Short Code (computer language): Difference between revisions

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

:''This article is {{about |the early computer language Short Code. For |the use of this term in connection with telecommunications, see [[|Short Code]]''.code}}

{{Infobox programming language

| name = Short Code

| paradigm =

| released = {{Start date|1950}}

| developer = William F Schmitt, A. B. Tonik, J. R. Logan

| influenced by = [[ENIAC Short Code]]

| 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 automatic programming, the source code was not compiled but executed through an interpreter to simplify the programming process. The execution time was, naturally, much slower.<ref>Sebesta, R. W. Concepts of Programming languages. 11E; Chapter 2, pp. 39. {{ISBN|978-0133943023}}.</ref>

==History==

Short Code was proposed by [[John Mauchly]] in 1949 and originally known as Brief Code. William Schmitt implemented a version of Brief Code in 1949 for the [[BINAC]] computer, though it was never debugged and tested. The following year Schmitt implemented a new version of Brief Code for the [[UNIVAC&nbsp;I]], where it was now known as Short Code (also Short Order Code). A revised version of Short Code was developed in 1952 for the Univac&nbsp;II by A.&nbsp;B. Tonik and J.&nbsp;R. Logan.<ref>Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:pages 7–8.</ref>

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">

In computing, the name '''Short code''' (singular noun) refers to the language of the same name which was the first actually implemented language<ref name=Sebesta/> used for an electronic computing device. The technique used in programming the device involved using codes, usually called '''short codes''' (plural) which mapped to hardware functions. At the time, the language had to be 'hand coded' or simply put 'manually compiled' to [[machine code]], rather than being able to parse it through a [[lexical analyser]] or [[compiler]]. The technique is named synonymously with [[pseudocodes]], which can be confused with the highlevel language-independent algorithm 'language' representation. Short Code was the predecessor to [[Speedcoding]], which extended Short Code by allowing for floating point calculations and code representation for the four calculation operators (* / + -?)

a = (b + c) / b * c

</syntaxhighlight>

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

<ref name=Sebesta>Sebesta, W.S Concepts of Programming languages. 2006;M6 14:18 pp.44. ISBN# 0-321-33025-0</ref>

<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>

== See also ==

* [[History of programming languages]]

* [[Algorithm]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

* Wexelblat, Richard L. (Ed.) (1981). ''History of Programming Languages'', p.&nbsp;9. New York: Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-12-745040-8}}

* {{Cite web|url=http://hopl.info/showlanguage.prx?exp=2707&language=SHORT%20CODE|title=Short Code|last=|first=|date=|website=hopl.info|access-date=2018-05-20}}

[[Category:Procedural programming languages]]

*[http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art19.htm A Brief History of Programming Languages]

[[Category:Programming languages created in 1950]]

*[http://www.uow.edu.au/~hasan/buss930/prog/prlangs1.htm A Brief History of Computing Languages]

*[http://hopl.murdoch.edu.au/findlanguages2.prx?id=us&which=ByCountry&ByYear=Yes The Encylopedia of Computer Languages]