ALGOL X
ALGOL X was the code name given to the programming language which the Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL of the International Federation for Information Processing was to develop as a successor to ALGOL 60. It attempted to find a "short-term solution to existing difficulties".
According to de Morgan[1] "... the Algol 60 devotees had not been idle... they set out to eliminate the dreaded Remaining Trouble Spots. They called their Algol 60 'Modified'."
One ALGOL X compiler is known to have existed. It was written with the Automated Engineering Design (AED-0) system, also termed ALGOL Extended for Design, by Douglas T. Ross of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[2]
Example class definition: (An extract from AB26.2.2)
class expression is constant (real value) ora variable (string printname) ora class pair is (sum ora difference ora product ora quotient)((expression) left operand, right operand, derivative);
Example class usage:
(expression) X; (constant) Y; (pair) Z; (product) Q; X := Y:= constant(10.5); Z := Q := product(variable("ALPHA"), constant(2.), constant(2.))
"Initially the proposal for an update to Algol was Algol X, with Algol Y being the name reserved for the corresponding metalanguage. Van Wijngaarden produced a paper for the 1963 IFIP programming language committee, entitled “Generalized Algol,” which contained the basic concepts which were eventually incorporated into Algol 68."
The ALGOL Bulletin on ALGOL X
- AB21.3.1 – G. Seegmuller: Some proposals for ALGOL X
- AB21.3.2 – Joachim von Peschke: Proposals for ALGOL X
- AB22.3.2 – J.N. Merner: Own concept and ALGOL X
- AB22.3.10 – M. Woodger: ALGOL X, Note on the proposed successor to ALGOL 60
- AB25.0.1 – ALGOL Bulletin – ALGOL X
- AB26.2.2 – Douglas T. Ross: Features essential for a workable ALGOL X
References
- Algol Bulletin 41, Jul 1977, The Algollers
- Douglas T. Ross, October 1966 An Algorithmic Theory of Language (AB26.2.2 page 6)
External links
- Investigations in CAD FR035 Chapter IV- AED beyond Algol 60
- ALGOL X and ALGOL Y; Lambert Meertens; CWI Lectures in honour of Adriaan van Wijngaarden; November 2016