23 Nov
2021
23 Nov
'21
9:28 a.m.
On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 at 03:10, <arnold(a)skeeve.com> wrote:
Henry Bent <henry.r.bent(a)gmail.com> wrote:
PL/1 compiler for Linux: http://www.iron-spring.com/
PL/1 front end for GCC (looks dead): pl1gcc.sourceforge.net
"Expect some more releases soon" and the last release was 0.0.whatever, in
2007. I think that speaks volumes as to how popular PL/I is today. That
being said, the Linux compiler does appear to be actively developed, and I
suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the two platforms for active
development are Linux and OS/2 (!).
I have a vague recollection of installing and playing with a PL/I compiler
demo for Ultrix, but I figured that the language was essentially dead at
that point. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that there are still
people using it, as this is the world of "we wrote the specifications in
1975 and there's no reason to update them," but I have a hard time
imagining those companies being truly competitive, and an even harder time
imagining them attracting talent under retirement age.
-Henry
On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 at 21:31, Mary Ann Horton
<mah(a)mhorton.net> wrote:
> PL/I was my favorite mainframe programming language my last two years
as
> an undergrad. I liked how it incorporated
ideas from FORTRAN, ALGOL,
and
COBOL. My
student job was to enhance a PL/I package for a History
professor.
What language were the PL/I compilers written in?
Wikipedia claims that IBM is still developing a PL/I compiler, which I
suppose I have no reason to disbelieve, but I'm very curious as to who is
using it and for what purpose.
-Henry