basic language for implementation of system software
(foldoc) | Basic Language for Implementation of System Software
BLISS
(BLISS, or allegedly, "System Software
Implementation Language, Backwards") A language designed by
W.A. Wulf at CMU around 1969.
BLISS is an expression language. It is block-structured,
and typeless, with exception handling facilities,
coroutines, a macro system, and a highly {optimising
compiler}. It was one of the first non-assembly languages
for operating system implementation. It gained fame for its
lack of a goto and also lacks implicit dereferencing: all
symbols stand for addresses, not values.
Another characteristic (and possible explanation for the
backward acronym) was that BLISS fairly uniformly used
backward keywords for closing blocks, a famous example being
ELUDOM to close a MODULE. An exception was BEGIN...END though
you could use (...) instead.
DEC introduced the NOVALUE keyword in their dialects to allow
statements to not return a value.
Versions: CMU BLISS-10 for the PDP-10; CMU BLISS-11,
BLISS-16, DEC BLISS-16C, DEC BLISS-32, BLISS-36 for
VAX/VMS, BLISS-36C.
["BLISS: A Language for Systems Programming", CACM
14(12):780-790, Dec 1971].
[Did the B stand for "Better"?]
(1997-03-01)
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