this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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Wonder what the reason was for so much being in raw assembly when C existed. A basic library/API would be one of the first things I'd tackle in an OS. Move on to a higher level as soon as you're able.
C compilers (at least on personal computers) weren't great at optimization back then and every kilobyte mattered - the user only got 640 of them, going beyond that required jumping through hoops.
Similar for MHz, hand optimization was important for performance since there was so little CPU time to go around.
And also legacy... If something is already written in assembly and you want to add a feature, you're not going to completely rewrite it.