Editing Pascal (programming language) (section)

===Earlier efforts===
Much of the history of [[computer language]] design during the 1960s can be traced to the [[ALGOL 60]] language. ALGOL was developed during the 1950s with the explicit goal of being able to clearly describe [[algorithm]]s. It included a number of features for [[structured programming]] that remain common in languages to this day.

Shortly after its introduction, in 1962 Wirth began working on his dissertation with Helmut Weber on the [[Euler (programming language)|Euler programming language]]. Euler was based on ALGOL's syntax and many concepts but was not a derivative. Its primary goal was to add dynamic lists and types, allowing it to be used in roles similar to [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]]. The language was published in 1965.

By this time, a number of problems in ALGOL had been identified, notably the lack of a standardized [[String (computer science)|string]] system. The group tasked with maintaining the language had begun the [[ALGOL X]] process to identify improvements, calling for submissions. Wirth and [[Tony Hoare]] submitted a conservative set of modifications to add strings and clean up some of the syntax. These were considered too minor to be worth using as the new standard ALGOL, so Wirth wrote a compiler for the language, which became named [[ALGOL W]].

The ALGOL X efforts would go on to choose a much more complex language, [[ALGOL 68]]. The complexity of this language led to considerable difficulty producing high-performance compilers, and it was not widely used in the industry. This left an opening for newer languages.