MMIX MIX Assembly Languages

There are no physical MIX computers, yet. MIX is a hypothetical, instructional computer construct, a virtual computer in a book, invented and intended to teach fundamental and low level computer programming, via algorithms. MIXAL is an acronym for MIX Assembly Language, an instructional language, for use with the MIX computer. MIX and MIXAL were first defined in Donald Knuth's highly influential and acclaimed: The Art of Computer Programming (TAoCP), Vol. 1: Fundamental Algorithms, Addison-Wesley, 1973. The books in the Art of Computer Programming series are widely viewed as the most important computer programming texts ever written. All programming examples in the series are written in MIXAL. MIX is an example of an old style CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) processor, and is somewhat dated. Knuth is replacing the MIX architecture with a modern 64-bit RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) variant named MMIX, and new language named MMIXAL. While this all started as a book, a growing body of software implements MIX emulators, MIXAL, and MMIX. Interest in this topic is growing. Someday will there be physical MMIX computers?

• Top/Computers/Hardware/Components/Processors/DLX
• Top/Computers/Hardware/Components/Processors/CISC
• Top/Computers/Programming/Languages/Education
• Top/Computers/Hardware/Components/Processors/RISC
• Top/Computers/Programming/Methodologies/Literate Programming

• Virtual Hardware for MMIX - Brief satiric article, seemingly from 2009 Scientific American; some downloads: True Color MMIX display for X11, MMIXX Distribution, screenshots; links.
  
• MIXAL - Eric Raymond's MIX Assembler and interpreter; downloads: readme, source tarball, HTML rendering.
  
• Dan's MIX Simulator and MIXAL Compiler - Assembler and interactive simulator in HTML and JavaScript; runs in web browser. For use if you are in haste to try MIXAL, or must code without installing an emulator.
  
• MMIXware: A RISC Computer for the Third Millennium - By Donald E. Knuth, editor; Springer-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 978-3-540-66938-8. Book on MIX replacement MMIX, all example programs written in CWEB; full text online.
  
• Status of the GNU MMIX Tools - GCC port of MMIX with tools, instructions to install, downloads, several links.
  
• MIX Builder - Full development environment: editor, assembler, simulator, interactive debugger; all in one. Does all 157 MIX instructions: floating-point operations, card reader, card punch, line printer, typewriter, paper tape. For Windows 9x-Me/NT-2000-XP.
  
• MIX - Growing article, with links to related topics. [Wikipedia]
  
• MMIX-Trace - Simplifies debugging programs; acts like normal debugger by reading tracefile, using information for nice Windows interface, moves forward, backward through code, many other functions.
  
• MixNet - MIXAL compiler for Microsoft .NET framework. Emits .NET executable files. Source code is C#. Public Domain.
  
• GNU MDK - MIX Development Kit, emulates MIX, MIXAL; with compiler, virtual machine, GUI, Guile interpreter, Emacs mode, Elisp program to run programs in Emacs window.
  
• BeOS MIX - Uses BFiles for 18 of 20 MIX I/O devices, each MIX I/O instruction spawns a Be thread to do operation while MIX keeps computing. Has MIX Go button, unlike some MIX emulators, coded in C++.
  
• Home of MMIX Group Munich Professional School - Mixed German-English site at Munich University of Applied Sciences. MMIX extensions: MMIXAL LaTeX output, Win32 graphical output.
  
• Donald Knuth: MMIX, a RISC Computer for the New Millennium - Knuth describes MMIX 64-bit RISC computer to replace MIX as environment to teach machine level details in future editions of TAoCP; audio, video, text description, links. [Dr. Dobb's TechNetCast]
  
• MIX Simulator and Assembler - MIX/MIXAL in C with Lex and CWEB documentation, in full Literate Programming style.
  
• MMIXmasters - Site for volunteers converting all programs in The Art of Computer Programming (TAOCP), Volumes 1-3, from old processor MIX, to newer MMIX: news, FAQ, mail lists, volunteer list and directions, links.
  
• Expandable MIX Emulator: EMIX - For Windows 9x-Me/NT-2000-XP, needs 16 Mb RAM, 500 Kb HD space, coded in C/C++ Builder.
  
  

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