|
The basic [[datatype]]s handled by Snowball are strings of characters, signed integers, and boolean [[truth value]]s, or more simply strings, integers and booleans. Snowball's characters are either 8-bit wide, or 16-bit, depending on the mode of use. In particular, both [[ASCII]] and [[UTF-16|16-bit Unicode]] are supported. Like the [[SNOBOL programming language]], the flow of control in Snowball is arranged by the implicit use of signals (each statement returns a true or false value), rather than the explicit use of constructs such as if, then, and break found in [[C (programming language)|C]] and many other programming languages.<ref>[http://snowball.tartarus.org/compiler/snowman.html "Snowball Manual"], Martin Porter, web page. Retrieved 2 September 2014.</ref>
[[SNOBOL]] was designed to utilize symbolic string data, as its name suggests its job. In only a few lines of code, programmers may quickly search, edit, and use string variables. Pattern-matching problems are well-suited to [[SNOBOL]] and [[derivative]] languages <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=SNOBOL |url=https://unacademy.com/content/bank-exam/study-material/computer-knowledge/snobol/ |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=Unacademy |language=en-US}}</ref>
The name Snowball was chosen as a tribute to the [[SNOBOL]] programming language, with which it shares the concept of string patterns delivering signals that are used to control the flow of the program. The creator of Snowball, [[Martin Porter|Dr. Martin Porter]], "toyed with the idea of calling it 'strippergram' ", because it "effectively provides a '[[suffix]] STRIPPER GRAMmar' ".<ref name="Snowball-HomePage" />
= Modern use =
[[SNOBOL]] was designed to work with symbolic string data. Just in a few lines of code, programmers would instantly search, edit, and use string variables. [[Pattern-matching]] issues are well-suited to [[SNOBOL]] and derivative languages. Attempts to restore SNOBOL back to life have been made through out the years. In the post [[Cold War|Cold-War]] era, Ralph Griswold, the creator of [[SNOBOL]], produced Icon, a language that was comparable to SNOBOL. It was never as Famous just as SNOBOL was to being too much specialized.<ref name=":0" />
==References==
|
