I see that it could be true for many desktop and mobile phone applications but who should develop the operating systems, embedded applications and backends? It is a full time job just to learn all the programming languages, libraries, frameworks, standards, protocols and other related things.
Well, typing is more of a motorical skill than programming. Almost everyone can learn to drive a car (manual gearbox) but the same could not be said for programming where problem solving, logic and intelligence is a must.
But with that being said, people from other professions could still learn how to program and do it well.
Maybe you think of a programmer as person that is just typing in the program designed by someone else, a developer, in a specific language with a specific syntax?
Do you mean the text? I was writing the text for me, as some kind of project log. Actually, I found a couple of errors in the design while writing which I wouldn't have found if I haven't written the text.
The text may only be interesting for people building or thinking about building a retro microcomputer.
Sound like you have the right mindset ;-) The most boring part of the project was routing of all the bus lines in KiCad, but I knew that if a kept on working, the reward would be big :-)
I was actually planning to do a ROM emulator with a PIC MCU at first, but ended up using a regular EPROM, SIO/UART and a bootloader to load programs via RS232. When I had a stable program, I burned it to the ROM and continued. This is because when I got started with the "test circuit" I didn't want to go back to the PIC :-D
I'm currently developing my ROM monitor so that I can get CP/M running :-)
Five PCBs cost me $250, but they can be made cheaper. Otherwise the price depends a lot on the components. Ceramic ones are very expensive and the whole computer would probably end up at around $300 - $400. For plastic components, the price would be more close to $200.
The easiest way is probably to buy an old computer from the eighties, but they can be very expensive :0 I don't know much about other homebrew computers, but mine (Calculon/80) could probably be expanded with those things. I haven't tested the expansion port yet, but I will when have some time :-)
Also, if it does not have to be using the Z80 CPU, I would recommend the Motorola 68000 CPU, which I will use in my next project.
Thank you, I will write and publish much more documentation as soon as possible :-) It is a four layer PCB, one for Vcc, one for ground and the other two for signals. I designed it in KiCad and ordered it from PCBWay.com.
I will also upload the schematic etc. if anyone wants to have a look or create one their self. However, if anyone wants to build it, it may be a bit expensive due to the high IC count.
I have not heard of BLS Pascal, but it is possible to run Turbo Pascal (version 3, I think) on CP/M, which I intend to do when I have the OS in place :-)
https://github.com/CodileAB https://www.instagram.com/wolley.xyz/
I’ve been working with it on and off for two years now and hopefully it can soon actually vacuum my floors :-)