Reprinted from InfoWorld 1060 Mario Road MenloPark CA Collected and Distributed by The Underworld BBS System Located in Middletown Operating at 300 Baud 24 Hours-7 Day (201) 787-0960 ============================== Laid back with (a) Fifth By John Unger ZessMan From Info World Oct 4 1982 Basic-Fortran-Cobol... These programming languages are well known and (more or less) well loved throughout the computer industry. There are numerous other languages however that are less well known yet still have ardent devotees. In fact these little -known languages generally have the most fanatic admirers. For those who wish to know more about these obscure languages - and why they are obscure - I present the following catalog. SIMPLE ... SIMPLE is an acronym for Sheer Idiot's Mono Purpose Programming Lingusitic Environment. This language developed at the Hanover College for Technological Misfits was designed to make it impossible to write code with errors in it. The statements are therefore confined to BEGIN-END- and STOP. No matter how you arrange the statements you can't make a syntax error. Programs written in SIMPLE do nothing useful.Thus they achieve the results of programs written in other languages without the tedious frustrating process of testing and debugging. SLOBOL ... SLOBOL is best known for the speed or lack of it of its compiler. Although many compilers allow you to take a coffee break while they compile SLOBOL compilers allow you to take a trip to Bolivia to pick up the coffee. Forty-three programmers are known to have died of boredom sitting at their terminals while waiting for a SLOBOL program to compile. Weary SLOBOL programmers often turn to a related (but infinitely faster) language...COCAINE. VALGOL ... (With special thanks to Dan and Betsy "Moon Unit" Pfau) - From its modest beginnings in southern California's San Fernando Valley VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. VALGOL commands include REALLY- LIKE - WELL and YAKNOW. Variables are assigned with the =LIKE and =TOTALLY operators.Other operators include the "CALIFORNIA BOOLEANS" FERSURE and NOWAY. Repetitions of code are handled in FOR-SURE loops. Here is a sample VALGOL program . 14 LIKE-YAKNOW (I MEAN) START . %% IF . PI A =LIKE BITCHEN AND . 01 B =LIKE TUBULAR AND . 9 C =LIKE GRODY**MAX . 4K (FERSURE)**2 . 18 THEN . 4I FOR I=LIKE 1 TO OH MAYBE 100 . 86 DO WAH + (DITTY**2) . 9 BARF(I) =TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) . -17 SURE . 1F LIKE BAG THIS PROGRAM . ? REALLY . $$ LIKE TOTALLY (Y*KNOW) VALGOL is characterized by its unfriendly error messages. For example when the user makes a syntax error the interpreter displays the message GAG ME WITH A SPOON! LAIDBACK ... Historically VALGOL is a derivative of LAIDBACK which was developed at the (now defunct) Marin County Center for T'ai Chi Mellowness and Computer Programming as an analternative to the more intense atmosphere in nearby silicon valley. The center was ideal for programmers who liked to soak in hot tubs while they worked. Unfortunately few programmers could survive there for long since the center outlawed pizza and RC Cola in favor of bean curd and Perrier. Many mourn the demise of LAIDBACK because its reputation as a gentle and nonthreatening language. For example LAIDBACK responded to syntax errors with the message SORRY MAN I CAN'T DEAL WITH THAT. SARTRE ... Named after the late existential philosopher.SARTRE is an extremely unstructured language. Statements in SARTRE have no purpose they are just there. Thus SARTRE programs are left to define their own functions. SARTRE programmers tend to be boring and depressed and are no fun at parties. FIFTH ... FIFTH is a precision mathematical language in which the data types refer to quantity. The data types range from CC-OUNCE -SHOT and JIGGER to FIFTH (hence the name of the language) LITER-MAGNUM and BLOTTO. Commands refer to ingredients such as CHABLIS-CHARDONNAY- CABERNET-GIN-VERMOUTH-VODKA-SCOTCH and WHATEVERSAROUND. The many versions of the FIFTH language reflect the sophistication and financial status of its users. Commands in the ELITE dialect include VSOP and LAFITE while commands in the GUTTER dialect include HOOTCH and RIPPLE. The latter is a favorite of frustrated FORTH programmers who end up using the language. C-...This language was named for the grade received by its creater when he submitted it as a class project in a graduate programming class. C- is best described as a 'Low Level' programming language. In fact the language generally requires more C- statements than machine-code statements ti execute a given task. In this respect it is very similar to COBOL. LITHP ... This otherwise unremarkable language is distinguished by the absence of an "s" in its character set. Programmers and users must substitute"TH". LITHP is said to be useful in prothething lithtth. DOGO ... Developed at the Massachussettes Institute of Obedience Training. DOGO heralds a new era of computer literate pets. DOGO commands include SIT STAY-HEEL and ROLL OVER. An innovative feature of DOGO is 'PUPPY GRAPHICS' in which a small cocker spaniel occasionally leaves a deposit as he travels across the screen. -- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Scott M. Estrin "If everything seems to be going Sigma Alpha Mu sme3@Lehigh.EDU well, you obviously don't Sigma Kappa Chapter Lehigh University know what the hell is going on." We're BACK!!! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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