Editing IBM 650 (section)

==Software==
[[File:IBM 650 student program 1961.agr.jpg|thumb|Student program from 1961 written in IBM 650 machine language, based on an exercise in Andree's book<ref name=andree />]]
The 650 instruction set is simple enough that small programs could be written in machine language and this was common for student exercises.<ref name=andree>{{cite book | last = Andree | first = Richard V.
  | title = Programming the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Computer and Data-Processing Machine
  | url = http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/Andree_Programming_the_IBM_650_Magnetic_Drum_Computer_and_Data-Processing_Machine_1958.pdf
  | year = 1958}}</ref> There was a single-instruction-per-card format that could be loaded directly into the machine and executed. 

Machine language was awkward for large programs and, over time, a variety of programming languages and tools were 
written for the IBM 650. These included:

; Assemblers
*[[Symbolic Optimal Assembly Program]] (SOAP) — An [[assembler (computing)|assembler]]<ref name=soap>{{cite book
  | last = IBM
  | title = SOAP II for the IBM 650
  | year = 1957
  | url = http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/24-4000-0_SOAPII.pdf
  | id = C24-4000-0
  }}</ref>
*Technical Assembly System (TASS) — A [[macro assembler]].

; Interpretive systems
* An Interpretive [[application virtual machine]] package originally published as "Complete Floating Decimal Interpretive System for the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator". This was known by several names:
** the Wolontis–Bell Labs Interpreter, the Bell System, the Bell interpreter, the Bell interpretive system,<ref name="Knuth1986">{{cite journal | first = Donald E. | last = Knuth
  | title = The IBM 650: An Appreciation from the Field
  | journal = IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
  | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | date = January–March 1986 | pages = 50–55
  | doi = 10.1109/MAHC.1986.10010
  | s2cid = 34595049
  }}
</ref> or BLIS — the Bell Lab Interpretive System<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/28-4024_FltDecIntrpSys.pdf|title=IBM Reference Manual: Floating-Decimal Interpretive System for the IBM 650|publisher=IBM|year=1959|pages=63, xxi|id=28-4024|quote=This is a reprint of IBM 650 Technical Newsletter No. 11, March 1956, form 31-6822}}
.  This reference manual contains the following report, noting that ''In its external characteristics, the interpretive system described in this report owes much to the IBM Speedcoding System for the 701.'' {{cite book|title=Complete Floating Decimal Interpretive System for the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator|last=Wolontis|first=V.M.|publisher=Bell Laboratories, Inc, Murray Hill, New Jersey}}
<!--- I had written BLIS or BLISS even though I know BLIS to be correct.  Looking though the history of changes to this IBM 650 article I found --------------------
1) HOPL shows the name as BLISS, which is incorrect; the correct form is given in "Flow-Based Programming" - ISBN 0442017715"
2) Jpaulm (talk | contribs) . . (11,254 bytes) (-1) . . (→Software: BLIS is right - HOPL is wrong. I used it and it was definitely BLIS - see also discussion item 1 (it was apparently set correctly in 2006))
---------------------  so I've deleted the BLISS alternate I'd entered (see also the 2nd entry in the TALK page)
Just found this - the DEC BLISS language, probably the source of BLIS/BLISS confusion.
http://www.fh-jena.de/~kleine/history/languages/BlissLanguageGuide.pdf
 ---></ref>
** [[L1 and L2 (programming language)|L1 and (later) L2]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cstr/99.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140902215751/http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cstr/99.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 2, 2014 |title=Computing Science Technical Report No. 99 – A History of Computing Research at Bell Laboratories (1937–1975) |first1=Bernard D. |last1=Holbrook |first2=W. Stanley |last2=Brown |publisher=[[Bell Labs]] |access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/34-6822-0_FltDecIntrpsys.pdf |title=A Complete Floating-Decimal Interpretive System For The IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator |first=V. M. |last=Wolontis |publisher=IBM |location=US |via=bitsavers}}</ref> – known outside Bell Labs as "Bell 1" and "Bell 2", among other names (see above)
*Synthetic Programming System for Commercial Applications <ref>{{cite book |title=  650 Programming Bulletin 2 |publisher= IBM |year= 1956 |id= 22-6294-0 |pages= 40 |quote= The Interpretive routine described here is a fixed decimal three address system that provides for mathematical, logical, and input-output operations.  The logic for this system was obtained from the ''Complete Floating Decimal Interpretive System for the 650'' that was developed by the Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey.}}</ref>

; Algebraic languages / compilers
* Internal Translator (IT) — A compiler<ref>{{cite book
  | first1 = A.J.
  | last1 = Perlis
  | author-link1 = Alan Perlis
  | first2 = J.W.
  | last2 = Smith
  | first3 = H.R.
  | last3 = VanZoeren
  | title = Internal Translator; IT, A Compiler for the 650
  | date = 1958-04-18
  | url = http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/CarnegieInternalTranslator.pdf
  | id = 650 Library Program 2.1.001
  }}</ref>
* Revised Unified New Compiler IT Basic Language Extended (RUNCIBLE) — An extension of IT at [[Case Institute of Technology|Case]]<ref>[[Donald Knuth]] published the [[flowchart]] of the compiler in 1959;{{Cite journal | last1 = Knuth | first1 = D. E. |author-link=Donald Knuth| doi = 10.1145/368481.368507 | title = RUNCIBLE—algebraic translation on a limited computer | journal = [[Communications of the ACM]]| volume = 2 | pages = 18–21| year = 1959 | issue = 11 | s2cid = 8224014 | doi-access = free }}; this was his first academic paper.</ref>
*[[FOR TRANSIT]] — A version of [[Fortran]] which compiled to IT which in turn was compiled to SOAP<ref>{{cite book
  | last = IBM
  | title = FOR TRANSIT Automatic Coding System for the IBM 650
  | year = 1959
  | url = http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/28-4028_FOR_TRANSIT.pdf
  | id = 28-4028
  }}</ref>
*[[FORTRAN]]<ref>{{cite book
  | last = IBM
  | title = FORTRAN Automatic Coding System for the IBM 650
  | year = 1960
  | url = http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/650/29-4047_FORTRAN.pdf
  | id = 29-4047
  }}</ref>

*GATE — A simple compiler with one character variable names
*[[Information Processing Language|IPL]] — The first list processing language. The best-known version was IPL-V.
*SPACE (Simplified Programming Anyone Can Enjoy) — A business-oriented two-step compiler through SOAP