Programming Language for Business
Encyclopedia
Programming Language for Business or PL/B is a business-oriented programming language
originally called DATABUS and designed by Datapoint
in the early 1970s as an alternative to COBOL
because its 8-bit computers could not fit COBOL into their limited memory, and because COBOL did not at the time have facilities to deal with Datapoint's built-in keyboard and screen.
A version of DATABUS became an ANSI
standard, and the name PL/B was adopted when Datapoint refused to release its trademark
on the DATABUS name.
Much like Java
and .NET, PL/B programs are compiled into an intermediate byte-code, which is then interpreted by a runtime library. Because of this, many PL/B programs can run on DOS
, Unix
, Linux
, and Windows
operating system
s. The PL/B development environments are influenced by Java and Visual Basic
, and offer many of the same features found in those languages. PL/B (Databus) is actively used all over the world, and has several forums on the Internet dedicated to supporting software developers.
Since its inception, PL/B has been enhanced and adapted to keep it modernized and able to access various data sources. It has a database capability built-in with ISAM and Associative Hashed Indexes, as well as ODBC, SQL
, Oracle
, sequential, random access, and XML
files.
All the constructs of modern programming languages have been incrementally added to the language. PL/B also has the ability to access external routines through COM, DLL's and .NET assemblies. Full access to the .NET framework is built into many versions.
Several implementations of the language are capable of running as an Application Server like Citrix, and connecting to remote databases through a data manager.
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 called DATABUS and designed by Datapoint
Datapoint
Datapoint Corporation, originally known as Computer Terminal Corporation , was a computer company based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in 1967 by Phil Ray and Gus Roche, its first products were, as the company's initial name suggests, computer terminals...
in the early 1970s as an alternative to COBOL
COBOL
COBOL is one of the oldest programming languages. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments....
because its 8-bit computers could not fit COBOL into their limited memory, and because COBOL did not at the time have facilities to deal with Datapoint's built-in keyboard and screen.
A version of DATABUS became an ANSI
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
standard, and the name PL/B was adopted when Datapoint refused to release its trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
on the DATABUS name.
Much like Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
and .NET, PL/B programs are compiled into an intermediate byte-code, which is then interpreted by a runtime library. Because of this, many PL/B programs can run on DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s. The PL/B development environments are influenced by Java and Visual Basic
Visual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
, and offer many of the same features found in those languages. PL/B (Databus) is actively used all over the world, and has several forums on the Internet dedicated to supporting software developers.
Since its inception, PL/B has been enhanced and adapted to keep it modernized and able to access various data sources. It has a database capability built-in with ISAM and Associative Hashed Indexes, as well as ODBC, SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
, Oracle
Oracle Database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
, sequential, random access, and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
files.
All the constructs of modern programming languages have been incrementally added to the language. PL/B also has the ability to access external routines through COM, DLL's and .NET assemblies. Full access to the .NET framework is built into many versions.
Several implementations of the language are capable of running as an Application Server like Citrix, and connecting to remote databases through a data manager.