V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):

BCPL
       Basic / BBN Combined Programming Language (BBN)


The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

BCPL
 //, n.

    [abbreviation, ?Basic Combined Programming Language?) A programming
    language developed by Martin Richards in Cambridge in 1967. It is
    remarkable for its rich syntax, small size of compiler (it can be run in
    16k) and extreme portability. It reached break-even point at a very early
    stage, and was the language in which the original hello world program was
    written. It has been ported to so many different systems that its creator
    confesses to having lost count. It has only one data type (a machine word)
    which can be used as an integer, a character, a floating point number, a
    pointer, or almost anything else, depending on context. BCPL was a
    precursor of C, which inherited some of its features.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

BCPL

    (Basic CPL) A British systems language developed by
   Richards in 1969 and descended from CPL (Combined
   Programming Language).  BCPL is low-level, typeless and
   block-structured, and provides only one-dimensional arrays.
   Case is not significant, but conventionally reserved words
   begin with a capital.  Flow control constructs include:
   If-Then, Test-Then-Else, Unless-Do, While-Do, Until-Do,
   Repeat, Repeatwhile, Repeatuntil, For-to-By-Do, Loop, Break
   and Switchon-Into-Case-Default-Endcase.  BCPL has conditional
   expressions, pointers, and manifest constants.  It has both
   procedures: 'Let foo(bar) Be command' and functions: 'Let
   foo(bar) = expression'.  'Valof $(..Resultis..$)' causes a
   compound command to produce a value.  Parameters are
   call-by-value.

   Program segments communicate via the global vector where
   system and user variables are stored in fixed numerical
   locations in a single array.

   The first BCPL compiler was written in AED.  BCPL was used
   to implement the TRIPOS operating system, which was
   subsequently reincarnated as AmigaDOS.

   ["BCPL - The Language and its Compiler", Martin Richards &
   Colin Whitby-Stevens, Cambridge U Press 1979].

   See OCODE, INTCODE.

   Oxford BCPL differed slightly: Test-Ifso-Ifnot, and section
   brackets in place of $( $).

   The original INTCODE interpreter for BCPL is available for
   Amiga, Unix, MS-DOS

(ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/amiga/programming/languages/BCPL/).

   A BCPL compiler bootstrap kit with an INTCODE
   interpreter in C was written by Ken Yap
   .

   (1995-03-26)