Background After the publication of a preliminary report on the algorithmic language
ALGOL,!'2 as prepared at a conference in Zurich in 1958, much interest in the ALGOL
language developed. As a result of an informal meeting held at Mainz in November 1958,
about forty interested persons from several European countries held an ALGOL
implementation conference in Copenhagen in February 1959. A" hardware group" was
formed for working cooperatively right down to the level of the paper tape code. This …

0.1. Aims and Principles of Design a) In designing the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68,
Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL of the International Federation for Information Processing
expresses its belief in the value of a common programming language serving many people
in many countries. b) ALGOL 68 is designed to communicate algorithms, to execute them
efficiently on a variety of different computers, and to aid in teaching them to students. c) The
members of the Group, influenced by several years of experience with ALGOL 60 and other …