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Welcome to the MMIXmasters web site

30 years have run away since the MIX computing machine was designed, and architecture has been meeting during those years toward a rather dissimilar style of machine. Consequently it is time to substitute MIX with a modern computer that bears even less concentrated fat than its predecessor. MMIX is a computer designated to exemplify machine-level scenes of programming. In the books of The Art of Computer Programming, it substitutes MIX, the 1960s-style machine that erstwhile acted such a role... I endeavored to project MMIX so that its computer-oriented language would be mere, graceful, and comfortable to learn. At the same time I was mindful to include all of the complexnesses demanded to achieve elevated performance in use, so that MMIX could in principle be constructed and even perhaps be competitive with some of the most flying all-purpose computers in the market The original MIX computing machine ran fine without an OS. You gave notice with plugged cards or paper record and do everything yourself. But today such drive is no more in the hands of average users. The MMIX computer hardware, like all other computing devices made nowadays, relies on an OS to get jobs commenced in their own address places and to provide I/O potentialities. Whenever anyone has enquired if I will be composing a book about OSs, my answer has always been ``Nix.'' Consequently the brand of MMIX's OS, NNIX, should come as no astonishment. From time to time I will needfully have to look up things that NNIX does for its clients, but I have no purpose of constructing NNIX myself. Life is also brusk. It would be marvellous if some proficient in OS design got inspired to compose a book that excuses incisively how to build a nice, blank NNIX center for an MMIX chip. The MMIX fiber bundle includes a level-50 drill that asks a extremely motivated referee to ``compose a book about OSs, which includes a full design of an NNIX kernel for the MMIX computer architecture.'' Other options are also imaginable; e.g., Someone could decide to come up with an alternate system addressed GNNIX.

MMIX is the new computer and associated assembly language that Donald Knuth is using to specify the algorithms in the next edition of his series, The Art of Computer Programming (TAOCP).  Currently (~ 2002) three volumes have been published, and more are in preparation.  Knuth will use MMIX as the low-level programming language in the "ultimate" edition of his opus.

This web site is for the volunteers---the MMIXmasters---who are converting all of the programs in TAOCP, Volumes 1 - 3, from the old language MIX to the new language MMIX.  Although the primary purpose of this site is to serve the MMIXmasters, non-volunteers are still welcome.

News

Contacts

Naturally, none of this would be possible without Professor Don Knuth.  He may be reached by postal  mail at

Professor Donald E. Knuth
Computer Science Department
Gates Building 4B
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-9045
USA

Questions or comments? Please email the MMIXmaster Coordinator.