that a fully expanded ATW contains 17 Transputers. Each runs at 20 MHz (the -20 in the name) which supplied about 10 MIPS each. The bus

600-822: The Sinclair QL and the Atari ST and range of other languages (e.g. Pascal, BCPL) for m68k-based computers. MetaComCo also represented LISP and REDUCE software from the RAND Corporation . Several of the team at MetaComCo went on to found Perihelion Software . Mackeonis founded Triangle Publishing, the software publishing company responsible for creating the ST Organizer for the Atari ST and PC Organizer and Counterpoint (a GUI system) for Amstrad Computers and GoldStar computers. MetaComCo BASIC

640-438: The high-level programming languages used to create software share a few main characteristics: knowledge of machine code is not necessary to write them, they can be ported to other computer systems, and they are more concise and human-readable than machine code. They must be both human-readable and capable of being translated into unambiguous instructions for computer hardware. The invention of high-level programming languages

680-605: The machine language specific to the hardware. The introduction of high-level programming languages in 1958 allowed for more human-readable instructions, making software development easier and more portable across different computer architectures . Software in a programming language is run through a compiler or interpreter to execute on the architecture's hardware. Over time, software has become complex, owing to developments in networking , operating systems , and databases . Software can generally be categorized into two main types: The rise of cloud computing has introduced

720-551: The "Abaq" name was in use in Europe, so the product name was changed to ATW800. Perihelion remained the exclusive distributor in England. A first run of prototypes was released in May 1988, followed by a production run in May 1989. In total, only 350 machines were produced (depending on the source either 50 or 100 of the total were prototypes). The team in charge of the ATW's video system, "Blossom", would later work on another Atari project,

760-550: The ATW formed the basis of a "high resolution video engine" expansion card envisaged for the TT030 workstation, connecting to the machine's VMEbus and supporting direct memory access transfers to and from system RAM. MetaComCo MetaComCo ( MCC ) was a computer systems software company started in 1981 and based in Bristol , England by Peter Mackeonis and Derek Budge. A division of Tenchstar, Ltd. MetaComCo's first product

800-604: The Atari Transputer Workstation. The machine was first introduced at the November 1987 COMDEX with the name Abaq. Two versions were shown at the time; one was a card that connected to the Mega ST bus expansion slot, the second version was a stand-alone tower system containing a miniaturized Mega ST inside. The external card version was dropped at some point during development. It was later learned that

840-567: The Perihelion Software team had worked with both Atari Corp. and Commodore International , producing the programming language ST BASIC for the former, and AmigaDOS for the latter. The principals still had contacts with both companies. Commodore had expressed some interest in their new system, and showed demos of it on an add-on card running inside an Amiga 2000 . It appears they later lost interest in it. Atari Corp. met with Perihelion and work began on what would eventually become

SECTION 20

#1732780229547

880-399: The bottleneck. The introduction of high-level programming languages in 1958 hid the details of the hardware and expressed the underlying algorithms into the code . Early languages include Fortran , Lisp , and COBOL . There are two main types of software: Software can also be categorized by how it is deployed . Traditional applications are purchased with a perpetual license for

920-564: The company, bringing with him a version of the operating system TRIPOS for the Motorola 68000 processor which he had previously worked on whilst a researcher at the University of Cambridge . This operating system was used as the basis of AmigaDOS (file-related functions of AmigaOS ); MetaComCo won the contract from Commodore because the original planned Amiga disk operating system called Commodore Amiga Operating System (CAOS)

960-404: The correctness of code, while user acceptance testing helps to ensure that the product meets customer expectations. There are a variety of software development methodologies , which vary from completing all steps in order to concurrent and iterative models. Software development is driven by requirements taken from prospective users, as opposed to maintenance, which is driven by events such as

1000-400: The cost of poor quality software can be as high as 20 to 40 percent of sales. Despite developers' goal of delivering a product that works entirely as intended, virtually all software contains bugs. The rise of the Internet also greatly increased the need for computer security as it enabled malicious actors to conduct cyberattacks remotely. If a bug creates a security risk, it is called

1040-419: The cost of products. Unlike copyrights, patents generally only apply in the jurisdiction where they were issued. Engineer Capers Jones writes that "computers and software are making profound changes to every aspect of human life: education, work, warfare, entertainment, medicine, law, and everything else". It has become ubiquitous in everyday life in developed countries . In many cases, software augments

