DIBOL
| Industry | Computer hardware and software |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 7, 1957 |
| Founder | Ken Olsen, Harlan Anderson |
| Fate | Acquired by Compaq (1998) |
| Headquarters | Maynard, Massachusetts , United States |
| Products | Computers, software, programming languages (including DIBOL) |
DIBOL, an acronym for Digital's Business Oriented Language, is a versatile, procedural, and imperative programming language specifically crafted for the creation of Management Information Systems (MIS). Its development spanned from 1970 until 1993.
The language exhibits a syntax reminiscent of FORTRAN and BASIC, incorporating BCD arithmetic and adopting a structure akin to COBOL by dividing data and procedures into separate sections. Unlike Fortran's numeric labels, DIBOL employs alphanumeric labels and allows the use of computed GOTO statements.
History
Introduced in 1970 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), DIBOL initially appeared as DIBOL-8, designed for PDP-8 machines operating under COS-300. The DECmate II, based on the PDP-8 platform, supported COS-310 along with DIBOL. Subsequently, DIBOL-11 was available for PDP-11 systems running COS-350, RSX-11, RT-11, and from 1978 onward, RSTS/E. DIBOL-32 was developed for OpenVMS environments and could be executed on other systems through emulation.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) released standards for DIBOL in 1983, 1988, and 1992 (ANSI X3.165-1992), with the final update occurring in 2002.
Various organizations produced compilers for DIBOL, such as DISC with Synergy DBL, Omtool’s Softbol, and Software Ireland’s Unibol. After 1993, development largely ceased following an agreement between DEC and DISC to phase out DIBOL in favor of Synergy DBL across OpenVMS, Digital UNIX, and SCO Unix platforms.