Editing Symbolics (section)

==Contributions to computer science==
Symbolics' research and development staff (first at MIT, and then later at the company) produced several major innovations in software technology:

*[[Flavors (programming language)|Flavors]], one of the earliest<!-- Earliest? Was it not the first Lisp implementation of OOP? --> [[object-oriented programming]] extensions to Lisp, was a [[message passing]] object system patterned after [[Smalltalk]], but with [[multiple inheritance]] and several other enhancements. The Symbolics [[operating system]] made heavy use of Flavors objects. The experience gained with Flavors led to the design of New Flavors, a short-lived successor based on [[generic function]]s rather than [[message passing]]. Many of the concepts in New Flavors formed the basis of the [[CLOS]] (Common Lisp Object System) standard.
*Advances in [[Garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]] techniques by [[Henry Baker (computer scientist)|Henry Baker]], [[David A. Moon]] and others, particularly the first commercial use of [[Garbage collection (computer science)#Generational GC .28ephemeral GC.29|generational scavenging]], allowed Symbolics computers to run large Lisp programs for months at a time.
*Symbolics staffers [[Dan Weinreb]], [[David A. Moon]], Neal Feinberg, [[Kent Pitman]], Scott McKay, Sonya Keene, and others made significant contributions to the emerging Common Lisp language standard from the mid-1980s through the release of the [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI) Common Lisp standard in 1994.
*Symbolics introduced one of the first commercial [[object database]]s, Statice, in 1989. Its developers later went on to found [[Object Design, Incorporated|Object Design, Inc.]] and create [[ObjectStore]].
*Symbolics introduced in 1987 one of the first commercial [[microprocessor]]s designed to support the execution of Lisp programs: the Symbolics Ivory.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Baker |first1=Clark |last2=Chan |first2=David |last3=Cherry |first3=Jim |last4=Corry |first4=Alan |last5=Efland |first5=Greg |last6=Edwards |first6=Bruce |last7=Matson |first7=Mark |last8=Minsky |first8=Henry |last9=Nestler |first9=Eric |last10=Reti |first10=Kalman |last11=Sarrazin |first11=David |last12=Sommer |first12=Charles |last13=Tan |first13=David |last14=Weste |first14=Neil |title=The Symbolics Ivory Processor: A 40 Bit Tagged Architecture Lisp Microprocessor |year=1987 |book-title=Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Design |pages=512–4|url=https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/symbolics-ivory-processor-a-40-bit-tagged-architecture-lisp-micro}}</ref> Symbolics also used its own CAD system (NS, New Schematic) for the development of the Ivory chip.
*Under contract from AT&T, Symbolics developed Minima, a real-time Lisp run-time environment and operating system for the Ivory processor. This was delivered in a small hardware configuration featuring much [[random-access memory]] (RAM), no disk, and dual network ports. It was used as the basis for a next-generation carrier class long-distance telephone switch.
*The Graphics Division's [[Craig Reynolds (computer graphics)|Craig Reynolds]] devised an algorithm that simulated the flocking behavior of birds in flight. ''[[Boids]]'' made their first appearance at [[SIGGRAPH]] in the 1987 animated short "[[Stanley and Stella in: Breaking the Ice]]", produced by the Graphics Division. Reynolds went on to win the Scientific And Engineering Award from [[The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] in 1998.
*The [[Symbolics Document Examiner]] [[hypertext]] system originally used for the Symbolics manuals- it was based on Zmacs following a design by Janet Walker, and proved influential in the evolution of hypertext.
* Symbolics was very active in the design and development of the [[CLIM|Common Lisp Interface Manager]] (CLIM) presentation-based  [[User Interface Management System]]. CLIM is a descendant of Dynamic Windows, Symbolics' own window system. CLIM was the result of the collaboration of several Lisp companies.
* Symbolics produced the first workstation which could [[genlock]], the first to have real time video I/O, the first to support digital video I/O and the first to do HDTV.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/masson/companies.htm|title=The Computer Graphics Essential Reference|website=www.cs.cmu.edu}}</ref>