Short Code (computer language)
- Short Code (computer language)
Short Code was one of the first higher-level languages ever developed for an electronic computer.[Sebesta, W.S Concepts of Programming languages. 2006;M6 14:18 pp.44. ISBN# 0-321-33025-0] Unlike machine code Short Code statements represented mathematic expressions rather than a machine instruction. ]Short Code was proposed by John Mauchly in 1949 and originally known as Brief Code. William Schmitt implemented a version of Brief Code in 1949 for the BINAC computer, though it was never debugged and tested. The following year Schmitt implemented a new version of Brief Code for the Univac I where it was now known as Short Code (also Short Order Code). A revised version of Short Code was developed in 1952 for the Univac II by A. B. Tonik and J. R Logan. [Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:pages 7-8]
While Short Code represented expressions, the representation itself was not direct and required a process of manual conversion. Elements of an expression were represented by two-character codes and then divided into 6-code groups in order to conform to the 12 byte words used by BINAC and Univac computers. [Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:page 15] For example the expression:
a = (b+c)/b*c
was converted to Short Code by a sequence of substitutions and a final regrouping:
X3 = ( X1 + Y1 ) / X1 * Y1 substitute variables X3 03 09 X1 07 Y1 02 04 X1 Y1 substitute operators and parentheses. Note multiplication is represented by juxtaposition. 07Y10204X1Y1 group into 12-byte words. 0000X30309X1
Along with basic arithmetic, Short Code allowed for branching and calls to a library of functions. The language was interpreted and ran about 50 times slower than machine code. [ Malik, Masud Ahmad. Evolution of the High Level Programming Languages: A Critical Perspective. ACM SIGPLAN Notices (December 1998) 33(12) page 74.]
See also
History of programming languages
Notes
References
* Wexelblat, Richard L. (Ed.) (1981). History of Programming Languages, p. 9. New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-745040-8
* Murdoch, Short Code (HOPL) [http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/showlanguage.prx?exp=2707&language=SHORT%20CODE]
External links
* [http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art19.htm A Brief History of Programming Languages]
* [http://www.uow.edu.au/~hasan/buss930/prog/prlangs1.htm A Brief History of Computing Languages]
* [http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/findlanguages2.prx?id=us&which=ByCountry&ByYear=Yes The Encyclopedia of Computer Languages]
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