# Klerer–May System

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Programming language oriented to numerical scientific programming

The **Klerer–May System** is a [programming language](/source/Programming_language) developed in the mid-1960s, oriented to [numerical](/source/Numerical_analysis) [scientific](/source/Computational_science) programming, whose most notable feature is its two-dimensional syntax based on traditional [mathematical notation](/source/Mathematical_notation).

Example of a statement in the Klerer–May programming language

For input and output, the Klerer–May system used a [Friden Flexowriter](/source/Friden_Flexowriter) modified to allow half-line motions for subscripts and superscripts.[1] The character set included digits, upper-case letters, subsets of 14 lower-case Latin letters and 18 Greek letters, arithmetic operators (+ − × / |) and punctuation (. , ( )), and eight special line-drawing characters (resembling ╲ ╱ ⎜ _ ⎨ ⎬ ˘ ⁔) used to construct multi-line brackets and symbols for [summation](/source/Summation), [products](/source/Product_sign#Capital_Pi_notation), [roots](/source/Square_root), and for multi-line [division](/source/Division_(mathematics)) or fractions.[2] The system was intended to be forgiving of input mistakes, and easy to learn; its reference manual was only two pages.[3]

The system was developed by [Melvin Klerer](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melvin_Klerer&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Jack May](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_May_(computer_scientist)&action=edit&redlink=1) at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University)'s Hudson Laboratories in [Dobbs Ferry, New York](/source/Dobbs_Ferry%2C_New_York), for the [Office of Naval Research](/source/Office_of_Naval_Research), and ran on [GE-200 series](/source/GE-200_series) computers.[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-KL65a_1-0)** Klerer, Melvin; May, Jack (1965). ["A user oriented programming language"](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fcomjnl%2F8.2.103). *The Computer Journal*. **8** (2): 103–109. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/comjnl/8.2.103](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fcomjnl%2F8.2.103).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-S69_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-S69_2-1) Sammet, Jean (1969). *Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals*. Prentice-Hall. pp. 284–294. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-13-729988-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-13-729988-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-KL65b_3-0)** Klerer, Melvin; May, Jack (1965). *Reference Manual*. Hudson Labs, Dobbs Ferry, NY: Columbia University.

## Further reading

- Klerer, Melvin; May, Jack (May 1964). ["An Experiment in a User-oriented Computer System"](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F364099.364266). *Commun. ACM*. **7** (5): 290–294. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/364099.364266](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F364099.364266). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [14606272](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14606272).

- Klerer, Melvin; May, Jack (1965). "Two-dimensional Programming". *Proceedings of the November 30--December 1, 1965, Fall Joint Computer Conference, Part I*. Fall Joint Computer Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada: ACM. pp. 63–75. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/1463891.1463897](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F1463891.1463897).

- Klerer, Melvin; Grossman, Fred (November 1967). "Further Advances in Two-dimensional Input-output by Typewriter Terminals". *Proceedings of the November 14–16, 1967, Fall Joint Computer Conference*. Fall Joint Computer Conference. Anaheim, California: ACM. pp. 675–687. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/1465611.1465701](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F1465611.1465701).

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