Episode 130 - ALGOL, Part II

Advent of Computing

This is a hefty one. I usually try to keep things as accessible as possible, but this time we have to get a little more technical than usual. We are picking up in 1964, with the first proposals for a new version of ALGOL. From there we sail through the fraught waters of ALGOL X, Y, W, and finally 68. Along the way we see how a language evolves over time, and how people and politics mesh with technical issues.

Selected Sources:

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/1061112.1061118 - Successes and Failures of the ALGOL Effort

https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MAHC.2010.8 - Cold War Origins of IFIP

https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/algol/algol_bulletin/ - The ALGOL Bulletin