4 ms·

HAL/S Syntax

38 points by Someone 4y ago

orf 4y ago
> The same code fragment could be written in multiple-line format as: > E 2 2 > M X = A + B > S I Being able to write expressions that span multiple lines like that is really quite cool.
doctor_eval 4y ago
It would be so great if we could write mathematical expressions such as y := x² in regular code. Is this the case in any modern language?
- taktoa 4y ago
  Agda
- gjvnq 4y ago
  Wolfram Mathematica allows for this and perhaps you can do this in Haskell with some advanced trickery.
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  If I recall Guy Steele's (discontinued) Fortress scientific programming language was supposed to be like this. It was designed to have "syntactic stylesheets" and was meant to be rendered out into LaTeX, Unicode, etc. and the goal was to have some common mathematical notation in the syntax and also to make the syntax look a bit like the pseudocode that often appears in scientific and research papers. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052722/https://java.net/downloads/projectfortress/reference.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052722/https://java.net/...
- ubq323 4y ago
  raku
ncmncm 4y ago
The EMS notation looks exactly like the language and compiler Hal Laning made for the Whirlwind in the '50s, which was the first compiler ever, anywhere. Hal Laning was also personally responsible for Apollo 11 not crashing and exploding when operator error caused overloading of the Apollo Guidance Computer, resulting in system crashes several times during the landing. It reset, each time, and picked up the high-priority processes where they left off. Laning was every year passed over for the Turing Award he so richly deserved.
- zeckalpha 4y ago
  Grace Hopper implemented the first and coined the term. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construc...
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    Except, that wasn't at all what we call a compiler; she just used the name compiler for something that clearly was not. Admittedly, she was first to use the name, but word coinage is not a thing we recognize as a fundamental achievement. Hal didn't call his thing a "compiler", but it clearly was one, by the modern definition. (Its output was subroutine calls, but that is a matter for optimization. When your compiler has to fit in 1K machine words, you make compromises.)
    - zeckalpha 4y ago
      I would encourage to update the Wikipedia page accordingly.
    - jecel 4y ago
      In English "to compile" is defined as "produce (something, especially a list, report, or book) by assembling information collected from other sources." which seems like a good description of what A0 to A2 did. It is a pity that when people started to build translators they didn't use that name but instead kept the now obsolete term "compiler".
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

38 points by Someone 4y ago

orf 4y ago

> The same code fragment could be written in multiple-line format as: > E 2 2 > M X = A + B > S I Being able to write expressions that span multiple lines like that is really quite cool.

doctor_eval 4y ago

It would be so great if we could write mathematical expressions such as y := x² in regular code. Is this the case in any modern language?

taktoa 4y ago
Agda
gjvnq 4y ago
Wolfram Mathematica allows for this and perhaps you can do this in Haskell with some advanced trickery.
cmrdporcupine 4y ago
If I recall Guy Steele's (discontinued) Fortress scientific programming language was supposed to be like this. It was designed to have "syntactic stylesheets" and was meant to be rendered out into LaTeX, Unicode, etc. and the goal was to have some common mathematical notation in the syntax and also to make the syntax look a bit like the pseudocode that often appears in scientific and research papers. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052722/https://java.net/downloads/projectfortress/reference.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052722/https://java.net/...
ubq323 4y ago
raku

ncmncm 4y ago

The EMS notation looks exactly like the language and compiler Hal Laning made for the Whirlwind in the '50s, which was the first compiler ever, anywhere. Hal Laning was also personally responsible for Apollo 11 not crashing and exploding when operator error caused overloading of the Apollo Guidance Computer, resulting in system crashes several times during the landing. It reset, each time, and picked up the high-priority processes where they left off. Laning was every year passed over for the Turing Award he so richly deserved.

zeckalpha 4y ago
Grace Hopper implemented the first and coined the term. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construc...
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Except, that wasn't at all what we call a compiler; she just used the name compiler for something that clearly was not. Admittedly, she was first to use the name, but word coinage is not a thing we recognize as a fundamental achievement. Hal didn't call his thing a "compiler", but it clearly was one, by the modern definition. (Its output was subroutine calls, but that is a matter for optimization. When your compiler has to fit in 1K machine words, you make compromises.)
  - zeckalpha 4y ago
    I would encourage to update the Wikipedia page accordingly.
  - jecel 4y ago
    In English "to compile" is defined as "produce (something, especially a list, report, or book) by assembling information collected from other sources." which seems like a good description of what A0 to A2 did. It is a pity that when people started to build translators they didn't use that name but instead kept the now obsolete term "compiler".

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]