[Info-vax] PDP-11 languages, was: Re: New VSI Roadmap (yipee!)

[Simon Clubley]

On 2015-03-05, Richard Maher <maher_rjSPAMLESS at hotmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/6/2015 2:24 AM, Hunter Goatley wrote:
>>
>> VAX BASIC was *not* what most people think of when they think of BASIC.
>> It was a real language. ;-)
>>
>
> But I think the loudest people here had their Genesis in RSTS/E Basic.
>
> CHR$(155%)+'[', 32767 END, IF RMS 16K + CHAIN, GOTO 1, ELSE RESUME 
> ERRLINE, IF BURGER_COST 3.9412345678 etc.
>

But even in those PDP-11 days there were alternatives such as DIBOL
(and Google tells me COBOL was available from an early date as well).

Those early versions of DIBOL may have been very limited by today's
language standards (especially the versions from before my time) but
even then you still had an alternative to floating point numbers.

Simon. (Who started out in the DEC world with RSTS/E DIBOL for a few
years).

PS: My former boss told me there was, in the very early PDP-11 days,
a combined RSTS/E and DIBOL package called CTS-500 although that
was before my time so I don't know the details.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world