Editing JOSS (section)

{{Short description|Interactive programming language}}
{{distinguish|Journal of Open Source Software}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = JOSS
| paradigms = [[Non-structured programming|non-structured]], [[Procedural programming|procedural]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]]
| family = JOSS
| designer = [[Cliff Shaw]]
| developer = [[RAND Corporation]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1963}}<!-- If known, add |mm|dd|df=yes}} -->
| typing = 
| scope = [[Scope (computer science)|Lexical]]
| programming language = [[assembly language]]
| discontinued = Yes
| platform = [[JOHNNIAC]], [[PDP-6]]
| operating system = 
| influenced by = 
| influenced = [[TELCOMP]], [[CAL (programming language)|CAL]], [[FOCAL (programming language)|FOCAL]], [[MUMPS]]
| website = 
}}
[[File:JOSS Session.jpg|thumb|right|330px|Part of a JOSS session at RAND in 1970 in which the user carries several simple calculations in {{code|direct mode}}. Note the difference between the period at the end of the statements and the [[interpunct]] for multiplication.]]

'''JOSS''' (acronym for '''JOHNNIAC Open Shop System'''){{efn|When it moved off JOHNNIAC, it was suggested the acronym be changed to "JOSS Open Shop System", making it an early example of a recursive name.{{sfn|Bryan|1966|p=2}}}} was one of the first interactive, [[time-sharing]] [[programming language]]s. It pioneered many features that would become common in languages from the 1960s into the 1980s, including use of [[line number]]s as both editing instructions and targets for [[Branch (computer science)|branches]], statements predicated by [[Boolean algebra|Boolean]] decisions, and a built-in [[source-code editor]] that can perform instructions in direct or immediate mode, what they termed a ''[[conversational user interface]]''.

JOSS was initially implemented on the [[JOHNNIAC]] machine at [[RAND Corporation]] and put online in 1963. It proved very popular, and the users quickly bogged the machine down. By 1964, a replacement was sought with higher performance. JOHNNIAC was retired in 1966 and replaced by a [[PDP-6]], which ultimately grew to support hundreds of [[computer terminal]]s based on the [[IBM Selectric]]. The terminals used green ink for user input and black for the computer's response. Any [[Command (computing)|command]] that was not understood elicited the response {{code|Eh?}}.

The system was highly influential, spawning a variety of ports and offshoots. Some remained similar to the original, like [[TELCOMP]] and [[STRINGCOMP]], [[CAL (programming language)|CAL]], CITRAN, ISIS, PIL/I, [[JEAN]] ([[ICT 1900 series]]), BOSS and INTERP on the [[Burroughs B5500]], Algebraic Interpretive Dialogue (AID, on [[PDP-10]]). Others, such as [[FOCAL (programming language)|FOCAL]] and [[MUMPS]], developed in distinctive directions. JOSS also bears a strong resemblance to the [[BASIC]] interpreters found on [[microcomputer]]s in the 1980s, differing mainly in [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntax]] details.