The Howdy Glossary

COMAL is a high-level programming language designed for educational purposes to teach structured programming concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, procedures, and functions. It originated as an acronym for COMmon Algorithmic Language and draws influences from BASIC and Pascal but features simpler syntax rules to ease learning. Created by Benedict Löwe and Urs Amman in the early 1970s at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Switzerland, COMAL was developed specifically to promote a structured approach to programming education.

The language was created to facilitate teaching fundamental programming constructs with accessible syntax, allowing beginners to understand program flow and logic without being overwhelmed by complexity. Core components include straightforward syntax for variables, conditionals (IF...THEN...ELSE), loops (DO...WHILE), procedures, and functions. By blending elements of BASIC and Pascal within simplified rules tailored for ease of understanding, COMAL stands out as an approachable tool for teaching programming logic effectively.

While COMAL excelled in its educational niche due to its simplicity and educational usability, it faced competition from other widely adopted languages like C, Java, Python, and JavaScript that offered extensive libraries and better performance suited for industrial applications. These competitive differences highlight that while COMAL's design makes it ideal for novices learning foundational principles in supportive environments like classrooms, more advanced languages are better equipped for complex systems development beyond basic educational settings.