TPK algorithm: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:26, 20 June 2007

Revision as of 04:27, 20 June 2007

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The '''Trabb Pardo-Knuth algorithm''' is a [[computer program|program]] introduced by [[Donald Knuth]] and [[Luis Trabb Pardo]] to illustrate the evolution of computer [[programming language]]s.

In their [[1980]] work "The Early Development of Programming Languages", Trabb Pardo and Knuth introduced a trivial program which involved [[array]]s, [[index (information technology)|indexing]], mathematical [[Function (mathematics)|function]]s, [[subroutine]]s, [[I/O]], [[conditional]]s and [[iteration]]. They then wrote implementations of the algorithm in several early programming languages to show how such concepts were expressed.

The simpler [[Hello world program]] has been used for much the same purpose.

==The algorithm==

In [[ALGOL 60]]:

<code lang="algol">

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==Python version==

The following Python version of the algorithm uses the common Python idiom of using a list instead of an array, (although there is an array module available):

<source lang="python">

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* "The Early Development of Programming Languages" in ''A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century'', New York, Academic Press, 1980. ISBN 0-12-491650-3 (Reprinted in Knuth, Donald E., ''et al'', ''Selected Papers on Computer Languages'', Stanford, CA, CSLI, 2003. ISBN 1-57586-382-0)

==External linklinks==

* [http://cs.fit.edu/~ryan/compare Implementations in several modern languages]