Some programming languages are decades old and still working. 5 old, but relevant JP
We recently wrote about the COBOL language, which is more than 60 years old. It is still relevant, as many systems of financial and banking organizations are based on it. But there are other old NAPs that are still used in some industries. We are talking about them today, without bypassing COBOL, which is not going to leave the market. Details – under the cat.
Fortran
At the beginning of 2024, this language was ranked 12th on the TIOBE list. After all, he is 67 years old, think about it. Last year, he was on the 27th position, and in just one year he was almost in the top ten. Rust, Ruby and Kotlin were unexpectedly behind.
Of course, you should not think that it is still the same as it was at the time of its appearance (the first version was released by IBM in 1957). In 2023, for example, a new standard appeared. Here are the advantages of the language:
-
high performance
-
static and strong typing
-
relative ease to learn and use
-
versatility
-
built-in parallelism
-
complex numbers as a built-in data type is extremely important for calculations in the field of radiophysics
-
a large number of libraries for various calculations, for example NAG
An example of code in this language:
! Print matrix A to screen
subroutine print_matrix(n,m,A)
implicit none
integer, intent(in) :: n
integer, intent(in) :: m
real, intent(in) :: A(n, m)
integer :: i
do i = 1, n
print *, A(i, 1:m)
end do
end subroutine print_matrixIt is still used in the field of high-performance computing, in physics, astronomy and climatology.
Weather and climate simulation programs are written on it, to take the last example. These are models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The language is also used to perform calculations related to the chemical and physical properties of molecules. In addition, it is used to create simulation packages in chemistry and bioinformatics. An example of GROMACS for molecular dynamics.
ADA
This language was developed in the late 1970s, and not for nothing, but by order of the US Department of Defense. The agency needed it to create various software designed for military and aerospace systems. It was also used to write medical applications, and everything that required reliability and safety.
Its advantage is that it supports both object-oriented and non-object-oriented programming. It is suitable both for use in complex systems and for low-level development. The language allows errors to be detected during compilation, rather than directly executing the program. Also, Ada mostly uses words rather than symbols. In general, this reduces the risk of coding errors.
Example code on ADA:
h Interfaces; use Interfaces;
with System.Machine_Code; use System.Machine_Code;
with Ada.Text_IO;
procedure Asm_Test is
Left, Right : Unsigned_32;
begin
Left := 1; Right := 2;
Asm("addl %1, %2",
Inputs => (Unsigned_32'Asm_Input ("a", Left),
Unsigned_32'Asm_Input ("b", Right)),
Outputs => Unsigned_32'Asm_Output ("=b", Right));
Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line (Unsigned_32'Image (Right));
end Asm_Test;Not to say that now the language is extremely popular, but in some places it is still used. For example, all in the same aerospace industry for flight control systems and satellites. In addition, some medical platforms and railway control systems still operate on it.
By the way, the modern version of the language (unlike the original) is actually object-oriented. Like its predecessor, it is reliable and has a simple syntax.
COBOL
The COBOL programming language is over 60 years old. Despite this, it is still actively used. Of course, in the vast majority of fields it has been replaced by modern programming languages. But the fact is that in a number of countries, hardware systems with software based on this software still work. There are especially many of them in the USA.
In August 2023, the language took 15th place in terms of popularity among Ukrainians. A year ago, he was on 31st position. Impressive growth.
Example code in COBOL:
5738CB1 V2R1M0 910524
AS/400 COBOL Source SGAFP/CBLLBL RCHASA12 10/24/91 10:18:16 Page 3
STMT SEQNBR -A 1 B..+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7..
