3 Mail-From: PATTERMANN created at 14-Feb-83 12:25:09   Date: Mon 14 Feb 83 12:25:09-PST/ From: Ed Pattermann <PATTERMANN@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>  Subject: Fur sure Fur sure ... To: bboard@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA     :           NEW PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE EMPHASIZES NOVICE USERS  D    LOS ANGELES (AP) -  The California State University at Northridge< announced today its entry into the ever growing field of newD programming languages.  The new language, dubbed VALGOL, is aimed at the inexperienced programmer. B    "Most programming languages assume too much sophistication from@ the user," charges the VALGOL report.  "Our goal is to produce aB language that is emminently usable by novices and casuals, as well as experienced professionals."A    Supplying a small but powerful set of control structures and a ? well developed run-time library may help VALGOL meet its goals. @ VALGOL '83 implements a simple conditional ("if ... like ... I'm@ sure ... ") and iteration construct ("for ... sure").  Output is3 handled by a builtin function ("barfout( text )" ). B    The user interface has been similarly revamped, VALGOL flaggingA errors with few messages that handle violations in a uniform way. B Examples are: "Like, gag me with a spoon!" (semantic pass failed),> "Bag your input!" (syntax error), "Euw, totally gross!" (error recovery failure).D    A novel idea of VALGOL is success reporting.  "Novices often feelB punished by contemporary languages.  Novice, and especially young,C users need frequent rewards, and it is our belief that the language ; system should supply them."  Syntactically valid statements > generate, for example, "Like, rad," or "That's ok, you know?".C Error free programs are deemed "Maximally awesome" by the compiler. D    Whether or not VALGOL meets its goals remains to be seen, but theD initial response to the language has been enthusiastic.  "Even totalC airheads will be able to cool VALGOL," said one user.  Another gave B even stronger praise, saying "Most languages are a total turn-off,C you know, they're psoitively grody to the max, but VALGOL is, like,  super bitchen." @    CSUN will demonstrate VALGOL starting in April at the Sherman) Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles, California. 