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 AED-0 system ("Automated Engineering Design", also referred to as"ALGOL Extended for Design") by Douglas T. Ross of 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

External links

• Investigations in CAD FR035 Chapter IV- AED beyond Algol 60 http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/755/FR-0351-19563962.pdf?sequence=1

See also

• ALGOL 60
• ALGOL W