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Added Importance section
The '''PDP-11''' series of computers from [[Digital Equipment Corporation]]
The '''PDP-11''' series of computers from [[Digital Equipment Corporation]]
were popular 16-bit [[mini-computers]] from 1970 through the early
were popular 16-bit [[Computer|mini-computers]] from 1970 through the early
1980s. The first model was the PDP-11/20, released in 1970. The successor to the PDP-11 line was the [[VAX]] series.
1980s. The first model was the PDP-11/20, released in 1970. The successor to the PDP-11 line was the [[VAX]] series.
Using this program, DEC performed benchmark comparisons on numerous potential computer designs. The goal was to optimize total system performance, ease of writing code, efficiency of that code, and other considerations.
Using this program, DEC performed benchmark comparisons on numerous potential computer designs. The goal was to optimize total system performance, ease of writing code, efficiency of that code, and other considerations.
The result was the PDP-11 line.
The result was the PDP-11 line.
==Importance==
The PDP-11 was the world's most popular mini-computer line until the VAX was introduced. In the first six years, 20,000 units were sold.<ref>https://dave.cheney.net/2017/12/04/what-have-we-learned-from-the-pdp-11</ref> Its design was ahead of other minicomputers of its time in several respects, including an autoincrement/autodecrement stack, and it influenced the design of CPUs that
came after. It was the system upon which [[Unix]] and the [[C programming language]] were first developed.
==Architecture==
==Architecture==