Editing Xerox Alto (section)

==Software==
[[File:Alto Neptune Filemanager.gif|thumb|Neptune is the Alto's file manager program.]]
Early software for the Alto was written in the [[programming language]] [[BCPL]], and later in [[Mesa (programming language)|Mesa]],{{r|wadlow198109}} which was not widely used outside PARC but influenced several later languages, such as [[Modula]]. The Alto used an early version of [[ASCII]] which lacked the [[underscore]] character, instead having the left-arrow character used in [[ALGOL 60]] and many derivatives for the [[assignment operator]]: this peculiarity may have been the source of the [[CamelCase]] style for compound [[identifier]]s. Altos were also microcode-programmable by users.<ref name="AltoHardwareManual"/>

The Alto helped popularize the use of [[raster graphics]] model for all output, including text and graphics. It also introduced the concept of the ''bit block transfer'' operation ([[bit blit]], BitBLT), as the fundamental programming interface to the display. Despite its small memory size, many innovative programs were written for the Alto, including:
* the first [[WYSIWYG]] [[typesetting]] document preparation systems, [[Bravo (software)|Bravo]] and [[Gypsy (software)|Gypsy]];
* the Laurel [[email]] tool,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/DMS/Laurel/6/Manual/.Laurel6.press!1.pdf |title=Laurel Manual |last=Brotz |first=Douglas K. |date=May 1981 |publisher=Xerox |access-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823031609/http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/DMS/Laurel/6/Manual/.Laurel6.press!1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and its successor, Hardy<ref>{{cite news |last=Ollig |first=Mark |date=October 31, 2011 |url=http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2011/columns/mo103111.html |title=They could have owned the computer industry |work=Herald Journal |access-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227062954/http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2011/columns/mo103111.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thocp.net/hardware/xerox_star.htm |title=Xerox Star |website=The History of Computing Project |access-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201141152/http://www.thocp.net/hardware/xerox_star.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* the Sil vector graphics editor, used mainly for logic circuits, [[printed circuit board]], and other technical diagrams;
* the Markup [[bitmap]] editor (an early [[raster graphics editor|paint program]]);
* the Draw graphical editor using lines and splines;
* the first WYSIWYG [[IC layout editor|integrated circuit editor]], ICARUS, based on the work of [[Lynn Conway]], [[Carver Mead]], and the [[Mead and Conway revolution]];<ref>{{cite conference |title=ICARUS: An Interactive Integrated Circuit Layout Program |author1=D.G. Fairbairn |author2=J.A. Rowson |conference=15th Design Automation Conference |location=Las Vegas, NV, USA |doi=10.1109/DAC.1978.1585168}}</ref>
* the first versions of the [[Smalltalk]] environment
* [[Interlisp]]
* one of the first network-based multi-person [[video game]]s (''[[Alto Trek]]'' by [[Gene Ball]]).
There was no spreadsheet or database software. The first electronic spreadsheet program, [[VisiCalc]], did not appear until 1979.