yes, I agree with you. It probably needed one informal text where it explained how to program in it. There is an open source implementation which does a good job at https://jmvdveer.home.xs4all.nl/en.algol-68-genie.html but I think its downfall was the bad social dynamics that accompanied it, with Wirth already having Algol W which led to Pascal, Modula and Oberon later. A funny remark that I always remember is that when the IBM PC came out, people within IBM were fighting to bring a Rexx to PC-DOS; because Hursley did not get budget but LA did, the project for it was started over there. “Unfortunately, it was written in Pascal so it failed”.
Another thing that influenced that Algol-68 report was that van Wijngaarden reportedly had fallen in love with the IBM ‘Golfball’ typewriter acquired by Stichting Mathematisch Centrum so all its available symbols were to be used in that publication. René. > On 28 Mar 2023, at 12:24, Seymour J Metz <[email protected]> wrote: > > IMHO, the lack of acceptance of ALGOL 68 had nothing to do with the language > itself. The general public thinks of Mathematics in terms of extreme > formality and indecipherable prose, but the reality is much different. > Mathematical texts are ladden with explanatory prose, and I view ALGOL 68 > through Mathematics colored glasses. > > The defining document is the equivalent to a 20,000 line program without a > single comment. It introduces a lot of terms involved in describing its > grammar without explaining their roles and why they are named what they are. > > > -- > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > ________________________________________ > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>] on behalf of René Jansen > [[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>] > Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 4:01 AM > To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Stop the ragging on COBOL please [was: RE: ASM call by value] > > It is very probable that he only liked ALGOL 58 and ALGOL 60, for which he > (and Jaap Zonneveld) made the first compiler (for the Electrologica X1), in > an old school building in a small street, the Boerhaavestraat in Amsterdam, > which I can see from my window across the river right now. The building does > not have any marking, which is a bit of a shame. > > We know what happened with ALGOL 68, and see also Edsger’s opinion on the > document describing it: > > https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.utexas.edu%2Fusers%2FEWD%2Ftranscriptions%2FEWD02xx%2FEWD230.html&data=05%7C01%7Csmetz3%40gmu.edu%7C274c6488bc9d4dd4b8ce08db2f62ba66%7C9e857255df574c47a0c00546460380cb%7C0%7C0%7C638155873317274253%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=I8uDwNmppE9wKncU2LOeEoEJG%2BlOu%2BoSE6DoRnwwyhQ%3D&reserved=0 > > best regards, > > René. > >> On 28 Mar 2023, at 07:26, Tony Harminc <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Mon, 27 Mar 2023 at 23:22, David Crayford <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> I think it was flippant Edsger W. Dijkstra quote: >>> >>> “The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, >>> therefore, be regarded as a criminal offense.” >> >> Dijkstra wasn't hot on a lot of languages: >> >> "If Fortran has been called an infantile disorder, PL/I must be >> classified as a fatal disease." >> -Edsger Dijkstra in Introduction to the Art of Computer Programming >> >> Which prompted, or at least provided a juicy quote for, Ric Holt's >> 1972 paper "Teaching the Fatal Disease (or) Introductory Computer >> Programming Using PL/I". >> >>> I use programming languages that I don't like all the time. C, in >>> particular, I dislike a lot. That doesn't mean they're not useful. >> >> Whew! And I thought you were a C fanatic. Thanks for disabusing me of that. >> >> Tony H. >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> with > the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> with > the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
