IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System (SPS) was an assembler was developed by IBM field engineers as an alternative to the use of machine code for the IBM 1401 computer, the first of the IBM 1400 series. One source indicates that "This programming system was announced by IBM with the machine.". As the 1400 series matured it acquired additional memory options (from the initial 4000, increasing to 16000 characters) and SPS was replaced by the "Autocoder" language in most installations. Both Autocoder and SPS were assembly languages using mnemonics as a substitute for programming directly in machine language. A copy of the IBM 1401 Autocoder specifications including mnemonic operation codes is preserved at bitsavers.org.