[HN Gopher] BCPL evolved from CPL. (2021) [pdf]
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       BCPL evolved from CPL. (2021) [pdf]
        
       Author : fanf2
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2024-05-10 10:42 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cl.cam.ac.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cl.cam.ac.uk)
        
       | ColinWright wrote:
       | In the late 1980s I wrote much of the code for my PhD in BCPL,
       | despite C being available. It was clean, clear, and when you
       | wrote code it was obvious what it was going to do. The type-less
       | nature wasn't a problem, and co-routines were invaluable,
       | bordering on indispensable.
       | 
       | I also assisted in bootstrapping BCPL on a self-built machine,
       | and it was _so_ easy. I liked it, though I 'm not sure I'd go
       | back to it.
       | 
       | I also chatted with Martin Richards for a while about MCPL, but
       | never found the time to dive into that.
       | 
       | Fun times.
        
         | 082349872349872 wrote:
         | MCPL's one of my influences[0] so that line's continuing. _Dum
         | spiro spero_
         | 
         | Richards wanted to build a flight simulator a while back, so he
         | added floating[1] point. Richards 1 - Yaks 0: that yak got
         | shorn.
         | 
         | [0] I guess I should ask Richards how much influence he got
         | from Backus?
         | 
         | [1] would Moore have done it in fixed? or are there stability
         | problems with that?
        
       | Rochus wrote:
       | A very interesting paper. BCPL was the language used for the
       | Xerox Alto computer, e.g. to build the first graphic WYSIWYG text
       | editor and desktop publishing application.
       | 
       |  _Martin Richards, How BCPL Evolved from CPL, The Computer
       | Journal, Volume 56, Issue 5, May 2013, Pages
       | 664-670,https://doi.org/10.1093/comjnl/bxs026_
       | 
       | Published: 20 March 2012 (not 2021)
        
       | gabrielsroka wrote:
       | > a stripped down and syntactically changed version of BCPL,
       | called B, was the language on which the C programming language
       | was based.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCPL
        
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