Category:ALGOL 68

ALGOL 68 (short for ALGOrithmic Language 1968) is an imperative computer programming language that was conceived as a successor to the ALGOL 60 programming language, designed with the goal of a much wider scope of application and more rigorously defined syntax and semantics.

The main aims and principles of design of ALGOL 68:

1. Completeness and clarity of design,
2. Orthogonal design,
3. Security,
4. Efficiency:
   • Static mode checking,
   • Mode-independent parsing,
   • Independent compilation,
   • Loop optimization,
   • Representations - in minimal & larger character sets.

Revisions

• Mar. 1968: Draft Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68 - Edited by: A. van Wijngaarden, B.J. Mailloux, J.E.L. Peck and C.H.A. Koster.
• Oct. 1968: Penultimate Draft Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68 - Chapters 1-9 - Edited by: A. van Wijngaarden, B.J. Mailloux, J.E.L. Peck and C.H.A. Koster.
• Dec. 1968: Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68 - Offprint from Numerische Mathematik, 14, 79-218 (1969); Springer-Verlag. - Edited by: A. van Wijngaarden, B.J. Mailloux, J.E.L. Peck and C.H.A. Koster.
• Sep 1973: Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol 68 - Springer-Verlag 1976 - Edited by: A. van Wijngaarden, B.J. Mailloux, J.E.L. Peck, C.H.A. Koster, M. Sintzoff, C.H. Lindsey, L.G.L.T. Meertens and R.G. Fisker.