Editing Directive (programming) (section)

==History==
Directives date to [[JOVIAL]].<ref>{{cite tech report
 | title       = Computer Programming Manual for JOVIAL (J73) Language
 | id          = RADC-TR-81-143
 | date        = June 1981
 | section     = Chapter 17 - Directives
 | section-url = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA101061.pdf#page=248
 | pages       = 243-263
 | url         = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA101061.pdf
 | access-date = May 28, 2023
 }}
</ref>
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[[COBOL]] has a COPY directive.

In  [[ALGOL 68]], directives are known as [[ALGOL 68#pr .26 co: Pragmats and Comments|pragmats]] (from "pragmatic"), and denoted '''pragmat''' or '''pr'''; in newer languages, notably C, this has been abbreviated to "pragma" (no 't').

A common use of pragmats in ALGOL 68 is in specifying a [[Stropping (syntax)|stropping]] regime, meaning "how keywords are indicated". Various such directives follow, specifying the POINT, UPPER, RES (reserved), or quote regimes. Note the use of stropping for the '''pragmat''' keyword itself (abbreviated '''pr'''), either in the POINT or quote regimes:
{{sxhl|2=man|1=
.PR POINT .PR
.PR UPPER .PR
.PR RES .PR
'pr' quote 'pr'
}}
Today directives are best known in the C language, of early 1970s vintage, and continued through the current [[C99]] standard, where they are either instructions to the [[C preprocessor]], or, in the form of <code>#pragma</code>, directives to the compiler itself. They are also used to some degree in more modern languages; see below.