Short Code (computer language): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Early higher-level language for electronic computers}}

{{about|the early computer language Short Code|the use of this term in connection with telecommunications|Short code}}

{{Infobox programming language

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| influenced = [[Intermediate programming language]], [[OMNIBAC Symbolic Assembler]]

}}

'''Short Code''' was one of the first higher-level languages developed for an [[electronic computer]].<ref>Sebesta, R. W. Concepts of Programming languages. 2006; M6 14:18 pp. 44. {{ISBN|0-321-33025-0}}.</ref> Unlike [[machine code]], Short Code statements represented mathematic expressions rather than a machine instruction. Also known as an automatic programming, the source code was not compiled but executed through an interpreter to simplify the programming process;. theThe execution time was, naturally, much slower though.<ref>Sebesta, R. W. Concepts of Programming languages. 11E; Chapter 2, pp. 39. {{ISBN|978-0133943023}}.</ref>

==History==

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While Short Code represented expressions, the representation itself was not direct and required a process of manual conversion. Elements of an expression were represented by two-character codes and then divided into 6-code groups in order to conform to the 12-byte words used by BINAC and Univac computers.<ref>Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:page 15.</ref> For example, the expression

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">

a = (b + c) / b * c

</syntaxhighlight>

was converted to Short Code by a sequence of substitutions and a final regrouping:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">

X3 = ( X1 + Y1 ) / X1 * Y1 substitute variables

X3 03 09 X1 07 Y1 02 04 X1 Y1 substitute operators and parentheses.

Note that multiplication is

represented by juxtaposition.</syntaxhighlight><syntaxhighlight lang="text">

07Y10204X1Y1 group into 12-byte words.

0000X30309X1

</syntaxhighlight>

Along with basic [[arithmetic]], Short Code allowed for branching and calls to a library of functions. The language was [[interpreter (computing)|interpreted]] and ran about 50 times slower than [[machine code]].<ref>Malik, Masud Ahmad. Evolution of the High Level Programming Languages: A Critical Perspective. ACM SIGPLAN Notices (December 1998) 33(12) page 74.</ref>