8-bit programmable computer

8-bit programmable computer
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Pattern type	Miscellaneous
Number of cells	1,571,767
Bounding box	311,607 × 303,995
Static symmetry	Unspecified
Discovered by	Nicolas Loizeau
Year of discovery	2016
Rules Outer-totalistic rules B3/S23 only # of rules 20 = 1
Pattern files Macrocell 8bitcomputer.mc

8-bit programmable computer is an implementation of an 8-bit computer in Conway's Game of Life designed and built in 2016 by Nicolas Loizeau.

Architecture

The computer supports eight variables and 13 instructions -- write, goto, move, jumpif, print, add, or, and, xor, not, flat, sign, and increment. The computer is programmed by changing the arrangement of structures in its Program area.

Comparison with other computer patterns

• The 8-bit programmable computer is considerably simpler than the Spartan universal computer-constructor, in large part because it does not contain a universal-construction component.
• It is easy to program with the help of the associated Python utility script, assembly.py.
• It is capable of performing standard 8-bit AND, OR, XOR, and NOT operations using any of its eight variables.