Editing Lilith (computer) (section)

{{Short description|1980 custom-built workstation computer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = DISER Lilith
| title = 
| aka = 
| logo = 
| image = Lilith-enter-museum.jpg
| caption = 
| developer = [[ETH Zurich]]
| manufacturer = Modula Computer Systems
| family = [[Niklaus Wirth|Wirth]]
| type = [[workstation]]
| generation = 
| release date = {{Start date and age|1980}}
| retail availability = <!-- Start date to end date -->
| lifespan = 
| price = $8000
| discontinued = Yes
| units sold = 120<ref>{{Cite AV media |author=<!-- unstated --> |date=15 June 2017 |title=ETH Zurich: Ready |medium=video |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbhVPLS2fM  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/IvbhVPLS2fM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=YouTube |time=1:25–1:35 |location=[[Zürich]], Switzerland |publisher=[[ETH Zurich]] |access-date=21 March 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
| units shipped = 120
| media = [[Floppy disk]] {{convert|5.25|in|cm|abbr=on}} 140 K
| os = [[#Operating system|Medos-2]] ([[Modula-2]])
| power = 
| soc = 
| cpu = [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]] [[AMD Am2900|2901]]
| memory = 256 K (131,072 [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[Word (computer architecture)|words]])
| storage = 15 MB [[Hard disk drive|hard disk]]
| memory card = 
| display = {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} [[monochrome]] [[Raster graphics|bitmapped]]
| graphics = 
| sound = 
| input = 
| controllers = 
| camera = 
| touchpad = 
| connectivity = 
| currentfw =
| platform = 
| service = 
| dimensions = {{convert|15.5|x|15|x|14.5|in|cm|abbr=on}}
| weight = 
| topgame = 
| compatibility = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = [[Ceres (workstation)|Ceres]]
| related = 
| marketing_target = Research
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} -->
}}The '''DISER Lilith''' is a custom built [[workstation]] computer based on the [[Advanced Micro Devices]] (AMD) [[AMD Am2900|2901]] [[bit slicing]] processor, created by a group led by [[Niklaus Wirth]] at [[ETH Zurich]].<ref name="Byte8-84">{{Cite magazine |last=Ohran |first=Richard |date=August 1984 |title=Lilith and Modula-2: A case study of high-level-language processor design |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=181–192 |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-08/page/n186/mode/1up |access-date=6 March 2021}} Reprint.</ref><ref name="Byte9-84">{{Cite magazine |last=Sand |first=Paul A. |date=September 1984 |title=The Lilith Personal Computer |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=300–311 |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-10_1984-09_Computer_Graphics/page/n309/mode/2up |access-date=6 March 2021}} Reprint.</ref> The project began in 1977, and by 1984 several hundred workstations were in use. It has a high resolution full page [[Page orientation|portrait oriented]] [[cathode-ray tube]] display, a [[Mouse (computing)|mouse]], a [[laser printer]] interface, and a [[computer networking]] interface. Its software is written fully in [[Modula-2]] and includes a [[relational database]] program named Lidas.

The Lilith processor architecture is a [[stack machine]].<ref name="Byte8-84"/> Citing from Sven Erik Knudsen's contribution to "The Art of Simplicity": "Lilith's clock speed was around 7 MHz and enabled Lilith to execute between 1 and 2 million instructions (called M-code) per second. (...) Initially, the main memory was planned to have 65,536 [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[Word (computer architecture)|words]] memory, but soon after its first version, it was enlarged to twice that capacity. For regular Modula-2 programs however, only the initial 65,536 words were usable for storage of variables."<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Böszörményi |editor1-first=László |editor2-last=Gutknecht |editor2-first=Jürg |editor2-link=Jürg Gutknecht |editor3-last=Pomberger |editor3-first=Gustav |date=25 October 2000 |title=The School of Niklaus Wirth: The Art of Simplicity |publisher=Morgan Kaufmann |isbn=978-1558607231}} {{ISBN|1-55860-723-4}} & dpunkt, {{ISBN|3-932588-85-1}}.</ref>