AIMACO is an acronym for AIr MAterial COmpiler. It began around 1959 as the definition of a high level programming language influenced by the

FLOW-MATIC FLOW-MATIC, originally known as B-0 (Business Language version 0), was the first English-like data processing language. It was developed for the UNIVAC I at Remington Rand Remington Rand, Inc. was an early American business machine manufactu ...

language, developed by

UNIVAC UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and ...

, and the

COMTRAN COMTRAN (COMmercial TRANslator) is an early programming language developed at IBM. It was intended as the business programming equivalent of the scientific programming language FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator). It served as one of the forerunners ...

(COMmercial TRANslator) programming language, developed by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. AIMACO, along with FLOW-MATIC and COMTRAN, were precursors to the

COBOL COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural, and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily ...

programming language and influenced its development. A committee chaired by a representative of AMC (the Air Material Command, predecessor to the

Air Force Materiel Command The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). AFMC was created on July 1, 1992, through the amalgamation of the former Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and the former Air Force System ...

) and composed of industry representatives from IBM and

United States Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

, as well as members of AMC Programming Services, developed the draft AIMACO language definition. Even though the word "compiler" was part of its name, no compiler was ever written for it; although at least two were specified or designed.Hopper, Grace (1978). Keynote Address,
History of Programming Languages I
'. ACM. pp. 16–20. The original intention of AMC was that all programming for AMC systems worldwide would be written in AIMACO and compiled on a UNIVAC in AMC headquarters at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. This would be for software whether it was intended to operate on UNIVAC or IBM computers. An alternative compiler was designed by AMC Programming Services persons to compile systems on IBM computers for operation on IBM computers.

References

Computer languages Wright-Patterson Air Force Base {{compu-lang-stub