On 08/08/2015 12:13 PM, Jay Jaeger wrote:
I have always felt that the language name is SNOBOL, with multiple versions, kind of like FORTRAN II (which is what the 1410 had), FORTRAN IV, FORTRAN V, etc., but Griswold seems to think otherwise. ;)
I think the test would be "Can language x+1 run, without substantial modification, programs written in language x?" If the answer is "no", then languages x and x+1 are separate languages, and not compatible dialects of the same language.
So FORTRAN IV would be a compatible dialect of FORTRAN II (mostly at any rate, FII vendors had a nasty habit of adding their own features willy-nilly, as did FIV). I think Codasyl was first to clamp down on "the default is the standard as we say it is", then FORTRAN followed.
However, I'd submit that F95 is a separate language, as it can't run FIV, F66 or F77 programs without modification as it doesn't understand ASSIGN-ed GOTOs as well as H-type (Hollerith) FORMAT specs.
--Chuck