IDENTFCN S COPYNAME CHG DATE
42 002300 88 END-OF-FILE VALUE "1". 10/23/91
002400 10/23/91
43 002500 PROCEDURE DIVISION. 10/23/91
002600 MAIN-PARA. 10/23/91
44 002700 OPEN INPUT VENDOR-FILE 10/23/91
002800 OUTPUT PRINTER-FILE. 10/23/91
45 002900 PERFORM PRINT-LABELS UNTIL END-OF-FILE. 10/23/91
46 003000 CLOSE VENDOR-FILE, PRINTER-FILE. 10/23/91
003100 GOBACK. 10/23/91
003200 10/23/91
47 003300 PRINT-LABELS. 10/23/91
48 003400 READ VENDOR-FILE 10/23/91
49 003500 AT END SET END-OF-FILE TO TRUE. 10/23/91
50 003600 IF NOT-END-OF-FILE 10/23/91
51 003700 MOVE CORRESPONDING VNDMSTR TO LABEL-O 10/23/91
* ** CORRESPONDING items for statement 51:
* ** NAME
* ** ADDR1
* ** CITY
* ** STATE
* ** ZIPCD
* ** End of CORRESPONDING items for statement 51
52 003800 WRITE PRINT-REC FORMAT IS "LABEL". 10/23/91
* * * * * E N D O F S O U R C E * * * * *By the way, in 2020 the language actually experienced its renaissance. The fact is that the American employment system in 2020 was still dependent on COBOL (now the situation has changed somewhat). And after the number of unemployed increased due to the pandemic, the infrastructure could not withstand the increased load. As a result, everything had to be quickly fixed, inviting existing COBOL specialists and training new ones.
Thanks to the efforts of IBM and other companies, the number of lines of code written in COBOL has already reached 800 billion in 2022. True, it is quite possible that in 2017 they simply did not count everything, but the fact remains that the number of lines of code written in COBOL is huge . .
It is likely that after some time the systems will still be rewritten with modern programming languages, but for now COBOL remains afloat.
APL
It stands for A Programming Language. The language was created in the 60s for working with arrays, as well as for processing large blocks of numbers. It was well suited for solving mathematical, statistical and logical problems, and the APL code is quite short.
Here is an example:
L←(Lι':')↓L←,L ⍝ drop To:
L←LJUST VTOM',',L ⍝ mat with one entry per row
S←¯1++/∧\L≠'(' ⍝ length of address
X←0⌈⌈/S
L←S⌽(−(⍴L)+0,X)↑L ⍝ align the (names)
A←((1↑⍴L),X)↑L ⍝ address
N←0 1↓DLTB(0,X)↓L ⍝ names)
N←,'⍺',N
N[(N='_')/ι⍴N]←' ' ⍝ change _ to blank
N←0 ¯1↓RJUST VTOM N ⍝ names
S←+/∧\' '≠⌽N ⍝ length of last word in nameThe language has a very large set of built-in functions for scalars, vectors, sets, multidimensional objects and their combinations.
Here’s what its author had to say about the language: “I originally created APL as a writing and teaching tool. And although YA was mainly used in commercial programming, I also believe that its most important use is defined as a simple, accurate and feasible notation for studying a wide range of subjects.
APL has a high barrier to entry, particularly because it uses its own character set. He even created a specialized keyboard.
Now it is still alive, but it is rarely used – mostly for the analysis of data sets, processing of financial information in some organizations. In the scientific field, learning such concepts as array processing and functional programming.
In general, actual software on APL that someone uses is becoming less and less, but it still exists. By the way, conferences are held within the framework of the Association for Computer Machinery.
PL/I
Another very old programming language introduced by IBM in the 1960s. It was created as a universal application that combined Fortran and Comtran (the latter was used in business). It turned out to be a rather specific language with a large number of additional functions.
