JOVIAL

JOVIAL is a high-level programming language based on ALGOL 58, specialized for developing embedded systems (specialized computer systems designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, usually embedded as part of a larger, more complete device, including mechanical parts).

[7] During the 1960s, JOVIAL was a part of the US Military L-project series, particularly the ITT 465L Strategic Air Command Control System (the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS) project), due to a lack of real-time computing programming languages available.

Further, DDC-I, which acquired parts of Advanced Computer Techniques, also lists JOVIAL compilers and related tools as of April 2020[update].

In December 2014, it was reported that software derived from JOVIAL code produced in the 1960s was involved in a major failure of the United Kingdom's air traffic control infrastructure, and that the agency that uses it, NATS Holdings, was having to train its IT staff in JOVIAL so they could maintain this software, which was not scheduled for replacement until 2016.

Table packing refers to the allocation of items within an entry to words of storage (bits in a unit of data).

This was important with respect to the limited memory and storage of the computing systems of the JOVIAL era.