Paul Gilmartin noted... > IMO, HLASM syntax is the most god-awful piece of clap-trap garbage I have > ever laid my eyes on. Well, perhaps a close second to JCL.
HLASM's syntax is a direct descendant of the assembler languages for a great variety of earlier systems, including the IBM 650, 704, 709(x), System/360 etc. The one novelty in the System/360 assembler language was the introduction of a separate, distinct class of variable symbols; previous assemblers used ordinary symbols as macro variable symbols. At the time the 360 was being developed, there were no low-level high-level languages (PL/S and C came years later); what else was available for building systems? And you'd be truly repelled by the language used on the early IAS machines; by comparison, HLASM's is a model of simplicity and clarity. I'm not defending historical clap-trap, but perhaps we're living too close to the present? John Ehrman
