SYMPL is an obsolete programming language developed by theControl Data Corporation (CDC) for use on theCDC 6000 series computer systems in the 1970s and 1980s. It was based on a subset of CDC's version ofJOVIAL, as an alternative toassembly language. A number of important CDC software products were implemented in SYMPL, including compilers, libraries, a full-screen editor, and major subsystems.
SYMPL is acompiled,imperative, andprocedural language. Compared to theFortran of the day, SYMPL supports:
A distinct feature of SYMPL, also found in JOVIAL tables, is that arrays of multi-item variables can be specified with either a "serial" or "parallel" memory layout. A "serial" layout has array entries following one another in memory as is usual in most computer languages. A "parallel" layout groups each of the individual items within each of the array entries together. For example, if each array entry has items x, y, and z, a parallel layout would group x[0]...x[n] together in memory, followed by y[0]...y[n], and then z[0]...z[n]. This has the effect of potentially speeding up access to all the same items across the array - as they are all contiguous with one another.
Simplifications compared toJOVIAL include: nofixed point data type, no table structures, and noCOMPOOL concept. Though in lieu ofCOMPOOLs, a CDC-specific system text capability allows encapsulation of common data declarations.
| Key people |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Computers |
| ||
| Software | |||
| Other products | |||
| Affiliated companies and products | |||
 | Thisprogramming-language-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |