> sbg is currently installing this language on ftoomsh. Please read the
> manual page. All members will be tested on it.
I was wrong, there's no manual page. In fact `Man pages are for wimps'.
I've HTML'ed the language reference and compiler doc, which for now can be
found via my HP on ftoomsh: http://ftoomsh.socs.uts.EDU.AU/~sbg/. Let me
know if you find any errors.
Almost all of the release notes are included below.
Enjoy.
sbg
Release Notes for C-INTERCAL
version 0.11
DISCREDITS
This package is an implementation of the language INTERCAL designed by Don
Woods and James Lyon, who have since spent more than twenty years trying to
live it down.
This implementation was created by Eric S. Raymond <esr@nospam.snark.thyrsus.com>
during a fit of lunacy from which he has since mostly recovered. It has
been considerably hacked upon and improved by Steve Swales, Michael Ernst,
Louis Howell (who wrote the array support stubbed out in Eric's original
version), and others.
[ ... ]
HOW TO GET STARTED
You want a man page? Man pages are for wimps. To compile an INTERCAL
program `foo.i' to executable code, just do
ick foo.i
There's a -c option that leaves the generated `foo.c' in place for inspection
(suppressing compilation to machine code), a -d option that enables verbose
parse reporting from the YACC parser, a -t option that requires strict
INTERCAL-72 compliance (rejecting COME FROM and the extensions for bases other
than two) and an -O option that enables the (hah!) optimizer. Invoking ick -?
prints a usage message. Other than that, yer on yer own.
Another switch affects C-INTERCAL's runtime behavior. The `-C'
option forces output in "clockface" mode, for superstitious users who
believe writing "IV" upside-down offends IVPITER and would rather
see IIII.
Steve Swales added [+/-]help, [+/-]traditional, and [+/-]wimpmode options in
the 0.6 release. The help option (with either + or -) triggers a 'usage'
message.
The +traditional option is presently a no-op.
Steve writes: "The wimpmode option is the most interesting. I found myself
always running my test programs with filters on both ends to work around the
'nifty' intercal number representations. This was so painful that I decided it
would be LESS painful (and a lot less code) if I added a 'wimp' option. With
the +wimpmode option, the user is subjected to a humiliating message about what
a wimp he or she is to use this mode, but after that is allowed to use
conventional numerical notation. While such a mode doubtless violates to some
extent the INTERCAL philosophy, the fact that a 'unbutcher' command has been
posted clearly indicates the need for it. Anyway... if you don't like it, don't
use it... the default is -wimpmode (i.e. NOT wimp mode)."
SPREADING THE BLAME
The latest version of INTERCAL is kept available at the Retrocomputing Museun,
ftp:locke.ccil.org:pub/retro.
There is, in addition, an occasionally active USENET newsgroup devoted to the
language: alt.lang.intercal.