DOPE(ID:3298/dop001)Simplified HLA for student translation of flowchartsKemeny and Marshall Dartmouth 1962 Successor for DARSIMCO and precursor of BASIC at Dartmouth "Intended to a offer a smooth transition from flowcharting to computer programming on the LGP-30, it expressed typical flowchart operations as two or three operand commands. C = A + B was written 7 + A B C and Z = SIN(X) was written 10 SIN X Z Only one arithmetic operation per line was allowed. Variables could be single letter or letter-digit combinations, a harbinger of BASIC. The letters E through H were reserved for vectors, each allowing components numbered 1 through 16. In addition to the four main arithmetic operations (+, -, -, /), the commands included four functions (SQR, EXP, LOG, SIN), a jump (T), and a three-way branch (C) - shades of FORTRAN! Loops began with Z and ended with E, and allowed only unit step sizes. Input-output commands included an input (J), input and print a label (A), print a number (P), and print a new line (N). Though not a success in itself, DOPE presaged BASIC. DOPE provided default vectors, default printing formats, and general input formats. Line numbers doubled as jummp targets. Uppercase letters and lowercase letters could be used interchangeably." (Kurz 1978)
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References: in SIGPLAN Notices 14(04) April 1979 including The first ACM SIGPLAN conference on History of programming languages (HOPL) Los Angeles, CA, June 1-3, 1978 view details |