Joining Ada, C/C++, COBOL, D, Fortran, Go, Modula-2, Objective-C/Objective-C++ and Rust is now another programming language expected to be added for the GCC 16 compiler release due out in the new year.
The GCC Steering Committee announced this weekend that the Algol 68 front-end is allowed to land in trunk, thereby permitting for this experimental front-end to be included with the GCC 16 release.
Since the start of the calendar year there has been an effort to introduce this GCC front-end for the half-century old programming language. But in March it was [decided to not merge the code into GCC at that point](https://www.phoronix.com/news/ALGOL-68-No-GCC-202…
Joining Ada, C/C++, COBOL, D, Fortran, Go, Modula-2, Objective-C/Objective-C++ and Rust is now another programming language expected to be added for the GCC 16 compiler release due out in the new year.
The GCC Steering Committee announced this weekend that the Algol 68 front-end is allowed to land in trunk, thereby permitting for this experimental front-end to be included with the GCC 16 release.
Since the start of the calendar year there has been an effort to introduce this GCC front-end for the half-century old programming language. But in March it was decided to not merge the code into GCC at that point. Announced today is that the GCC Steering Committee has shifted their stance and will allow the Algol 68 front-end to land.
This GCC Steering Committee announcement follows the latest round of Algol 68 front-end patches providing various improvements and fixes.
David Edelsohn announced on Saturday evening:
“The GCC Steering Committee has agreed to include the Algol 68 Front End in trunk designated as experimental with stipulations:
1. Algol 68 is not part of all languages built by default. 2. Algol 68 is not part of the GCC release criteria. 3. All GCC developers who are not responsible for the Algol 68 Front End may decline to work on issues related to the Algol 68 Front End. 4. If the Algol 68 Front End bit rots or is not maintained, it will be removed.
To permit Algol 68 development to continue, Jose E. Marchesi is appointed as Algol 68 front end maintainer.“
With being allowed to land in the “trunk” code, the merge could happen ahead of the GCC 16.1 stable release due out in March~April. GCC 16 did recently move to stage three development but new ports are still permitted as long as they don’t risk existing functionality – just as COBOL was merged back in March for GCC 15.
So if all goes well the Algol 68 programming language support is a new (experimental) language to look forward to in the GCC 16.1 compiler release in the new year.
Algol 68 is an imperative programming language that was the successor to Algol 60. And an Algol 68 code sample:
More details on the current Algol 68 front-end support for GCC can be found via the GCC Wiki.