ABC
1. <computer> Atanasoff-Berry Computer.
2. <language> An imperative language and programming environment from
CWI, Netherlands. It is interactive, structured, high-level, and easy to learn
and use. It is a general-purpose language which you might use instead of BASIC,
Pascal or AWK. It is not a systems-programming language but is good for teaching
or prototyping.
ABC has only five data types that can easily be combined; strong typing, yet
without declarations; data limited only by memory; refinements to support
top-down programming; nesting by indentation. Programs are typically around a
quarter the size of the equivalent Pascal or C program, and more readable.
ABC includes a programming environment with syntax-directed editing,
suggestions, persistent variables and multiple workspaces and infinite precision
arithmetic.
An example function words to collect the set of all words in a document:
HOW TO RETURN words document:
PUT {} IN collection
FOR line in document:
FOR word IN split line:
IF word not.in collection:
INSERT word IN collection
RETURN collection
Interpreter/compiler, version 1.04.01, by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens,
Steven Pemberton <Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl>.
ABC has been ported to Unix, MS-DOS, Atari,
Macintosh.
Home.
FTP eu.net,
FTP nluug.nl,
FTP uunet.
Mailing list: <abc-list-request@cwi.nl>.
E-mail: <abc@cwi.nl>.
["The ABC Programmer's Handbook" by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens and Steven
Pemberton, published by Prentice-Hall (ISBN 0-13-000027-2)].
["An Alternative Simple Language and Environment for PCs" by Steven Pemberton,
IEEE Software, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1987, pp. 56-64.]
(1995-02-09)
2. <language> Argument, Basic value, C?.
An abstract machine for implementation of functional languages and its
intermediate code.
[P. Koopman, "Functional Programs as Executable Specifications", 1990].
(1995-02-09)
Nearby terms:
A&B « abbrev « Abbreviated Test Language for
Avionics Systems « ABC » ABC ALGOL » ABCL/1 »
ABCL/c+
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