90 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
90 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: page
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title: About PCjs
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menu_title: About
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menu_order: 9
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permalink: /docs/about/
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---
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## About PCjs
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The [PCjs Project](https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs) is a collection of computer simulations written in
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[JavaScript](/modules/). It is an open-source project maintained and hosted on [GitHub](https://github.com/) as
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[{{ site.pcjs.domain }}]({{ site.url }}/) (formerly [jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/)).
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The goals of the project are to create fast, full-featured simulations of classic computer hardware,
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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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### Simulating the Challenger 1P
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The first PCjs simulation was [C1Pjs](/docs/c1pjs/), which emulates the
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Challenger 1P, a 6502-based microcomputer introduced by Ohio Scientific in 1978.
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C1Pjs v1.0 was released in July 2012. More information about the first release of C1Pjs was
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[posted](http://osiweb.org/osiforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=103) on the
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[OSI Discussion Forum](http://osiweb.org/osiforum/index.php) at [osiweb.org](http://osiweb.org/).
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### Simulating the IBM PC
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The next PCjs simulation was [PCx86](/docs/about/pcx86/), which emulates the original IBM PC, IBM PC XT,
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and IBM PC AT. PCx86 v1.0 was released in late 2012. Browse the source code [here](/modules/pcx86/) or on
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[GitHub](https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs).
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[PCx86](/docs/about/pcx86/) emulates the Intel 8088, 80186, 80286 and 80386 CPUs, as well as IBM Monochrome Display
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Adapter (MDA), Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA), and Video Graphics Array (VGA) video
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cards, along with assorted motherboard and expansion bus components. It also includes an optional
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[Debugger](/docs/pcx86/debugger/) and a user-configurable [Control Panel](/docs/pcx86/panel/).
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Read [About PCx86](/docs/about/pcx86/) to learn more about its history, features, and upcoming improvements.
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### Migrating to Node
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The PCjs web server was originally written in PHP and hosted by [DreamHost](https://www.dreamhost.com/) as
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[jsmachines.net](http://jsmachines.net/), but in 2014, it was migrated to a [Node.js](http://nodejs.org) web server
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and hosted by [Amazon Web Services](https://aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/) as [pcjs.org](http://www.pcjs.org/).
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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 Node 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 PCjs machines in Markdown documents.
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### Migrating to GitHub Pages
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To simplify hosting requirements, the PCjs Project was migrated to [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/) in late 2015.
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The project still includes the original Node-based web server, which is useful for development and debugging, but for
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production sites (including [pcjs.org](http://www.pcjs.org/)), using Jekyll to generate a static copy of the project for
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the web is the preferred solution.
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---
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License
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---
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The [PCjs Project](https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs) is now an open-source project on [GitHub](http://github.com/).
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All published portions are free for redistribution and/or modification under the terms of the
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[GNU General Public License](/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 following copyright notice, with a link to [{{ site.pcjs.domain }}]({{ site.url }}/):
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> [PCjs]({{ site.url }}/) © 2012-2017 by [Jeff Parsons](mailto:Jeff@pcjs.org) ([@jeffpar](http://twitter.com/jeffpar))
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in every source code file of every copy or modified version of this work, and to display that notice on every web page
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or computer that runs any version of this software.
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See [LICENSE](/LICENSE) for details.
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More Information
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---
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If you have questions or run into any problems, feel free to [tweet](http://twitter.com/jeffpar) or
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[email](mailto:Jeff@pcjs.org).
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