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Talk:MAD (programming language)

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Jeff Ogden (talk) 04:40, 16 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Algorithmic vs. Algorithm

It is my recollection that MAD stood for Michigan Algorithmic Decorder and not Michigan Algorighm Decoder. If anyone knows for certain, please make an entry on this talk page. JJ 00:56, 31 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, "Michigan Algorithm Decoder" is correct. Jeff Ogden (talk) 20:06, 1 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I distinctly remember it from my college days at University of Maryland. It was called Michigan Algorithmic Decoder. Maybe it had two names, depending on where it was used.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Rcleaver (talkcontribs) 19:28, 21 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The folks who wrote MAD (Arden, Galler, and Graham) at the University of Michigan called it "Michigan Algorithm Decoder". The name appears on all of the documentation and in other documents they produced, many of which are available online, see the references in the article. I've never seen a reference to Algorithmic in anything from Michigan. You do see "Michigan Algorthmic Decoder" used in other non-Michigan references. And, there is this comment:
The MAD compiler for the UNIVAC 1100 computers called RALPH was developed at the University of Maryland. The name RALPH is an acronym of sorts: Reentrant Algorithmic Language Processor with H just for the H of it. (The explanation of the acronym is supplied by George Baltz, formerly at the University of Maryland.)[1]
Jeff Ogden (talk) 01:27, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Floating point in subscripts and loop counters

One other thing I distinctly remember, that is not mentioned anywhere in the article, is that you could use floating point subscripts and loop counters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rcleaver (talkcontribs) 19:28, 21 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]