Coral 66 is a general-purpose programming language based on Algol 60, with some features from Coral 64 and Jovial, and some from Fortran. It was originally designed in 1966 by I. F. Currie and M. Griffiths of the Royal Radar Establishment in response to the need for a compiler on a fixed-point computer in a control environment. In such fields of application, some debasement of high-level language ideals is acceptable if, in return, there is a worthwhile gain in speed of compilation with minimal equipment and in efficiency of object code. The need for a language which takes these requirements into account, even though it may not be fully machine independent, is widely felt in industrial and military work. We have therefore formalized the definition of Coral 66, taking advantage of experience gained in the use of the language. Under the auspices of the Inter-Establishment Committee for Computer Applications, we have had technical advice from staff of the Royal Naval Scientific Service, the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, the Royal Radar Establishment, the Defence ADP Training Centre, from serving officers of all three services and from interested sections of industry, to whom all acknowledgments are due.
The present definition is an inter-service standard for military programming, and has also been widely adopted for civil purposes in the British control and automation industry. Such civil usage is supported by RRE and the National Computing Centre in Manchester, on behalf of the Department of Industry. The NCC has agreed to provide information services and training facilities, and enquiries about Coral 66 for industrial application should be directed to that organization.