COMAL (Common Algorithmic Language) is a computer programming language developed in Denmark by Benedict Løfstedt and Børge Christensen in 1973.

The "COMAL 80 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE REPORT" contains the formal definition of the language.

Design

COMAL was actually created as a mixture of the prevalent educational programming languages of the time, BASIC and Pascal, and was meant to introduce structured programming elements in an environment where BASIC would normally be used.

History

In the early 1980s, Apple Computer won a contract to supply Apple II computers running CP/M and COMAL to Irish secondary schools.

In 1990 Thomas Lundy and Rory O'Sullivan produced the definitive text on COMAL Programming.^{[citation needed]} They matched and compared COMAL with BBC Structured Basic.

Availability

COMAL is available for:

• BBC Micro
• Commodore PET
• Commodore 64
• Amiga
• Compis
• Scandis
• CP/M
• IBM PC
• Tiki 100
• ZX Spectrum

Examples

Conditions:

IF condition THEN
  instructions
ENDIF

Loops:

FOR number:= 1 TO 1000 DO   
 PRINT number
ENDFOR

Example program

10 PAGE
20 FOR number:= 1 TO 10 DO
30  PRINT "THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE!!!"
40 ENDFOR
50 END " "

External links

• OpenComal – an Open Source implementation of COMAL for UNIX, MS-DOS and Windows
• MacharSoft
• Description of COMAL, versions, and characteristics
• Annotated Bibliography of the COMAL language

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