Original ABC Programming Language Source Code from 1991 - Python's Predecessor
By
tony
A baker's-dozen of insight crammed into one ring.
Summary
The article discusses the original ABC programming language, which was Python's direct predecessor, developed in the 1980s. The author (likely Guido van Rossum) has obtained the source code from CWI and notes that another copy exists on GitHub. The code dates primarily from 1991 with some files from 1996 or 2021, and the current sources assume a 32-bit system architecture. The author expresses hope to eventually compare the two source trees and unify them, as well as update the code for modern systems.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledABC was Python's most direct predecessor; I worked on it from around 1983-1986.
Most files have 1991 as their latest modification time in the tar ball; a few have 1996 or 2021.
The current sources assume a 32-bit system where int and pointers have the same size.
I hope one day to compare the two trees and unify them.
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