Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme

Switch Atlas

Programming Language

PL/I

Procedural Language

PL/I (Programming Language One) is a procedural, imperative computer programming language designed for scientific, engineering, business and system programming, developed by IBM in the 1960s in an effort to create a single language suitable for both scientific and commercial applications, combining features of Fortran and COBOL. PL/I supports recursion, structured programming, linked data structure handling, fixed-point, floating-point, complex, and character-string data types, and extensive built-in functions.

Facts
First Released
1964 1
Paradigm
Procedural, imperative, structured 2
Significance
PL/I has been in continuous use by academic, commercial and industrial organizations since its introduction in the 1960s 2
Classification
Typing Discipline
Strongly Typed 1
FAQs

Why did IBM create PL/I when FORTRAN and COBOL already existed?

IBM wanted one language for both scientific and business users on its System/360 computers, drawing on FORTRAN and COBOL.

FORTRAN was aimed mainly at scientists and mathematicians, while COBOL served business users, and their communities were largely split by their needs. When IBM announced its System/360 computers in 1964, built to serve both scientific and commercial users, it set out to create a language that could accommodate both groups. The effort began as an extension of FORTRAN, which ultimately was unsuccessful, and produced PL/I in 1964. PL/I borrowed syntax from both older languages, but users tended to associate it with whichever of the two they did not use, and false friends between the languages caused confusion and errors.
Connections

Follows Typing Discipline

Strong Typing, Concepts

In Field

Programming Language Theory, Fields
Source PL/I, Wikipedia

Influenced

PL/M, Programming Languages
Source Wikidata: PL/M

Influenced By

ALGOL, Programming Languages
Source Wikidata: PL/I
COBOL, Programming Languages
Source Wikidata: PL/I
Fortran, Programming Languages
Source Wikidata: PL/I
In the Other Atlases

Developed By

IBM

Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.

Sources
1. Wikidata: PL/I
  • Wikidata Q223433, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q223433 P571 (inception)
  • Wikidata Q223433 P7078 (typing discipline)
View the Source
2. PL/I, Wikipedia
  • Infobox: released
    1964
  • Lead section
    is a procedural, imperative computer programming language
  • Early history section
    It has been in continuous use by academic, commercial and industrial organizations since it was introduced in the 1960s.
  • In Field: Programming Language Theory, Lead paragraph
View the Source
Wikidata: PL/M
Influenced: PL/MView the Source
Programming Language Database (PLDB): PL/I - PLDB
Programming Language Database (PLDB)In Group: Business and Data Processing Languages, Page text
Quote, In Group: Business and Data Processing Languages, Page text
designed for scientific, engineering, business and system programming uses
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.