Next: , Previous: , Up: Top   [Index]


About this manual

This is the Revamped Instruction Manual for C-INTERCAL (this version is distributed with C-INTERCAL version 0.29). It is divided into four parts.

The first part is about the C-INTERCAL compiler ick, and how to use it. It covers installing the compiler, using the compiler, what error and warning messages are produced by the compiler, and some information on how to use the debugger.

The second part is about the core INTERCAL language, invented in 1972, and some other commands since then which don’t feel like they’re extensions. (This is a pretty arbitrary distinction, but people who write the documentation are entitled to arbitrary distinctions. The manual’s licensed under a license that lets you change it (see Copying), so if you disagree you can move the commands from section to section yourself.) Mostly only commands that are implemented in C-INTERCAL are covered here (if you’re interested in the other commands implemented in other compilers, read CLC-INTERCAL’s documentation). However, a comprehensive guide to portability of these commands between C-INTERCAL and other INTERCAL compilers is given.

The third part covers the INTERCAL extensions and dialects that are implemented by C-INTERCAL, such as TriINTERCAL and Threaded INTERCAL. Again, extensions and dialects not implemented have been mostly left out.

The final part contains appendices (which were known as ‘tonsils’ in the original INTERCAL manual), such as character sets used by INTERCAL, programs other than ick in the C-INTERCAL distribution, information on how to read and update the list of optimizer idioms used by the compiler, and the copyright.