What's different about tactical military languages and compilers
Raymond J. Rubey · 1973
Until recently, the programming for tactical military computer applications relied on assembly or machine-oriented languages in contrast to the widespread use of higher-order languages in commercial applications. In the past, the tactical military software development process was plagued with many problems, including the relatively high cost on a per-instruction basis, the long development time required, the necessity for highly-trained engineer-programmers, the non-transferability of the resultant programs, and the considerable difficulty of effective program maintenance. The military customer who had to pay the penalties resulting from these problems became convinced that at least part of the reason for the problem was the reliance on MOLs. As a consequence, the military customer provided the impetus and funding to apply HOL concepts and technology to the unique problems of the tactical military software environment. At the same time, NASA, which encountered the same problems in developing real-time software for space applications, took the same approach. The conclusions reached from the resulting HOL studies and developments has led the customer, in many cases, to insist on the use of a HOL unless it could be conclusively demonstrated that such usage was infeasible.