SPLINTER—A PL/I Interpreter emphasising debugging capability
Robert Lee Glass · ITNOW · 1968
There is an increasing interest in the computing community in language processors which stress quick compilation and maximum diagnostic capability. Many such processors have been described in recent computing literature – DITRAN [Moulton and Muller, 1967], WATFOR [Shantz, German, Mitchell, Shirley and Zarnke, 1967], and PUFFT [Rosen, Spurgeon and Donnelly, 1965]. What distinguishes the processor described herein from these is a third item which can and should be added to the two above: maximum debugging capability, as well as these other characteristics – the source language processed (PL/I), the mode of execution (interpretation), and the implementation technique (FORTRAN-coded, expandable). SPLINTER is an interpretive implementation of a subset of the PL/I language. Development of the processor has taken place incrementally, ie a basic language was implemented and made usable and additional features were subsequently added in an ‘upwards compatibility’ fashion. By adhering to a modular processor design, the system has avoided the internal system clutter which might be expected of this sort of implementation, and has given the advantage of providing a system which can be expanded to include as much of the (very large) PL/I language as core space, development time, and implementor patience permit.