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Short Code (computer language)
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Short Code was proposed by <a href="/facts/John_Mauchly/y6TeMdXU">John Mauchly</a> in 1949 and originally known as Brief Code. William Schmitt implemented a version of Brief Code in 1949 for the <a href="/facts/BINAC/HcSpFW5J">BINAC</a> computer, though it was never debugged and tested. The following year Schmitt implemented a new version of Brief Code for the <a href="/facts/UNIVAC_I/LQzozqY2">UNIVAC I</a>, 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 II by A. B. Tonik and J. R. Logan.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> For example, the expression </p> a = (b + c) / b * c <p>was converted to Short Code by a sequence of substitutions and a final regrouping: </p> 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. 07Y10204X1Y1 group into 12-byte words. 0000X30309X1 <p>Along with basic <a href="/facts/Arithmetic/hvHwkbMV">arithmetic</a>, Short Code allowed for branching and calls to a library of functions. The language was <a href="/facts/Interpreter_(computing)/JB85fbyb">interpreted</a> and ran about 50 times slower than <a href="/facts/Machine_code/bgdQ1Fxf">machine code</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/History_of_programming_languages/0MAFKehA">History of programming languages</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Algorithm/fnl5NmRt">Algorithm</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li>Wexelblat, Richard L. (Ed.) (1981). <i>History of Programming Languages</i>, p. 9. New York: Academic Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-12-745040-8</li> <li><a href="http://hopl.info/showlanguage.prx?exp=2707&language=SHORT%20CODE">"Short Code"</a>. <i>hopl.info</i>. Retrieved 2018-05-20.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Sebesta, R. W. Concepts of Programming languages. 2006; M6 14:18 pp. 44. ISBN 0-321-33025-0. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Sebesta, R. W. Concepts of Programming languages. 11E; Chapter 2, pp. 39. ISBN 978-0133943023. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:pages 7–8. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Schmitt, William F. The UNIVAC SHORT CODE. Annals of the History of Computing (1988) 10:page 15. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Malik, Masud Ahmad. Evolution of the High Level Programming Languages: A Critical Perspective. ACM SIGPLAN Notices (December 1998) 33(12) page 74. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>