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Algol68

See:

Algol   

Language type:

S - block-structured

Description:

Algol68 was a greatly expanded and enhanced version of the Algol block-structured language. Many capabilities were added to the sound framework of Algol60 to create a much more capable language for general application and systems programming.
Algol68 introduced a large number of new features over previous versions: formalized syntax and semantics, parallel programming constructs, new data types and structuring methods, and type declarations. Primitive data types supported by Algol68 include booleans, chars, strings, integers, reals, complex numbers and references. Dynamic arrays, structures, and unions are available for building complex data structures. Algol68 also supports separate compilation modules, as Algol60 did. Also like its predecessor, Algol68 is very strongly typed.
A few implementations of Algol 68 and various dialects of it exist, including some for PCs and mainframes.

Origin:

A. van Wijngaarden et al, 1965-68.

See Also:

Pascal    Ada    Simula    C   

Remarks:

The original 1968 specification was revised in 1973, and it is this later specification that currently defines 'Algol68'.
The semantics of Algol68 require dynamic memory management and garbage collection.
Here is a list of some additional features that Algol68 added to Algol:
• complex numbers
• bit patterns
• indefinite-length strings
• flexible (resizable) arrays
• modules and separate compilation

The official syntactic and semantic definition of Algol68 was extremely complex, and used nomenclature unfamiliar to many computer programmers in those days (and today, for that matter). This helped make the language seem unfriendly and unaccessible to many practitioners.

Links:

Algol68 for OS/2

Some info about Algol68

Overview of Algol68

Date:

Last updated 2/28/98

Sample code:

mode node = struct ( int val, ref node left, right);
ref node nonode = nil;
loc ref node start := nonode;

proc insert = (int v, ref ref node place) ref node:
if place :/=: nonode
then if v < val of place then insert(v,left of place)
else #v > val of place# insert(v, right of place)
fi
else place := heap node := (v, nonode, nonode)
fi;

Descriptions in this dictionary are ©1997-99 Neal Ziring. Some examples copyright of their respective authors. Some technologies and languages are trademarked. Permission to copy descriptions is granted as long as authorship credit is preserved.

Comments on this dictionary, corrections and suggestions, are all welcome. Please use email, the address is ziring@home.com