ABC is an imperative general-purpose programming language and programming environment from CWI, Netherlands. It is interactive, structured, high-level, and easy to learn and use, intended to be used instead of BASIC, Pascal, or even AWK. It is not a systems-programming language but is good for teaching or prototyping.

ABC has only five basic datatypes; strong typing, yet without need for declarations; explicit support for top-down programming; statement nesting by indentation. Its designers claim that ABC programs are typically around a quarter the size of the equivalent Pascal or C programs, and yet more readable.

ABC includes a programming environment with syntax-directed editing , suggestions, persistent variables , multiple workspaces, and infinite precision arithmetic .

Example

An example function words to collect the set of all words in a document:

HOW TO RETURN words document:
PUT {} IN collection
FOR line in document:
   FOR word IN split line:
      IF word not.in collection:
         INSERT word IN collection
RETURN collection

ABC is available as an interpreter/compiler, currently version 1.05.02, by Leo Geurts, Lambert Meertens, and Steven Pemberton. ABC has been ported to Unix, DOS, Atari, and Apple Macintosh.

ABC influenced the design of the Python programming language.

References

External links

• A Short Introduction to the ABC Language