| ▲ | Milpotel 21 hours ago | |||||||
> the first language having pointers with explicit dereferencing was Euler, published completely in 1966-01 I could only find a manual for PDP-10 Euler with references. Do you have a source for an Euler with pointers? | ||||||||
| ▲ | adrian_b 19 hours ago | parent [-] | |||||||
"Reference" was the original term used in the languages derived from ALGOL for what is now called "pointer". The distinction that exists in C++ between "reference" and "pointer" is something very recent. In the past the 2 terms were synonymous. The term "pointer" was introduced by IBM PL/I in July 1966, where it replaced "reference". PL/I has introduced many terms that have replaced previously used terms. For example: reference => pointer record => structure process => task and a few others that I do not remember right now. "Pointer" and "structure" have become dominant after they have been taken by the C language from PL/I and then C has become extremely popular. Previously "reference" and "record" were more frequently used. | ||||||||
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