Category: Algol 60
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Procedure nesting a once common idiom
Structured programming was a popular program design methodology that many developers/managers claimed to be using in the 1970s and 1980s. Like all popular methodologies, everybody had/has their own idea about what it involves, and as always, consultancies sprang up to promote their take on things. The 1972 book Structured programming provides a taste of the…
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21 Algol 60 compilers in 1962
The specification of ALGOL 60 was published in May 1960. Unlike today, where the creators of a new language release the source of a corresponding compiler, people were expected to write their own compiler. The June 1962 paper: The Replies to the AB14 Questionnaire lists implementation details on 21’ish compilers (it’s not clear whether some…