<s>
COMAL	B-Language
(	O
Common	B-Language
Algorithmic	I-Language
Language	I-Language
)	O
is	O
a	O
computer	O
programming	O
language	O
developed	O
in	O
Denmark	O
by	O
Børge	O
R	O
.	O
Christensen	O
and	O
Benedict	O
Løfstedt	O
and	O
originally	O
released	O
in	O
1975	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
COMAL	B-Language
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
languages	O
that	O
were	O
available	O
for	O
and	O
comfortably	O
usable	O
on	O
8-bit	O
home	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
seminal	O
BASIC	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
adding	O
multi-line	O
statements	O
and	O
well-defined	O
subroutines	O
among	O
other	O
additions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
COMAL	B-Language
Kernel	O
Syntax	O
&	O
Semantics	O
"	O
contains	O
the	O
formal	O
definition	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
COMAL	B-Language
was	O
created	O
as	O
a	O
mixture	O
of	O
the	O
prevalent	O
educational	O
programming	O
languages	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
BASIC	O
,	O
Pascal	B-Application
,	O
and	O
,	O
at	O
least	O
in	O
the	O
Commodore	O
and	O
Compis	B-Device
versions	O
,	O
the	O
turtle	B-Application
graphics	I-Application
of	O
Logo	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
was	O
meant	O
to	O
introduce	O
structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
elements	O
in	O
an	O
environment	O
where	O
BASIC	O
would	O
normally	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
benefit	O
of	O
hindsight	O
,	O
COMAL	B-Language
looks	O
like	O
a	O
Structured	B-Language
BASIC	O
that	O
has	O
reasonably	O
well-written	O
,	O
vendor	O
neutral	O
,	O
free	O
,	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
never	O
necessary	O
to	O
use	O
GOTO	B-Application
,	O
and	O
line	B-Application
numbers	I-Application
are	O
purely	O
for	O
editing	O
purposes	O
rather	O
than	O
flow	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
that	O
the	O
standardised	O
language	O
only	O
supports	O
control	O
structuring	O
,	O
not	O
data	O
structuring	O
such	O
as	O
records	O
or	O
structs	B-Language
(	O
commercial	O
implementations	O
such	O
as	O
UniCOMAL	B-Language
3	O
supported	O
this	O
as	O
an	O
extension	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
COMAL	B-Language
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
in	O
Denmark	O
by	O
mathematics	O
teacher	O
Børge	O
R	O
.	O
Christensen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
school	O
in	O
which	O
he	O
taught	O
had	O
received	O
a	O
Data	B-Device
General	I-Device
NOVA	I-Device
1200	O
minicomputer	O
in	O
1972	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
expectation	O
that	O
the	O
school	O
would	O
begin	O
to	O
teach	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NOVA	O
1200	O
was	O
supplied	O
with	O
Data	B-Language
General	I-Language
Extended	I-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
and	O
Christensen	O
quickly	O
became	O
frustrated	O
with	O
the	O
way	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
unstructured	O
language	O
led	O
students	O
to	O
write	O
low-quality	O
code	O
that	O
was	O
difficult	O
to	O
read	O
and	O
thus	O
mark	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Christensen	O
met	O
with	O
computer	O
scientist	O
Benedict	O
Løfstedt	O
,	O
who	O
encouraged	O
him	O
to	O
read	O
Systematic	O
Programming	O
,	O
the	O
then-new	O
book	O
on	O
programming	O
language	O
design	O
by	O
Niklaus	O
Wirth	O
,	O
the	O
creator	O
of	O
Pascal	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Christensen	O
was	O
impressed	O
,	O
but	O
found	O
that	O
he	O
could	O
not	O
use	O
Pascal	B-Application
directly	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
lacked	O
the	O
interactive	O
shell	B-Operating_System
that	O
made	O
BASIC	O
so	O
easy	O
for	O
students	O
to	O
develop	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
next	O
six	O
months	O
Christensen	O
and	O
Løfstedt	O
corresponded	O
by	O
mail	O
to	O
design	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
BASIC	O
which	O
retained	O
its	O
interactive	O
elements	O
but	O
added	O
structured	B-Language
elements	O
from	O
Pascal	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
therefore	O
worked	O
with	O
two	O
of	O
his	O
students	O
,	O
to	O
whom	O
he	O
had	O
taught	O
NOVA	O
1200	O
machine	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
to	O
write	O
an	O
implementation	O
themselves	O
,	O
over	O
another	O
