R.I.P. Niklaus Wirth

[ijabbott]

(01-06-2024 11:39 PM)BruceH Wrote:  

(01-06-2024 11:12 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  The := operator was used in ALGOL before Wirth got hold of it though!

Wirth was on the Algol-60 committee. So he may have proposed it, or simply recognised its advantages as an assignment operator and continued to use it.

The latter. As far as I can tell, he was not involved in the preliminary IAL (International Algebraic Language) report that became ALGOL 58. (The name "IAL" was rejected as an "'unspeakable' and pompous acroynym". Oh, how times have changed!)

I'm not sure about your statement of Wirth being on the ALGOL 60 committee. He is not mentioned in the revised report by Naur, et al.