Abstract:
This Memorandum is a comparison of four well-known list-processing computer languages, which are considered representative of the various list-processing languages available. List-processing languages are designed to handle problems involving the manipulation of complex data structures and which impose computer memory requirements that change in an unpredictable manner during computation. The research, sponsored under U. S. Air Force Project RAND, was aimed at characterizing and evaluating list- processing languages in general and the four languages specifically considered; at isolating the areas of appli- cation for which particular list-processing languages are best suited; and at providing some criteria for the poten- tial user in selecting one of the languages for his par- ticular problem. The authors, consultants to The RAND Corporation, are on the staff at the Computation Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
