Richard Merrill
Encyclopedia
Richard Merrill was a Digital Equipment Corporation
employee who invented the FOCAL programming language and programmed the first two interpreters for the language in 1968 and 1969, for the PDP-8
. He also developed later versions of the interpreter for the PDP-7
and PDP-9, and he was most likely the author of the PDP-11
FOCAL interpreter.
Merrill wrote The Sumer Game (later popularized as Hamurabi
) in 1969 in FOCAL, programming it on a DEC PDP-8
.
Merrill also designed and programmed the EDIT-8 text editor (using paper-tape).
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
employee who invented the FOCAL programming language and programmed the first two interpreters for the language in 1968 and 1969, for the PDP-8
PDP-8
The 12-bit PDP-8 was the first successful commercial minicomputer, produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1960s. DEC introduced it on 22 March 1965, and sold more than 50,000 systems, the most of any computer up to that date. It was the first widely sold computer in the DEC PDP series of...
. He also developed later versions of the interpreter for the PDP-7
PDP-7
The DEC PDP-7 is a minicomputer produced by Digital Equipment Corporation. Introduced in 1965, it was the first to use their Flip-Chip technology. With a cost of only $72,000 USD, it was cheap but powerful by the standards of the time. The PDP-7 was the third of Digital's 18-bit machines, with...
and PDP-9, and he was most likely the author of the PDP-11
PDP-11
The PDP-11 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a succession of products in the PDP series. The PDP-11 replaced the PDP-8 in many real-time applications, although both product lines lived in parallel for more than 10 years...
FOCAL interpreter.
Merrill wrote The Sumer Game (later popularized as Hamurabi
Hamurabi
Hamurabi is a text-based game of land and resource management and is one of the earliest computer games. Its name is a shortening of Hammurabi, reduced to fit an eight-character limit.-History:...
) in 1969 in FOCAL, programming it on a DEC PDP-8
PDP-8
The 12-bit PDP-8 was the first successful commercial minicomputer, produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1960s. DEC introduced it on 22 March 1965, and sold more than 50,000 systems, the most of any computer up to that date. It was the first widely sold computer in the DEC PDP series of...
.
Merrill also designed and programmed the EDIT-8 text editor (using paper-tape).