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From: tom@LOGICON.ARPA@caip.RUTGERS.EDU
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga
Subject: BCPL and stray bogons
Message-ID: <1098@caip.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Tue, 28-Jan-86 01:58:50 EST
Article-I.D.: caip.1098
Posted: Tue Jan 28 01:58:50 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jan-86 01:25:12 EST
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: tom@LOGICON.ARPA

>Message-Id: <8601251809.AA03712@caip.rutgers.edu>
>From: 3comvax!mykes@caip.rutgers.edu (Mike Schwartz)
>Subject: Re: What's BCPL?
>
>BCPL stands for the "Before 'C' Programming Language", and was developed
>for the PDP-11 many years ago by the folks who brought us UNIX (Ken Thompson,
>et al).  I believe you can read more in The 'C' Programming Language.

Wow!!  A 10 on the Bogometer (also known as the B.S.  detector)!!  BCPL
has nothing to do with 'C' other than the fact that: 'B' was "sort of"
derived from BCPL and 'C' *was* derived from 'B'.  BCPL was in use long
before 'C' was a gleam in Thompson's eye.

BCPL was first described (we believe) by Martin Richards in AFIPS SJCC
#34, 1969, pp.  557-566.  BCPL was also one of the first structured
programming languages, predating ALGOL.

BCPL was used for programming on the CTSS (Compatible Time-Sharing
System) and for some early Multics programming, until PL/1 became
predominant.

BCPL has always had a larger following in the U.K.  than in the U.S.
(Which may explain why TRIPOS was written in BCPL.)

(We also have a Modula compiler written by Univ of York, written in
BCPL for UNIX.)

Tom Perrine         {tom@logicon}
Bill D'Camp         {bill@logicon}