Original CAD code in the wild?

steven at malikoff.com steven at malikoff.com
Fri May 25 21:16:02 CDT 2018


I don't know if any source is still available, but for a long time I've been fascinated by Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad running on the TX-2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyoT_Ha_bA

Since Sutherland's technical report is also on the web (https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-574.html) I reckon it would make for
a great 3rd-year Computer Science graphics assignment, to replicate Sketchpad using a high level language. A look through the report shows the
use of rings, linked lists, recursion, storage considerations, maths, graphics and so on (only needing to replace the light pen with the mouse
of course) which could be a fascinating exercise for a student.
Yes there are already Sketchpad-named apps and Sketchpad-like programs, but I'm not sure if there is a near-100% faithful recreation of that
original program as demoed in the film out there.

Steve.



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