29 Dec
2017
29 Dec
'17
11:58 a.m.
On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 7:26 PM, Wesley Parish <wobblygong(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Which raised the question: when did header files come
into use? Who
was the first to use header files to store common system-wide or
application-wide data definitions? Was it used in any languages prior
to C?
COBOL 60 (April 1960) had INCLUDE (page V-27):
http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/codasyl/COBOL_Report_Apr60.pdf
FUNCTION: To save the programmer effort by automatically incorporating
library subroutines into the source program.
It even had a literal substitution mechanism to rewrite the included text.