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Programming Language

PL/0

Procedural Language

PL/0 is a small teaching programming language designed by Niklaus Wirth and introduced in his 1976 book Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs, where it serves as the worked example for compiler construction. It resembles Pascal but is far simpler: its only data type is the integer, its operators are arithmetic and comparison operations plus an odd test, and its control flow is limited to if-then, while-do and procedures that take no parameters. The original implementation had no input or output routines, because the compiler printed each variable as it changed. Its tiny grammar, written in extended Backus-Naur form, makes it easy for students to write a recursive descent parser, so PL/0 compilers are still built in university compiler courses, where students usually extend the language themselves. In later editions of his compiler book Wirth changed its syntax, and in the last edition he replaced it with Oberon-0.

Facts
First Released
1976 1
Primary Use Domain
Education 1
Connections

In Field

Source PL/0 (Wikipedia)

Invented By

Source Programming Language Database: PL/0 (PLDB)
Sources
1. PL/0 (Wikipedia)
  • Lead
    Originally introduced in the book Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs by Niklaus Wirth in 1976
  • Lead, intended use
    general-purpose programming language intended for use in education
  • In Group: ALGOL-Derived Languages, Lead, relation to Pascal
    similar to but much simpler than Pascal
  • In Field: Programming Language Theory, Lead, compiler development
    it serves as an example for compiler development
View the Source
Programming Language Database: PL/0 (PLDB)
Programming Language DatabaseInvented By: Niklaus Wirth, Summary line
Quote, Invented By: Niklaus Wirth, Summary line
PL/0 is a programming language created in 1976 by Niklaus Wirth.
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