Editing FLOW-MATIC (section)

== Innovations and influence ==
The [[Laning and Zierler system]] was the first programming language to parse algebraic formulae. When Hopper became aware of that language in 1954, it altered the trajectory of her work.<ref name="Beyer_ch10">{{cite book|last=Beyer|first=Kurt|title=Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age|publisher=MIT Press|date=February 10, 2012|isbn=9780262517263|chapter=10}}</ref> FLOW-MATIC was the first programming language to [[English-like programming language|express operations using English-like statements instead of symbols that have no meaning.]]<ref name="sammet316" /> It was also the first system to distinctly separate the description of data from the operations on it. Its [[data definition language]], unlike its executable statements, was not English-like; rather, data structures were defined by filling in pre-printed forms.<ref name="sammet316" />

FLOW-MATIC  and its direct descendant [[AIMACO]] shaped [[COBOL]],<ref>Sammet (1978) p.&nbsp;204.</ref> which incorporated several of its elements:

* Defining Input & Output Files and printed output in advance, separated into INPUT files, OUTPUT files and (HSP) High Speed Printer outputs. {{code|INPUT <FILE-NAME> <FILE-LETTER>}}; {{code|OUTPUT <FILE-NAME> <FILE-LETTER>}}; {{code|HSP <FILE-LETTER>}} .<ref>Remington Rand Univac a Division of Sperry Rand Corporation (1957). FLOW-MATIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM p.&nbsp;30.</ref>
* Qualification of data-names ({{code|IN}} or {{code|OF}} clause).
* {{code|IF END OF DATA (AT END)}} clause on file {{code|READ}} operations.
* Figurative constant {{code|ZERO}} (originally {{code|ZZZ...ZZZ}}, where number of {{code|Z}}s indicated precision).
* Dividing the program into sections, separating different parts of the program.  Flow-Matic sections included '''{{code|Computer}}''' (Environment Division), '''{{code|Directory}}''' (Data Division), and '''{{code|Compiler}}''' (Procedure Division).