Systems for systems implementors
William A. Wulf · 1972
The programming language Bliss was developed at Carnegie-Mellon University expressly for the purpose of writing software systems and has been in use for over three years. A considerable number of systems have been written using it: compilers, interpreters, i/o systems, simulators, operating systems, etc. The language was designed and implemented in the conventional sense of an isolated language system, and relies on the file system, editors, debuggers, etc., provided by the manufacturer and/or other users. In this paper we shall not describe Bliss, that has been done elsewhere; nor shall we attempt to justify the language design, that has also been done. Rather, we shall attempt to analyze and evaluate the particular decision to implement Bliss as an isolated language rather than as a piece of a more comprehensive system. Some comments are made on the implications of this analysis/evaluation on the shape that such a system might have.