On 2/6/2016 3:21 AM, philo wrote:
On 02/05/2016 11:57 PM, Don Y wrote:

For the i4004, we would "hand assemble" code (using a small cheat
sheet carried in your wallet for the "assembler").

For the Z80, we'd hot plug code using a custom monitor (so you could
enter/alter code into a running system and see how it fared) using
"split octal" (03770377 vs. 0xFFFF).

For a CPU I designed in the 80's, I'd write code using "macros"
(essentially text mnemonics wrapped around numeric codes) that a
COTS "assembler" would brute force convert into *my* "machine language".

And, of course, that doesn't count the assembly language coding
that permeates much of my career (cuz I code on "bare metal").

I still have my Radio Shack "scientific" calculator from 1975

it uses a 4004

We used the i4004 in a maritime "position plotter". It converted
LORAN-C (predecessor to GPS) time-difference readings to latitude-longitude
in real-time and marked the vessel's (boat's) course on a chart.

This is the successor product, CPLOT-II (which was i8085-based with a
whopping 512 bytes of memory!) -- the original CPLOT is lost to
history (at least as far as google is concerned!):

https://books.google.com/books?id=d1mr8pCoz_YC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=cplot+lo ran+epsco&source=bl&ots=7YfpF6nyHF&sig=ngmQU6sIzOp 4nXxTIiJVSq4-hf0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjc6fLv9eLKAhVD4WMKHR--CT0Q6AEIHzAA