ICI programming language
Encyclopedia
ICI is a general purpose interpreted, computer programming language
originally developed by Tim Long in the late 1980s. It has dynamic typing and flexible data types, with the basic syntax, flow control constructs and operators of C
. It can be considered broadly similar to Perl
, with which it is roughly contemporary. Like Perl, it also has tight integration with regular expression
s.
ICI is not an acronym.
Primitive data types in ICI include integers, reals, strings, files, safe pointers, and regular expressions. Aggregate data types are arrays, sets, and associative tables. Sets can be heterogeneous, nested, and support the usual set operations: union, intersection, etc.
The language supports subroutines and nested modules. All variables are lexically scoped at the subroutine or module level, but unlike most structured languages, ICI allows the current scope to be adjusted (Tcl
also allows this, for example).
ICI is not object-based
, many object programming features can be emulated in the language by using a data structure inheritance feature called super-structures.
To support application development, ICI has C-like file I/O and system interface support, as well as a high-level event trigger facility. The language also has a modest standard library of built-in functions.
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
originally developed by Tim Long in the late 1980s. It has dynamic typing and flexible data types, with the basic syntax, flow control constructs and operators of C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
. It can be considered broadly similar to Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
, with which it is roughly contemporary. Like Perl, it also has tight integration with regular expression
Regular expression
In computing, a regular expression provides a concise and flexible means for "matching" strings of text, such as particular characters, words, or patterns of characters. Abbreviations for "regular expression" include "regex" and "regexp"...
s.
ICI is not an acronym.
Primitive data types in ICI include integers, reals, strings, files, safe pointers, and regular expressions. Aggregate data types are arrays, sets, and associative tables. Sets can be heterogeneous, nested, and support the usual set operations: union, intersection, etc.
The language supports subroutines and nested modules. All variables are lexically scoped at the subroutine or module level, but unlike most structured languages, ICI allows the current scope to be adjusted (Tcl
Tcl
Tcl is a scripting language created by John Ousterhout. Originally "born out of frustration", according to the author, with programmers devising their own languages intended to be embedded into applications, Tcl gained acceptance on its own...
also allows this, for example).
ICI is not object-based
Object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...
, many object programming features can be emulated in the language by using a data structure inheritance feature called super-structures.
To support application development, ICI has C-like file I/O and system interface support, as well as a high-level event trigger facility. The language also has a modest standard library of built-in functions.