Small Machine Algol Like Language (SMALL), is a computer programming language developed by Nevil Brownlee of the University of Auckland.
| Paradigms | Procedural, imperative, structured, object-oriented |
|---|---|
| Family | ALGOL |
| Designed by | Nevil Brownlee |
| Developer | University of Auckland |
| First appeared | 1980 |
| Final release | Final
/ 1985 |
| Implementation language | Fortran IV, SMALL |
| Platform | Mainframes: Burroughs B6700, DEC PDP-10 |
| OS | TOPS-10, VM/CMS |
| Influenced by | |
| ALGOL | |
History
editThe aim of the language was to enable writing ALGOL-like code that ran on a small machine. It also included the string data type for easier text manipulation.
SMALL was used extensively from about 1980 to 1985 at Auckland University as a programming teaching aid, and for some internal projects. Originally, it was written in Fortran IV, to run on a Burroughs Corporation B6700 mainframe computer. Subsequently, it was rewritten in SMALL, and ported to a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-10 mainframe (on the operating system TOPS-10) and an IBM S360 mainframe (on the operating system VM Conversational Monitor System (VM/CMS)).
About 1985, SMALL had some object-oriented programming features added to handle structures (that were missing from the early language), and to formalise file manipulation operations.