PL/I code example:
***********************************************************************
* *
* PL/I EXAMPLE *
* OBJECT IS TEMPORARY *
* *
* *
* *
***********************************************************************
CRTPLN3: PROCEDURE OPTIONS (MAIN); CSR00010
CSR00020
DCL CSR00030
( CSR00040
K INIT(1024), /* ONE KILO-BYTE */ CSR00050
PAGESIZE INIT(4096), /* 4K PAGE BOUNDARY */ CSR00060
OFFSET INIT(0), /* WINDOWS STARTS */ CSR00070
WINDOW_SIZE INIT(20), /* WINDOW SIZE IN PAGES */ CSR00080
NUM_WIN_ELEM INIT (20480), /* NUM OF 4-BYTE ELEMENTS */ CSR00090
OBJECT_SIZE INIT (60)) /* CHOSEN OBJECT SIZE IN PGS */ CSR00100
FIXED BIN(31); CSR00110
CSR00120
DCL CSR00130
/* 32767 IS UPPER LIMIT FOR ARRAY BOUND. */ CSR00140
S(32767) BIN(31) FIXED BASED(SP); /* DEFINE WORD ALIGNED SPACE */ CSR00150
CSR00160
DCL SP PTR; CSR00170
CSR00180
DCL CSR00190
( CSR00200
ORIG, /* START ADDRESS OF WINDOW */ CSR00210
AD, I, /* TEMPORARY VARIABLES */ CSR00220
HIGH_OFFSET, /* SIZE OF OBJECT IN PAGES */ CSR00230
NEW_HI_OFFSET, /* NEW MAX SIZE OF THE OBJECT */ CSR00240
RETURN_CODE, /* RETURN CODE */ CSR00250
REASON_CODE) FIXED BIN(31); /* REASON CODE */ CSR00260
CSR00270
DCL CSR00280
OBJECT_ID CHAR(8); /* IDENTIFYING TOKEN */ CSR00290
CSR00300
/********************************************************************/ CSR00310
CSR00320
DCL CSRIDAC ENTRY(CHAR(5), /* OP_TYPE */ CSR00330
CHAR(9), /* OBJECT_TYPE */ CSR00340
CHAR(44), /* OBJECT_NAME */ CSR00350
CHAR(3), /* SCROLL_AREA */ CSR00360
CHAR(3), /* OBJECT_STATE */ CSR00370
CHAR(6), /* ACCESS_MODE */ CSR00380
FIXED BIN(31), /* OBJECT_SIZE */ CSR00390
CHAR(8), /* OBJECT_ID */ CSR00400
FIXED BIN(31), /* HIGH_OFFSET */ CSR00410
FIXED BIN(31), /* RETURN_CODE */ CSR00420
FIXED BIN(31) ) /* REASON_CODE */ CSR00430
OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER); CSR00440
CSR00450
CSR00460
DCL CSRVIEW ENTRY(CHAR(5), /* OP_TYPE */ CSR00470
CHAR(8), /* OBJECT_ID */ CSR00480
FIXED BIN(31), /* OFFSET */ CSR00490
FIXED BIN(31), /* WINDOW_SIZE */ CSR00500
FIXED BIN(31), /* WINDOW_NAME */ CSR00510
CHAR(6), /* USAGE */ CSR00520
CHAR(7), /* DISPOSITION */ CSR00530
FIXED BIN(31), /* RETURN_CODE */ CSR00540
FIXED BIN(31) ) /* REASON_CODE */ CSR00550
OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER); CSR00560
CSR00570
CSR00580
DCL CSRSCOT ENTRY(CHAR(8), /* OBJECT_ID */ CSR00590
FIXED BIN(31), /* OFFSET */ CSR00600
FIXED BIN(31), /* SPAN */ CSR00610
FIXED BIN(31), /* RETURN_CODE */ CSR00620
FIXED BIN(31) ) /* REASON_CODE */ CSR00630
OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER); CSR00640
CSR00650
CSR00660
DCL CSRSAVE ENTRY(CHAR(8), /* OBJECT_ID */ CSR00670
FIXED BIN(31), /* OFFSET */ CSR00680
FIXED BIN(31), /* SPAN */ CSR00690
FIXED BIN(31), /* NEW_HI_OFFSET */ CSR00700
FIXED BIN(31), /* RETURN_CODE */ CSR00710
FIXED BIN(31) ) /* REASON_CODE */ CSR00720
OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER); CSR00730
CSR00740
CSR00750
