GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#1

Post by edelsohn » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 2:18 AM UTC

GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End
gcc.gnu.org

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#2

Post by zik » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 2:47 AM UTC

As a fan of Algol 68, I'm pretty excited for this.

For people who aren't familiar with the language, pretty much all modern languages are descended from Algol 60 or Algol 68. C descends from Algol 60, so pretty much every popular modern language derives from Algol in some way [1].

[1] https://ballingt.com/assets/prog_lang_poster.png

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#3

Post by dhosek » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 2:53 AM UTC

zik wrote: post #2

As a fan of Algol 68, I'm pretty excited for this. For people who aren't familiar with the language, pretty much all modern languages are descended from Algol 60 or Algol 68. C descends from Algol 60, so pretty much every popular modern language derives from Algol in some way [1]. [1] https://ballingt.com/assets/prog_lang_poster.png

Finally.

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#4

Post by Onavo » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 2:53 AM UTC

They can just fork off the Golang frontend and it would be the same, maybe patch the runtime a bit.

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#5

Post by MangoToupe » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:23 AM UTC

Where might one look to find examples of such code? I've never found algol outside of wikipedia

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#6

Post by MangoToupe » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:23 AM UTC

Onavo wrote: post #4

They can just fork off the Golang frontend and it would be the same, maybe patch the runtime a bit.

Does gcc even support go?

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#7

Post by ameliaquining » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:29 AM UTC

MangoToupe wrote: post #6

Onavo wrote: post #4

They can just fork off the Golang frontend and it would be the same, maybe patch the runtime a bit.

Does gcc even support go?

Yes, though language support runs behind the main Go compiler. https://go.dev/doc/install/gccgo

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#8

Post by nine_k » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:33 AM UTC

zik wrote: post #2

As a fan of Algol 68, I'm pretty excited for this. For people who aren't familiar with the language, pretty much all modern languages are descended from Algol 60 or Algol 68. C descends from Algol 60, so pretty much every popular modern language derives from Algol in some way [1]. [1] https://ballingt.com/assets/prog_lang_poster.png

If PL/I was like a C++ of the time, Algol-68 was probably comparable to a Scala of the time. A number of mind-boggling ideas (for the time), complexity, an array of kitchen sinks.

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#9

Post by int_19h » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:36 AM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #8

zik wrote: post #2

As a fan of Algol 68, I'm pretty excited for this. For people who aren't familiar with the language, pretty much all modern languages are descended from Algol 60 or Algol 68. C descends from Algol 60, so pretty much every popular modern language derives from Algol in some way [1]. [1] https://ballingt.com/assets/prog_lang_poster.png

If PL/I was like a C++ of the time, Algol-68 was probably comparable to a Scala of the time. A number of mind-boggling ideas (for the time), complexity, an array of kitchen sinks.

It certainly has quite a reputation, but I suspect it has more to do with dense formalism that was quite unlike everything else. The language itself is actually surprisingly nice for its time, very orthogonal and composable.

Re: GCC SC approves inclusion of Algol 68 Front End

#10

Post by wahern » Sun, Nov 23, 2025, 3:40 AM UTC

MangoToupe wrote: post #6

Onavo wrote: post #4

They can just fork off the Golang frontend and it would be the same, maybe patch the runtime a bit.

Does gcc even support go?

Until a few years ago, gccgo was well maintained and trailed the main Go compiler by 1 or 2 releases, depending on how the release schedules aligned. Having a second compiler was considered an important feature. Currently, the latest supported Go version is 1.18, but without Generics support. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but porting Generics to gccgo may have been a hurdle that broke the cadence.