BCPL ( Basic Combined Programming Language ) is a programming language developed by Martin Richards in 1966 at Cambridge University . It was originally intended to write compilers for other languages.
| Bcpl | |
|---|---|
| Language class | procedural , structural |
| Type of execution | interpreted |
| Appeared in | 1966 |
| Author | Martin Richards |
| Type system | typeless (all types are machine-wide) |
| Influenced | CPL |
| Influenced | B , c |
Now BCPL is practically not used, but at one time it was very important because of its good portability. A stripped-down version of the language with slightly modified syntax became programming language B , which had a strong influence on the C programming language . For this reason, programmers jokingly deciphered the name BCPL as Before C Programming Language ("a programming language that appeared before the C language") [1] .
BCPL was the answer to the complexities of its predecessor, the CPL language developed in the early 1960s. Richards created the BCPL, "removing features from the complete language that complicated compilation." The first implementation of the compiler running IBM 7094 under CTSS was written by Richards in the spring of 1967 during his visit to the Project MAC research lab at MIT . The language was first described in a paper presented at the 1969 Spring Joint Computer Conference.
Example
Factorial Printing:
GET "libhdr"
LET start () = VALOF
{FOR i = 1 TO 5 DO writef ("fact (% n) =% i4 * n", i, fact (i))
RESULTIS 0
}
AND fact (n) = n = 0 -> 1, n * fact (n-1)
Notes
- β Peter Van Der Linden, Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets (Prentice Hall, 1994), ISBN 978-0131774292
Links
- Martin Richards, The BCPL Reference Manual (Memorandum M-352, Project MAC , Cambridge, MA, USA, July, 1967)
- Martin Richards' BCPL distribution