Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!news.glorb.com!news.ripco.com!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feeder01.blueworldhosting.com!border2.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news.iecc.com!.POSTED!nerds-end From: Andy Walker Newsgroups: comp.compilers Subject: Re: specifying semantics, was Formatting of Language LRMs Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:10:27 +0100 Organization: Not very much Lines: 24 Sender: news@iecc.com Approved: comp.compilers@iecc.com Message-ID: <14-06-026@comp.compilers> References: <14-06-010@comp.compilers> <14-06-023@comp.compilers> <14-06-025@comp.compilers> NNTP-Posting-Host: news.iecc.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: miucha.iecc.com 1403984428 46748 2001:470:1f07:1126:0:676f:7373:6970 (28 Jun 2014 19:40:28 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@iecc.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 19:40:28 +0000 (UTC) Keywords: history, syntax Posted-Date: 28 Jun 2014 15:40:28 EDT X-submission-address: compilers@iecc.com X-moderator-address: compilers-request@iecc.com X-FAQ-and-archives: http://compilers.iecc.com Xref: csiph.com comp.compilers:1281 On 26/06/14 05:54, George Neuner wrote: > [...] What we refer to as "Backus-Naur Form" > today is not the original used for Algol-58, [...]. The report ["Preliminary Report of ACM-GAMM Committee on an International Algebraic Language"] describing what we now call Algol 58 did not use BNF. Instead, the syntax is listed as "forms"; eg, " D. Statements Sigma " Closed and self-contained [blah-de-blah]. " Form: Sigma ~ begin Sigma; Sigma; ~~~ ~~~ ~~~; Sigma end " A statement may be made identifiable by attaching to it " a label L, [blah ...] " Form: Sigma ~ L: Sigma " Backus proposed his system for "metalinguistic formulae" [as used in the Algol 60 report] in 1959, and it was adopted by Naur, the editor of the papers and the report defining Algol 60. -- Andy Walker, Nottingham.