[COFF] Algol68 (was Re: [TUHS] Were cron and at done at the same time? Or one before the other?

[John Cowan]

On Thu, Dec 17, 2020 at 11:35 AM Bakul Shah <bakul at iitbombay.org> wrote:

> Funny how we seem to rehash the same things over the years!
>

Ars longa, vita brevis.

> In a 1988 comp.lang.misc thread when I expressed hope that "a major
> subset of Algol 68 with a new and concise syntax (sort of like C's)
> can make a very elegant, type safe and well rounded language.",


Thanks.  The URL is <
https://groups.google.com/u/2/g/comp.lang.misc/c/qkmB_3zuC7Y/m/-Bk9z-oZaqYJ
>.

> Piet
> van Oostrum[1] commented the combination of dynamic arrays *and*
> unions forced the use of GC in Algol68. Either feature by themselves
> wouldn't have required GC!


I can't find this anywhere in the thread or elsewhere in comp.lang.misc.
Do you have a reference?

In any case, I don't understand how a safe language with pointers can avoid
the need for *some* kind of GC.

[My exposure to Algol68 was when I had stumbled upon Brailsford and
> Walker's wonderful "Introductory Algol 68 programming"


Alas, I can only find this at one shady site, or in hardback at Amazon for
USD 20 which is a lot for a pig in a poke (no preview).



John Cowan          http://vrici.lojban.org/~cowan        cowan at ccil.org
"But I am the real Strider, fortunately," he said, looking down at them
with his face softened by a sudden smile.  "I am Aragorn son of Arathorn,
and if by life or death I can save you, I will."
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