Burroughs Large Systems

<p>The Burroughs Large Systems Group produced a family of large <a href="/facts/48-bit_computing/KTsN8bB1">48-bit</a> <a href="/facts/Mainframe_computer/nrBR6rWa">mainframes</a> using <a href="/facts/Stack_machine/IBtk4NRA">stack machine</a> instruction sets with dense <a href="/facts/Syllable_(computing)/9sQACN4o">syllables</a>. The first machine in the family was the B5000 in 1961, which was optimized for compiling <a href="/facts/ALGOL_60/QnpxUYQm">ALGOL 60</a> programs extremely well, using single-pass compilers. The B5000 evolved into the B5500 (disk rather than drum) and the B5700 (up to four systems running as a cluster). Subsequent major redesigns include the B6500/B6700 line and its successors, as well as the separate B8500 line.
</p><p>In the 1970s, the <a href="/facts/Burroughs_Corporation/NAEwIvpU">Burroughs Corporation</a> was organized into three divisions with very different product line architectures for high-end, mid-range, and entry-level business computer systems. Each division's product line grew from a different concept for how to optimize a computer's instruction set for particular programming languages. "Burroughs Large Systems" referred to all of these large-system product lines together, in contrast to the <a href="/facts/COBOL/wVnhqs0k">COBOL</a>-optimized <a href="/facts/Burroughs_Medium_Systems/9eRsahNt">Medium Systems</a> (B2000, B3000, and B4000) or the flexible-architecture <a href="/facts/Burroughs_Small_Systems/80aExR2b">Small Systems</a> (B1000).
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Burroughs Large Systems open-in-new

Burroughs Large Systems