DCL CSRREFR ENTRY(CHAR(8), /* OBJECT_ID */ CSR00760
FIXED BIN(31), /* OFFSET */ CSR00770
FIXED BIN(31), /* SPAN */ CSR00780
FIXED BIN(31), /* RETURN_CODE */ CSR00790
FIXED BIN(31) ) /* REASON_CODE */ CSR00800
OPTIONS(ASSEMBLER); CSR00810
CSR00820
/********************************************************************/ CSR00830
CSR00840
CSR00850
PUT SKIP LIST CSR00860
('<< BEGIN DATA WINDOWING SERVICES INTERFACE VALIDATION >>'); CSR00870
PUT SKIP LIST (' '); CSR00880
CSR00890
CALL CSR00900
CSRIDAC ('BEGIN', /* SET UP ACCESS TO A HIPER- */ CSR00910
'TEMPSPACE', /* SPACE OBJECT */ CSR00920
'MY FIRST HIPERSPACE', CSR00930
'YES', CSR00940
'NEW', CSR00950
'UPDATE', CSR00960
OBJECT_SIZE, CSR00970
OBJECT_ID, CSR00980
HIGH_OFFSET, CSR00990
RETURN_CODE, CSR01000
REASON_CODE); CSR01010
CSR01020
ALLOC S; /* ALLOCATE SPACE */ CSR01030
AD = UNSPEC(SP); /* GET ADDRESS OF SPACE */ CSR01040
ORIG = MOD(AD,PAGESIZE); /* SEE WHERE SPACE IS IN PAGE */ CSR01050
IF ORIG ¬= 0 THEN /* IF NOT ON PAGE BOUNDARY */ CSR01060
ORIG = (PAGESIZE-ORIG) / 4; /* THEN LOCATE PAGE BOUNDARY */ CSR01070
ORIG = ORIG + 1; CSR01080
CSR01090
DO I = 1 TO NUM_WIN_ELEM; /* PUT SOME DATA INTO WINDOW */ CSR01100
S(I+ORIG-1) = 99; /* AREA */ CSR01110
END; CSR01120
CSR01130
CALL CSR01140
CSRVIEW ('BEGIN', /* NOW VIEW DATA IN FIRST */ CSR01150
OBJECT_ID, /* WINDOW */ CSR01160
OFFSET, CSR01170
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01180
S(ORIG), CSR01190
'RANDOM', CSR01200
'REPLACE', CSR01210
RETURN_CODE, CSR01220
REASON_CODE); CSR01230
CSR01240
DO I = 1 TO NUM_WIN_ELEM; /* CALCULATE VALUE IN 1ST */ CSR01250
S(I+ORIG-1) = I+1; /* WINDOW */ CSR01260
END; CSR01270
CSR01280
CALL CSR01290
CSRSCOT( OBJECT_ID, /* CAPTURE THE VIEW IN 1ST */ CSR01300
OFFSET, /* WINDOW */ CSR01310
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01320
RETURN_CODE, CSR01330
REASON_CODE); CSR01340
CSR01350
CALL CSR01360
CSRVIEW ('END ', /* END THE VIEW IN 1ST WINDOW */ CSR01370
OBJECT_ID, CSR01380
OFFSET, CSR01390
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01400
S(ORIG), CSR01410
'RANDOM', CSR01420
'RETAIN ', CSR01430
RETURN_CODE, CSR01440
REASON_CODE); CSR01450
CSR01460
CALL CSR01470
CSRVIEW ('BEGIN', /* NOW VIEW OTHER DATA IN */ CSR01480
OBJECT_ID, /* 2ND WINDOW */ CSR01490
OFFSET+WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01500
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01510
S(ORIG), CSR01520
'RANDOM', CSR01530
'REPLACE', CSR01540
RETURN_CODE, CSR01550
REASON_CODE); CSR01560
CSR01570
DO I = 1 TO NUM_WIN_ELEM; /* CALCULATE NEW VALUE IN */ CSR01580
S(I+ORIG-1) = I-101; /* WINDOW */ CSR01590
END; CSR01600
CSR01610
CALL CSR01620
CSRSCOT (OBJECT_ID, CSR01630
OFFSET+WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01640
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01650
RETURN_CODE, CSR01670
REASON_CODE); CSR01680
CSR01690
CALL CSR01700
CSRVIEW ('END ', /* END THE CURRENT VIEW IN */ CSR01710
OBJECT_ID, /* WINDOW */ CSR01720
