5 ms·

The Algol 68 Genie project

30 points by bilegeek 4y ago

ngcc_hk 4y ago
After reading the first … I found I am more interested in the author’s other page : https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.mainframe-virtualisation.html https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.mainframe-virtualisa.... Algol 68 … in 1970s still have a bit of interest but not in 2022. Thanks. Move on.
- Rochus 4y ago
  So you neither should be interested in C. Algol 68 is actually a rather complex language; writing a working compiler for it is quite an achievement. I found this article very interesting: https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.algol-68-genie-history.html https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.algol-68-genie-histo...
  - gnufx 4y ago
    Perhaps related: I understood that the Liverpudlian Fortran 90 compiler done by NA Software was based on an Algol 68 compiler (I don't know which one). I thought that was odd at the time, but it probably wasn't, and presumably shows the direct relevance to more recent language evolutions.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  Ah, if you only knew. http://cowlark.com/2009-11-15-go/ http://cowlark.com/2009-11-15-go/
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Algol is so interesting that the vast majority of developers are absolutely repelled from languages that don't resemble it. Algol is ultimately why javascript looks like it looks rather than looking like other languages that it's more like, or why Erlang terrified people but Elixir soothes people.
  - Rochus 4y ago
    There is quite a difference between Algol 60 (what I suppose you're refering to) and Algol 68. Most of todays languages are inspired by Algol 60 and Simula 67, including C, C++, Pascal, Java, Python and others. Records and unions were first proposed by Hoare in 1965 (Algol Bulletin 21) and adopted by Wirth for his Algol successor proposal which eventually led to Pascal; it was also adopted in Simula 67 by Dahl and Nyguard who extended the concept to what we today know as object-oriented programming. Algol 68 instead is based on the proposal by Wijngaarden which followed a different philosophy than Pascal or Simula.
foldr 4y ago
I attempted the last Advent of Code in Algol 68 using a68g. I didn't quite finish it, but I think this is probably one of the larger repositories of Algol 68 source code out there :D https://github.com/addrummond/aoc_2021_algol68 https://github.com/addrummond/aoc_2021_algol68
pjmlp 4y ago
Now we need a VSCode plugin, although there is a basic one for Algol 60. https://github.com/PolariTOON/language-algol60 https://github.com/PolariTOON/language-algol60
- foldr 4y ago
  Algol 60 is a completely different programming language.
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    Partially, it still has lots of things in common.
    - foldr 4y ago
      In the context of writing a language mode for an editor, they don't share anything significant. The revised report says the following: "Algol 68 has not been designed as an expansion of Algol 60 but rather as a completely new language based on new insight into the essential, fundamental concepts of computing and a new description technique."
brudgers 4y ago
Related, Algol 60 via Racket, https://docs.racket-lang.org/algol60/ https://docs.racket-lang.org/algol60/
gnufx 4y ago
Algol 68 is interesting if only for some of the things written in it, particularly in the UK that I know of, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL_68#Examples_of_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL_68#Examples_of_use
Koshkin 4y ago
The idea of using Algol 68 was also quite popular in the Soviet academic circles (loosely tied with the military-industrial complex) throughout the 1970-80s. Right before this interest had expired Algol 68 was seen as a direct competitor to Ada. (After that C became all the rage.) https://www.computer-museum.ru/english/algol68.htm https://www.computer-museum.ru/english/algol68.htm

30 points by bilegeek 4y ago

After reading the first … I found I am more interested in the author’s other page : https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.mainframe-virtualisation.html https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.mainframe-virtualisa.... Algol 68 … in 1970s still have a bit of interest but not in 2022. Thanks. Move on.

Rochus 4y ago
So you neither should be interested in C. Algol 68 is actually a rather complex language; writing a working compiler for it is quite an achievement. I found this article very interesting: https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.algol-68-genie-history.html https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.post.algol-68-genie-histo...
- gnufx 4y ago
  Perhaps related: I understood that the Liverpudlian Fortran 90 compiler done by NA Software was based on an Algol 68 compiler (I don't know which one). I thought that was odd at the time, but it probably wasn't, and presumably shows the direct relevance to more recent language evolutions.
pjmlp 4y ago
Ah, if you only knew. http://cowlark.com/2009-11-15-go/ http://cowlark.com/2009-11-15-go/
pessimizer 4y ago
Algol is so interesting that the vast majority of developers are absolutely repelled from languages that don't resemble it. Algol is ultimately why javascript looks like it looks rather than looking like other languages that it's more like, or why Erlang terrified people but Elixir soothes people.
- Rochus 4y ago
  There is quite a difference between Algol 60 (what I suppose you're refering to) and Algol 68. Most of todays languages are inspired by Algol 60 and Simula 67, including C, C++, Pascal, Java, Python and others. Records and unions were first proposed by Hoare in 1965 (Algol Bulletin 21) and adopted by Wirth for his Algol successor proposal which eventually led to Pascal; it was also adopted in Simula 67 by Dahl and Nyguard who extended the concept to what we today know as object-oriented programming. Algol 68 instead is based on the proposal by Wijngaarden which followed a different philosophy than Pascal or Simula.

foldr 4y ago

I attempted the last Advent of Code in Algol 68 using a68g. I didn't quite finish it, but I think this is probably one of the larger repositories of Algol 68 source code out there :D https://github.com/addrummond/aoc_2021_algol68 https://github.com/addrummond/aoc_2021_algol68

pjmlp 4y ago

Now we need a VSCode plugin, although there is a basic one for Algol 60. https://github.com/PolariTOON/language-algol60 https://github.com/PolariTOON/language-algol60

foldr 4y ago
Algol 60 is a completely different programming language.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  Partially, it still has lots of things in common.
  - foldr 4y ago
    In the context of writing a language mode for an editor, they don't share anything significant. The revised report says the following: "Algol 68 has not been designed as an expansion of Algol 60 but rather as a completely new language based on new insight into the essential, fundamental concepts of computing and a new description technique."

brudgers 4y ago

Related, Algol 60 via Racket, https://docs.racket-lang.org/algol60/ https://docs.racket-lang.org/algol60/

gnufx 4y ago

Algol 68 is interesting if only for some of the things written in it, particularly in the UK that I know of, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL_68#Examples_of_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALGOL_68#Examples_of_use

Koshkin 4y ago

The idea of using Algol 68 was also quite popular in the Soviet academic circles (loosely tied with the military-industrial complex) throughout the 1970-80s. Right before this interest had expired Algol 68 was seen as a direct competitor to Ada. (After that C became all the rage.) https://www.computer-museum.ru/english/algol68.htm https://www.computer-museum.ru/english/algol68.htm