[W/K] :: PL/I

  PLI
       Programming Language One (DEC), "PL/I"
       
       

  PL/I
       
          Programming Language One.
       
          An attempt to combine the best features of Fortran, COBOL
          and ALGOL 60.  Developed by George Radin of IBM in 1964.
          Originally named NPL and Fortran VI.  The result is large but
          elegant.  PL/I was one of the first languages to have a formal
          semantic definition, using the Vienna Definition Language.
          EPL, a dialect of PL/I, was used to write almost all of the
          Multics operating system.  PL/I is still widely used
          internally at IBM.  The PL/I standard is ANS X3.53-1976.
       
          PL/I has no reserved words.  Types are fixed, float,
          complex, character strings with maximum length, bit strings,
          and label variables.  Arrays have lower bounds and may be
          dynamic.  It also has summation, multi-level structures,
          structure assignment, untyped pointers, side effects and
          aliasing.  Control flow constructs include goto; do-end
          groups; do-to-by-while-end loops; external procedures;
          internal nested procedures and blocks; generic procedures
          and exception handling.  Procedures may be declared
          recursive.  Many implementations support concurrency
          ('call task' and 'wait(event)' are equivalent to fork/join)
          and compile-time statements.
       
          LPI is a PL/I interpreter.
       
          ["A Structural View of PL/I", D. Beech, Computing Surveys, 2,1
          33-64 (1970)].
       
          (1994-10-25)