Cover of Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering

A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design

by C. Gordon Bell, John E. McNamara, J. Craig Mudge · first published 1978

6mentions
3recommended by
5HN commenters
2011–2025first – last mentioned

60% recommend40% neutral

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Mentions per year

10 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 0 mentions2011: 1 mention2012: 0 mentions2013: 1 mention2014: 1 mention2015: 0 mentions2016: 0 mentions2017: 0 mentions2018: 1 mention2019: 1 mention2020: 0 mentions2021: 0 mentions2022: 0 mentions2023: 0 mentions2024: 0 mentions2025: 1 mention2026: 0 mentions200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • ChuckMcM · Dec 27, 2013 · Recommends

    …system that kept to a small number of principles, used repeatedly, and you did not have "needless"[1] complexity getting in the way of learning. Another good reference for seeing how things were build is "Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Design" [2] which discusses all sorts of trade offs in computer that once you understand them, things like superscalar execution units make much more sense to you. [1] It is all…

    on “The CDC 6600 Architecture” ↗
  • masswerk · Jul 20, 2019 · Recommends

    You are welcome! :-) Regarding the PDP-8, have a look into "Computer Engineering" by Gordon Bell, Craig Mudge and John McNamara; DEC, 1978. (Quite common to find at a reasonable price, there are even some PDFs circulating, which may be found by your search engine of choice.) Edit:…

    on “LGP-30 – A Drum Computer of Significance” ↗
  • kbob · Aug 14, 2018 · Recommends

    This article is fluff. If you're looking for substantive information on the earlier half of DEC's history, I recommend this book. Computer Engineering: a DEC View of Hardware Systems Design C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John E. McNamara http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102630383

    on “History of the ISA: Digital Equipment Corporation” ↗
  • hga · Jun 27, 2014 · Mentions

    …price/performance of their disk drives (the RK-05 might be an exception), but their disk offerings were at least adequate (modulo a few goofs when they made their own, long after this book was published). Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design by C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John E. McNamara, and Kenneth H. Olson (If you're not familiar with the first and last authors, your study of DEC history should…

    on “Thoughts on the culture that gave birth to the personal computer (2013)” ↗
  • pinewurst · Apr 5, 2025 · Mentions

    IBM's Early Computers A Technical History by Charles J. Bashe, Emerson W. Pugh, John H. Palmer and Lyle R. Johnson IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems by Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson and John H. Palmer Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design by C. Gordon Bell (Author), J. Craig Mudge John E. McNamara

    on “The Soul of an Old Machine” ↗
  • hga · Oct 26, 2011 · Mentions

    I'm almost positive that it's somewhere in this (scanned) book: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/CGB%20Fi... From a page off of Bell's home page: Bell, C. G., C. Mudge, J. McNamara, COMPUTER ENGINEERING, Digital Press 1978

    on “Lead Bullets” ↗

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