2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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break-even point
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. In the process of implementing a new computer language, the point at
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which the language is sufficiently effective that one can implement the
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language in itself. That is, for a new language called, hypothetically,
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FOOGOL, one has reached break-even when one can write a demonstration
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compiler for FOOGOL in FOOGOL, discard the original implementation language,
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and thereafter use working versions of FOOGOL to develop newer ones. This is
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an important milestone; see MFTL. Since this entry was first written,
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several correspondents have reported that there actually was a compiler for
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a tiny Algol-like language called Foogol floating around on various VAXen in
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the early and mid-1980s. A FOOGOL implementation is available at the
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Retrocomputing Museum http://www.catb.org/retro/.
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