Programming Language: ABC

Although we may not be aware of it, programming languages are essential to our everyday lives. Many of our current life functions rely on these programming languages to effectively code and program software. The ABC is one of many languages used today in the computer science field. ABC was originally intended to be a replacement or alternative to BASIC and Pascal. The language is more commonly used to teach or prototype, rather than being a systems-programming language.

Programming languages have played critical importance in our modern-day society. This is because programming languages are the foundation of the technology that is commonly used within our modern-day society. Things such as the internet, video games, applications, etc. are things that are typically used every day. Technology as a whole has forever changed the way we will live our lives. To get into a more in-depth explanation, we use technology for more than people would come to assume. Transportation, air-traffic control, communication, entertainment, and the media are all examples of the very important ways technology is used. Without programming languages, many of the things we use and have today would cease to exist. Our businesses, economy, overall advancement, accessibility, etc. would all be at a very different stage in development.

The earliest stage of development for programming languages began in 1943. Konrad Zuse developed the structure of Plankalkül, a programming language intended for engineering purposes. Although Plankalkül never officially became implemented, Konrad Zuse is still seen as a very important figure in programming. Konrad actually created the very first computer that was able to be programmed in 1941. The very first official programming language was introduced in 1949. This language was designed for electronic computers and is called Short Code. The original name for this language was Brief Code, designed by William F. Schmidt. Autocode was the predecessor of Short Code, introduced in 1952. This programming language was implemented by Alick Glennie. Autocode was seen as a predecessor of Short Code because of the major downsides Short Code had. The programming language developed by William F. Schmidt lacked efficiency. The first popular programming language was FORTRAN, introduced in 1954.

FORTRAN was seen as the very first popular programming language because Autocode failed to rise in popularity. However, Autocode is still seen to be better than the previous languages. The popular language FORTRAN is actually the only language that is still used from that time era. Not only that, it was also developed by IBM, which also happens to be the creators of the first smartphone. The programming languages that are popular now differ from the languages back then, as they began development around 1958.

It is believed that the ABC programming language played crucial importance in the structure and creation of Python. In fact, Guido van Rossum, the developer of Python, worked in the 1980s on the ABC system. Guido founded Python back in December 1989. This programming language was known to be the successor of ABC. The very first version of ABC became released in 1987, although research on the language began before 1980. Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens, and Steven Pemberton are the developers of the ABC programming language. The language was developed and originated at CWI, in the Netherlands. This also happens to be the very same place where Python became developed.

Some platforms that are compatible with ABC are Atari, Unix, DOS, and Apple Macintosh. The current implementations for these files are different from each other. Many examples can be provided for the current file names in these platforms. As for Macintosh, the file name is abcMAC.dmg. The file name for Windows is abc-windows.zip. There is also a file that is compilable with not only Unix but Mac and Windows as well. This file name is abc-unix.tar.gz. These are all examples of the ABC implementations, however, there are many more that exist.

The reason many people choose to use ABC is because of how simple the language is compared to many others. Despite the fact that it is commonly used as a teaching language, ABC is still considered a high-level programming language. The targeted audience to ABC are people who aren’t programming experts. This can include learners and casual users. The language was built to be easily read and processed by people who weren’t fully experienced with coding and programming. ABC programs are typically four to five times smaller than programs that are coded in programming languages such as Pascal or C.

An advantage of using ABC as an introductory programming language is that it is student-friendly. Having ABC be student-friendly is critical, as it is a common language that is taught at schools. The language itself is very interactive, allowing students to get a more ardent comprehension of what needs to be done. ABC provides error messages, similar to Python. These are commonly referred to as a syntax error. Errors are easily located, giving students and learners an easier and more efficient coding process. Having the error located rather than spending time to look for it can be a huge help to coders. On top of that, the overall language has been designed to be easy to read. This makes ABC an optimal choice for an introductory programming language.

More advantages are that it is good for teaching, and it is a fairly simple language. ABC is known to have well-built support for structured programming. It is even believed to be better than BASIC and Pascal. Since ABC is one of the more simple programming languages, it allows you to choose interesting examples. This allows for the student or learner to avoid bad programming habits as a beginner. Other languages tend to provide problematic and challenging examples, which can be perceived as good and bad. Too much challenge as a beginner can build up bad programming habits such as jumping straight into coding. This is often caused by trying to find the correct answer, rather than actually understanding the problem.

As for the popularity of this language, ABC isn’t particularly a popular programming language used other than learning and teaching. In fact, according to an updated list that gathered the most used programming languages, ABC is not on the list. Although it isn’t commonly used as much as Python and JavaScript, ABC ranks in the top 5% of languages. This language isn’t commonly used other than learning and teaching is because it is not used as a systems programming language. It ranks in the top 5% of all programming languages because it is commonly used for everyday programming. On top of that, many people learn ABC before advancing to a more difficult language, as it is beginner-friendly. The current version of the ABC programming language is actually the fourth iteration. Other programming languages that are also used for general programming are AWK, Pascal, and BASIC.

Examples of code in the ABC programming language can be shown with if statements. IF statements are generally used to have an alternative route for a command to execute if it failed the first time. The terms IF and ELSE are what allows the command to follow through correctly. In this case, the code will follow the command. IF the command being executed is successful, it will continue. Anything ELSE that will result in an error will follow an alternative set of commands. A direct example of how IF statements are used in the ABC programming language can be: IF x < 1: PUT -x, -y IN x, y. ELSE statements will need to be inputted into the code prior to doing a test run. This allows the IF and ELSE terms to work accordingly.

The example code provided above will then be performed. If the code is executed successfully, the output will appear and the performance is finished. On the condition that the command failed to execute, an error will occur. This is where the ELSE statement comes into the process. An alternative set of commands will need to be inputted into the code in order to avoid errors.

Loops are also commonly used within coding and programming. The purpose of loops in programming are to be used to repeat a set of actions within the program. It is important to understand there are different kinds of loops that are used within various programming languages. Two types of loops that are most common within programming are the for loop and the while loop. The for loop is generally used to repeat a set or specific chunk of code. An advantage of using for loops is that we are aware of how many times the loop will be executed.

The while loop is used in a similar context, as they both are loops that repeat sections of code. Although they share similarities, the while loop differs as it repeats a section of code an unknown amount of times. This is because it is used to repeat the section of code until a specific condition is met. The while loop then repeats the code however many times it needs to meet the condition, making the amount unknown. Although loops are common within coding, not all programming languages use loops.

While loops are more common in the ABC languages. The WHILE command is used in ABC and acts similar to an IF statement but without the ELSE statement. If the line of code is successfully executed, it will keep continuing until it reaches an error. An example of code can be: WHILE z > 2: PUT z/20, y+2 IN z, y. Rather than waiting for a failure to appear for the command to stop, there are alternative ways to stop it. You can actually use a terminating-command to stop the code from repeating. The command does not become executed if the code meets a failure on the first attempt. As the while loop continues to repeat the code until failure, it’s generally thought of as a repeating IF statement.

Programming languages are necessary to continue to maintain and develop things we use in our everyday lives. This includes websites, mobile applications, computer applications, video games, communication, etc. These languages began to be developed as early as 1943, and continue to improve. There are many languages to choose from when becoming a programmer, such as ABC. Although ABC is an optimal choice for a beginner-friendly language, there are many more programming languages that are well known. Some examples of this are Python, Java, JavaScript, C, C++, and many more. Nonetheless, ABC is nothing to look past when speaking upon the history of programming languages. The ABC language has played a major impact on programming. It is even known to be the mother of Python, which is one of the most well-known programming languages today.