six	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
proof-of-concept	O
implementation	O
(	O
running	O
a	O
five-line	O
loop	O
)	O
was	O
ready	O
on	O
5	O
August	O
1974	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
first	O
release	O
(	O
on	O
paper	O
tape	O
,	O
as	O
this	O
was	O
what	O
the	O
NOVA	O
1200	O
used	O
for	O
input-output	B-General_Concept
)	O
was	O
ready	O
in	O
February	O
1975	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
now	O
did	O
the	O
system	O
(	O
which	O
had	O
previously	O
used	O
an	O
internal	O
Danish	O
name	O
)	O
pick	O
up	O
the	O
name	O
COMAL	B-Language
,	O
for	O
Common	B-Language
Algorithmic	I-Language
Language	I-Language
,	O
inspired	O
by	O
ALGOL	B-Language
,	O
with	O
which	O
Christensen	O
had	O
been	O
experimenting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
release	O
was	O
therefore	O
named	O
COMAL	B-Language
75	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Christensen	O
subsequently	O
wrote	O
a	O
textbook	O
on	O
the	O
language	O
which	O
evolved	O
into	O
Beginning	O
COMAL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1978	O
,	O
Christensen	O
began	O
to	O
adapt	O
COMAL	B-Language
such	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
run	O
on	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
which	O
were	O
becoming	O
available	O
,	O
worried	O
that	O
without	O
such	O
an	O
implementation	O
he	O
would	O
be	O
required	O
to	O
teach	O
and	O
use	O
BASIC	O
again	O
as	O
Danish	O
schools	O
acquired	O
the	O
new	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1980	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
COMAL	B-Language
developed	O
in	O
conjection	O
with	O
a	O
college	O
group	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
Zilog	B-General_Concept
Z80	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
thus	O
COMAL	B-Language
80	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
a	O
Danish	O
firm	O
introduced	O
the	O
Comet	O
,	O
a	O
very	O
capable	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
for	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
machine	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
what	O
would	O
look	O
like	O
the	O
later	O
COMAL	B-Language
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Christensen	O
subsequently	O
stepped	O
back	O
from	O
COMAL	B-Language
development	O
around	O
1980-81	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
handed	O
over	O
to	O
groups	O
including	O
UniComal	B-Language
,	O
started	O
by	O
Mogens	O
Kjaer	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
written	O
to	O
Christensen	O
with	O
critiques	O
of	O
COMAL	B-Language
and	O
subsequently	O
ported	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
PET	I-Device
for	O
release	O
0.14	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
Danish	O
schools	O
insisted	O
that	O
COMAL	B-Language
be	O
available	O
on	O
any	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
they	O
purchased	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
won	O
a	O
contract	O
to	O
supply	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computers	O
running	O
CP/M	B-Application
and	O
COMAL	B-Language
to	O
Irish	O
secondary	O
schools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
1984-1987	O
TeleNova	O
,	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
the	O
industrial	O
arm	O
of	O
the	O
Swedish	O
Telecoms	O
system	O
,	O
manufactured	O
a	O
desktop	B-Device
PC	I-Device
called	O
"	O
Compis	B-Device
"	O
for	O
the	O
educational	O
sector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
enhanced	O
version	O
of	O
COMAL	B-Language
was	O
supplied	O
as	O
the	O
standard	O
programming	O
language	O
for	O
this	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
were	O
created	O
for	O
both	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-86	I-Operating_System
and	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
version	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
Thomas	O
Lundy	O
and	O
Rory	O
O'Sullivan	O
produced	O
the	O
definitive	O
text	O
on	O
COMAL	B-Language
Programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
matched	O
and	O
compared	O
COMAL	B-Language
with	O
BBC	B-Language
Structured	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2016	O
COMAL	B-Language
is	O
still	O
actively	O
in	O
use	O
as	O
an	O
educational	O
programming	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
COMAL	B-Language
was	O
available	O
for	O
:	O
</s>
