SYMPL
SYMPL is an obsolete programming language developed by the Control Data Corporation for use on the CDC 6000 series computer systems in the 1970s and 1980s. It was based on a subset of CDC's version of JOVIAL, as an alternative to assembly language. A number of important CDC software products were implemented in SYMPL, including compilers, libraries, a full-screen editor, and major subsystems.
SYMPL is a compiled, imperative, and procedural language. Compared to the Fortran of the day, SYMPL supports:
- Strong data typing: All variables must be declared before use
- Boolean variables
- Variable bit width integers
- "Status" variables
- Data structures - Including "based" dynamically allocated structures
- Structured programming constructs
- Nested procedures
- In-fix "bead" and character manipulation
- A simple macro facility
Simplifications compared to JOVIAL include: no fixed point data type, no table structures, and no
COMPOOL concept. Though in lieu of COMPOOLs, a CDC-specific system text capability allows encapsulation of common data declarations.