OFFSET+WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01730
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01740
S(ORIG), CSR01750
'RANDOM', CSR01760
'RETAIN ', CSR01770
RETURN_CODE, CSR01780
REASON_CODE); CSR01790
CSR01800
CALL CSR01810
CSRVIEW ('BEGIN', /* NOW GO BACK TO THE VIEW IN */ CSR01820
OBJECT_ID, /* THE 1ST WINDOW */ CSR01830
OFFSET, CSR01840
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01850
S(ORIG), CSR01860
'RANDOM', CSR01870
'REPLACE', CSR01880
RETURN_CODE, CSR01890
REASON_CODE); CSR01900
CSR01910
CALL CSR01920
CSRREFR (OBJECT_ID, /* REFRESH THE DATA IN 1ST */ CSR01930
OFFSET, /* WINDOW */ CSR01940
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR01950
RETURN_CODE, CSR01960
REASON_CODE); CSR01970
CSR01980
CALL CSR01990
CSRVIEW ('END ', /* END THE VIEW IN 1ST WINDOW */ CSR02000
OBJECT_ID, CSR02010
OFFSET, CSR02020
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR02030
S(ORIG), CSR02040
'RANDOM', CSR02050
'RETAIN ', CSR02060
RETURN_CODE, CSR02070
REASON_CODE); CSR02080
CSR02090
CALL CSR02100
CSRIDAC ('END ', /* TERMINATE ACCESS TO THE */ CSR02110
'TEMPSPACE', /* HIPERSPACE OBJECT */ CSR02120
'MY FIRST HIPERSPACE ENDS HERE ', CSR02130
'YES', CSR02140
'NEW', CSR02150
'UPDATE', CSR02160
WINDOW_SIZE, CSR02170
OBJECT_ID, CSR02180
HIGH_OFFSET, CSR02190
RETURN_CODE, CSR02200
REASON_CODE); CSR02210
CSR02220
FREE S; CSR02230
END CRTPLN3; CSR02260
***********************************************************************
* *
* *
* JCL TO COMPILE AND LINKEDIT PL/I PROGRAM. *
* *
* *
* *
***********************************************************************
//PLIJOB JOB 00010007
//* 00041001
//* PL/I Compile and Linkedit 00042001
//* 00043001
//* Change all CRTPLNx to CRTPLNy 00044001
//* 00045001
//GO EXEC PLIXCL 00050000
//PLI.SYSIN DD DSN=WINDOW.XAMPLE.LIB(CRTPLN3),DISP=SHR 00060008
//LKED.SYSLMOD DD DSN=WINDOW.USER.LOAD,UNIT=3380,VOL=SER=VM2TSO, 00070000
// DISP=SHR 00080000
//LKED.SYSIN DD * 00090000
LIBRARY IN(CSRSCOT,CSRSAVE,CSRREFR,CSRSAVE,CSRVIEW,CSRIDAC) 00100001
NAME CRTPLN3(R) 00110008
/* 00120000
//* 00121001
//* SYS1.CSSLIB is source of CSR stubs 00130001
//* 00190000
//LKED.IN DD DSN=SYS1.CSSLIB,DISP=SHR 00200000
***********************************************************************
* *
* *
* JCL TO EXECUTE. *
* *
* *
* *
***********************************************************************
//PLIRUN JOB MSGLEVEL=(1,1) 00010000
//* 00011001
//* EXECUTE A PL/I TESTCASE 00012001
//* 00013001
//GO EXEC PGM=CRTPLN3 00020000
//STEPLIB DD DSN=WINDOW.USER.LOAD,DISP=SHR, 00030000
// UNIT=3380,VOL=SER=VM2TSO 00040000
//SYSLIB DD DSN=CEE.SCEERUN,DISP=SHR 00050000
//SYSABEND DD SYSOUT=* 00070000
//SYSLOUT DD SYSOUT=* 00080000
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=* 00090000Systems from the fields of finance, banking, and insurance still work on the basis of this language. It is also used by some government organizations.
