Episode

Episode 175 - SNOBOL? That's Disgusting!

Podcast: Advent of Computing
Published: Jan 28, 2026
Duration seconds: 3959
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Summary

Today we are talking about one of the most unique languages I've ever come across. SNOBOL emerges from the early days of programming. It's first compiler is implemented on the back of an envelope. It only has one data type, and only one format for every line of code. It's the bane of Chester, and center of an office drama! What's not to love? Selected sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/960118.808393 - Griswold's history of SNOBOL https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/321203.321207 - THE SNOBOL1 Paper