1080-438: The form of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or open-source software . Software quality assurance is typically a combination of manual code review by other engineers and automated software testing . Due to time constraints, testing cannot cover all aspects of the software's intended functionality, so developers often focus on the most critical functionality. Formal methods are used in some safety-critical systems to prove

1120-439: The functionality of existing technologies such as household appliances and elevators . Software also spawned entirely new technologies such as the Internet , video games , mobile phones , and GPS . New methods of communication, including email , forums , blogs , microblogging , wikis , and social media , were enabled by the Internet. Massive amounts of knowledge exceeding any paper-based library are now available with

1160-597: The mid-1970s and is vested in the company that makes the software, not the employees or contractors who wrote it. The use of most software is governed by an agreement ( software license ) between the copyright holder and the user. Proprietary software is usually sold under a restrictive license that limits copying and reuse (often enforced with tools such as digital rights management (DRM)). Open-source licenses , in contrast, allow free use and redistribution of software with few conditions. Most open-source licenses used for software require that modifications be released under

1200-632: The new software delivery model Software as a Service (SaaS). In SaaS, applications are hosted by a provider and accessed over the Internet . The process of developing software involves several stages. The stages include software design , programming , testing , release , and maintenance . Software quality assurance and security are critical aspects of software development, as bugs and security vulnerabilities can lead to system failures and security breaches. Additionally, legal issues such as software licenses and intellectual property rights play

1240-472: The operating system) can take this saved file and execute it as a process on the computer hardware. Some programming languages use an interpreter instead of a compiler. An interpreter converts the program into machine code at run time , which makes them 10 to 100 times slower than compiled programming languages. Software is often released with the knowledge that it is incomplete or contains bugs. Purchasers knowingly buy it in this state, which has led to

Atari Transputer Workstation - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-618: The physical world may also be part of the requirements for a software patent to be held valid. Software patents have been historically controversial . Before the 1998 case State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. , software patents were generally not recognized in the United States. In that case, the Supreme Court decided that business processes could be patented. Patent applications are complex and costly, and lawsuits involving patents can drive up

1320-405: The possibility of programs interfering with each other. For example, when invoking a command pipeline, each program is distributed to its own separate processor, communicating with other programs using pipes that are implemented by hardware links. Where many programs may be deployed on the same processor, these processors will not in general be shared by programs belonging to different users. HeliOS

1360-408: The release. Over time, the level of maintenance becomes increasingly restricted before being cut off entirely when the product is withdrawn from the market. As software ages , it becomes known as legacy software and can remain in use for decades, even if there is no one left who knows how to fix it. Over the lifetime of the product, software maintenance is estimated to comprise 75 percent or more of

1400-424: The same license, which can create complications when open-source software is reused in proprietary projects. Patents give an inventor an exclusive, time-limited license for a novel product or process. Ideas about what software could accomplish are not protected by law and concrete implementations are instead covered by copyright law . In some countries, a requirement for the claimed invention to have an effect on

1440-431: The total development cost. Completing a software project involves various forms of expertise, not just in software programmers but also testing, documentation writing, project management , graphic design , user experience , user support, marketing , and fundraising. Software quality is defined as meeting the stated requirements as well as customer expectations. Quality is an overarching term that can refer to

1480-557: Was an MBASIC compatible interpreter for IBM PCs , which was licensed by Peter Mackeonis to Digital Research in 1982, and issued as the Digital Research Personal Basic, running under CP/M . Other computer languages followed, also licensed by Digital Research and MetaComCo established an office in Pacific Grove, California , to service their United States customers. In 1984 Dr. Tim King joined

1520-480: Was available on the Singapore Teleview videotext receiver. MetaComCo was disestablished in 1988 Software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the execution of a computer . Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital computers in the mid-20th century. Early programs were written in

1560-559: Was behind schedule; timescales were incredibly tight and TRIPOS provided a head start for a replacement system. MetaComCo also developed ABasiC for the Amiga , the first BASIC interpreter provided with Amigas. MetaComCo also worked with Atari Corporation to produce the BASIC initially provided with the Atari ST in 1985: ST BASIC . The company also sold the Lattice C compiler for

1600-401: Was simultaneous with the compilers needed to translate them automatically into machine code. Most programs do not contain all the resources needed to run them and rely on external libraries . Part of the compiler's function is to link these files in such a way that the program can be executed by the hardware. Once compiled, the program can be saved as an object file and the loader (part of

#546453