Editing Printf (section)

===1950s: Fortran===

Early programming languages like [[Fortran]] used special statements with different syntax from other calculations to build formatting descriptions.<ref name="Sayre_1956">{{cite book |title=The FORTRAN Automatic Coding System for the IBM 704 EDPM: Programmer's Reference Manual |publisher=Applied Science Division and Programming Research Department, [[International Business Machines Corporation]] |location=New York, USA |date=October 15, 1956 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Sayre |editor-link=David Sayre |author-first1=John Warner |author-last1=Backus |author-link1=John Warner Backus |author-first2=R. J. |author-last2=Beeber |author-first3=Sheldon F. |author-last3=Best |author-first4=Richard |author-last4=Goldberg |author-first5=Harlan L. |author-last5=Herrick |author-first6=R. A. |author-last6=Hughes |author-first7=L. B. |author-last7=Mitchell |author-first8=Robert A. |author-last8=Nelson |author-first9=Roy |author-last9=Nutt |author-link9=Roy Nutt |author-first10=David |author-last10=Sayre |author-link10=David Sayre |author-first11=Peter B. |author-last11=Sheridan |author-first12=Harold |author-last12=Stern |author-first13=Irving |author-last13=Ziller |pages=26–30 |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Fortran/102649787.05.01.acc.pdf |access-date=July 4, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704193549/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Fortran/102649787.05.01.acc.pdf |archive-date=July 4, 2022}} (2+51+1 pages)</ref> In this example, the format is specified on line {{samp|601}}, and the {{code|PRINT|fortran}}{{efn|According to the 1956 Fortran manual{{r|Sayre_1956}}, the {{code|PRINT|fortran}} command prints on the attached [[line printer|printer]]. The manual also introduces the command {{code|WRITE OUTPUT TAPE|fortran}} that also uses the {{code|FORMAT|fortran}} statement to write on a [[Magnetic-tape data storage|tape unit]].}} command refers to it by line number:
<syntaxhighlight lang="fortranfixed">
      PRINT 601, IA, IB, AREA
 601  FORMAT (4H A= ,I5,5H  B= ,I5,8H  AREA= ,F10.2, 13H SQUARE UNITS)
</syntaxhighlight>

Hereby:

* {{code|4H|fortran}} indicates a [[String (computer science)|string]] of 4 [[character (computer science)|characters]] <code>" A= "</code> ({{code|H}} means [[Hollerith constant|Hollerith Field]]);
* {{code|I5|fortran}} indicates an [[Integer (computer science)|integer]] field of width 5;
* {{code|F10.2|fortran}} indicates a [[floating-point]] field of width 10 with 2 digits after the decimal point.

An output with input arguments {{code|100}}, {{code|200}}, and {{code|1500.25}} might look like this:

<syntaxhighlight lang="output">
 A=   100  B=   200  AREA=    1500.25 SQUARE UNITS
</syntaxhighlight>