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From: singer@spar.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Discussion on removing punctuation in programming languages
Message-ID: <371@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM>
Date: Mon, 13-Oct-86 12:04:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: spar.371
Posted: Mon Oct 13 12:04:45 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Oct-86 06:23:10 EDT
References: <7796DMB@PSUVMA>
Reply-To: singer@spar.UUCP (David Singer)
Organization: Schlumberger Palo Alto Research - CASLAB
Lines: 18

The language BCPL uses semi-colon as the statement separator, but the
compiler is documented as being very relaxed about them being missing;
basically they are only required when there would otherwise be an
obvious ambiguity.  Partly it does this (I think) by treating end-of-line
as a possible 'implied semi-colon', ignoring it if not appropriate, and
taking it if appropriate.  Multiple statements on one line still had
to be separated, I think.

It also has a notation to join two statements in a single block
  a := 4 <> b := 5
  $( a :=4 ; b := 5 $)
a legible syntax, nice loop constructs, and also allows (5 < a < 10).

Obviously it has problems wrt typing, addressing, and independent
compilation, all fixed in C;  but C broke legibility, loop constructs, 
and much that was beautiful in the language in a terrible attempt to go
for minimum typing/maximum illegibility (second only to APL, in my
opinion).