Initial commit (a clone of the jsmachines project as of v1.15.3)
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About JavaScript Machines
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---
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The JavaScript Machines (**JSMachines**) project is a collection of computer simulations written in JavaScript,
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maintained on [GitHub](http://github.com/), and hosted at [pcjs.org](http://www.pcjs.org/) (formerly
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[jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/)).
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The goals of the project are to create fast, full-featured simulations of classic computer
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hardware, help people understand how these early machines worked, make it easy to experiment with different machine
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configurations, and provide a platform for running and analyzing old computer software.
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The simulations are written entirely in JavaScript and run well in a variety of web browsers, on both
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desktop and mobile devices. Machines are created with simple XML files that define a set of machine components,
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along with the features that each component should enable. More details about machine definitions and component
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capabilities can be found in the [Documentation](/docs/).
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---
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### Emulating the Challenger 1P
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The first **JSMachines** application was [C1Pjs](/docs/c1pjs/), a simulation of the
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Challenger 1P, which was a 6502-based microcomputer introduced by Ohio Scientific in 1978.
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C1Pjs v1.0 was released in July 2012, first on ecpsim.org and cpusim.org, then on [jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/c1pjs),
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and finally [pcjs.org](http://www.pcjs.org/). More information about the first release of C1Pjs was also
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[posted](http://osiweb.org/osiforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=103) on the [OSI Discussion Forum](http://osiweb.org/osiforum/index.php)
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at [osiweb.org](http://osiweb.org/).
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---
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### Emulating the IBM PC
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The next **JSMachines** application was [PCjs](/docs/about/pcjs/), which simulates the original IBM PC and IBM PC XT.
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[PCjs](/docs/about/pcjs/) emulates the Intel 8088 CPU, as well as IBM Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA) and
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Color Display Adapter (CGA) video cards, along with assorted motherboard and expansion bus components. It also
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includes an optional debugger and a user-configurable control panel.
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PCjs v1.0 was released on [jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/) in late 2012, and the **JSMachines** project,
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with its second full-featured machine emulation, was launched.
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See the PCjs [History](/docs/about/pcjs/) for information about more recent releases.
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---
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### Migrating to Node.js
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The **JSMachines** project was migrated to a [Node.js](http://nodejs.org) web server ([pcjs.org](http://www.pcjs.org/))
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in 2014.
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The goals included:
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- Using JavaScript exclusively, for both client and server development
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- Leveraging the Node.js web server to provide more sophisticated I/O capabilities
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- Improving overall website design, including structure, appearance and responsiveness
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The PCjs web server includes a number of custom Node modules that provide many of the same server-side features
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found on [jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/), including new ROM and disk image conversion APIs, and a
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Markdown module that supports a subset of the [Markdown syntax](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax),
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including extensions to the link syntax that make it easy to embed C1Pjs and PCjs machine files in Markdown documents.
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---
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### License
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The **JSMachines** project is maintained on [GitHub](http://github.com/) (public release date TBD). The portions
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of the project that have been published here are free for redistribution and/or modification under the terms
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of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License,
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or (at your option) any later version.
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You are required to include the appropriate copyright notice (e.g., `PCjs v1.13.5 © 2012-2014 by @jeffpar`)
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in every source code file of every copy or modified version of this work, and to display that copyright notice
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on every screen that loads or runs any version of this software.
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See [COPYING](/COPYING) for details.
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---
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### More Information
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If you have questions or run into any problems, you're welcome to [tweet](http://twitter.com/jeffpar) or
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[email](mailto:Jeff@pcjs.org).
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