MicroTAL - a machine-dependent, high-level microprogramming language

Abstract

The design and implementation of a high-level microprogramming language is described. The language is a subset of an existing systems programming language, TAL, which allows algorithms to be written and debugged using that language. The procedure may then be recompiled using the microTAL compiler to produce a semantically equivalent microprogram which is accessed via an opcode rather than a procedure call. The microTAL compiler automatically generates code to handle interrupts and page faults which may occur during the execution of the procedure.