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Conference turris::languages

Title:	Languages
Notice:	Speaking In Tongues
Moderator:	TLE::TOKLAS::FELDMAN

Created:	Sat Jan 25 1986
Last Modified:	Wed May 21 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	394
Total number of notes:	2683

110.0. "Know anything about XPL?" by HOMBRE::BINDER (Dum vivimus vivamus) Wed Oct 08 1986 16:11

    What can anyone tell me about a language called XPL?  It was around
    in the late '70s, when I was living another life.  A friend wrote
    a heuristic program to play Othello in XPL, and after you'd played
    about 20 games with it, it was unbeatable.  Someone else could beat
    it, maybe, until it learned her style of play.
    
    I was really impressed with XPL - this program wasn't more than
    maybe 500 lines long.  But I don't see references to the language
    anywhere - even with an XPL compiler available for CP/M from Dynacomp.
    Maybe I shouldn't waste the money?
    
    Thanks for any thoughts at all,
    Dick Binder

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
110.1	not much help, but ...	CLT::BOURQUARD		`Wed Oct 08 1986 17:14`	4
	When I was in school (late 70's), we had an SPL compiler which was a version of XPL written for the Xerox Sigma series machines. I believe that XPL was bastardized from PL/I. All I remember about it is that it had a stack data type, and push/pop built-in functions.
110.2	i think there's a book on XPL	ERLANG::GLASER	Steve Glaser DTN 226-7646 LKG1-2/A19	`Wed Oct 08 1986 20:34`	6
	I think it was a product of Bill McKeeman (sp?). I seem to recall seeing a book on the language. It might be available through the library. steveg
110.3	XPL Reference	TLE::HOBBS		`Wed Oct 08 1986 21:07`	5
	XPL is described in "A Compiler Generator" by McKeeman, Horning and Wortman published by Prentice-Hall in 1970. The book includes a listing of an XPL compiler for the IBM 360 written in XPL.
110.4	DXPL	DSSDEV::REINIG	August G. Reinig	`Thu Oct 09 1986 10:35`	5
	When I was in college our computer center used DXPL for the couple of years it took the local computer wizard to write the PL1 compiler. DXPL was vaguely PL1 like. August G. Reinig
110.5	Ah, XPL/S	PRAGMA::GRIFFIN	Dave Griffin	`Mon Oct 13 1986 12:32`	8
	XPL/S (or was it XPLS) was used on the Xerox Sigma 9 machines as their "systems programming language" (along with MetaSymbol - the assembler). XPL/S was a structured varient of XPL - no GOTO. It was my first "real" programming language. I liked it. I do not know of any Digital implementations. - dave