PROMAL (PROgrammer's Microapplication Language) is a
structured programming Structured programming is a programming paradigm aimed at improving the clarity, quality, and development time of a computer program by making specific disciplined use of the structured control flow constructs of selection ( if/then/else) and repet ...
language from Systems Management Associates for
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
,
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
, and
Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
. PROMAL features simple syntax, no line numbers, long variable names, functions and procedures with argument passing, real number type, arrays, strings, pointer, and a built-in I/O library. Like ABC (programming language), ABC and Python (programming language), Python, indentation is part of the language syntax.
The language uses a single-pass compiler to generate byte code that is interpreted when the program is run. The compiler can compile to/from disk and memory. The software package for C64 includes a full-screen editor and command shell.
Reception
''
Ahoy!'' called PROMAL for the Commodore 64 "one of the best" structured languages. It concluded "As an introduction to structured programming languages and as an alternative to BASIC, PROMAL is well worth the time needed to learn it and the $49.95 to purchase it".
Example code
From the PROMAL program disk:
PROGRAM SIEVE
; Sieve of Eratosthenes Benchmark
; test (BYTE magazine)
; 10 iterations, 1800 element array.
INCLUDE LIBRARY
CON SIZE=1800
WORD I
WORD J
WORD PRIME
WORD K
WORD COUNT
BYTE FLAGS
IZE
BEGIN
OUTPUT "10 ITERATIONS"
FOR J= 1 TO 10
COUNT=0
FILL FLAGS, SIZE, TRUE
FOR I= 0 TO SIZE
IF FLAGS
PRIME=I+I+3
K=I+PRIME
WHILE K <= SIZE
FLAGS
FALSE
K=K+PRIME
COUNT=COUNT+1
OUTPUT "#C#I PRIMES", COUNT
END
References
{{reflist
*Computer Language, Mar 1986, pp. 128–134
External links
PROMAL for the Commodore 64
C programming language family