It is thanks to early computer programing language of many famous programmers that the concept of computer programming appeared during the 19th century. Since then, much has happened with regards to the computer programming timeline to bring us to where we are today in terms of innovation and invention.
Today, it is thanks to these languages that we use the internet and our personal devices without even thinking.
If you are interested in a career in computer science, one of the first things you should do is find out about the history of programming languages. Remember that the concept of computer programming spans every industry and sector and is a very satisfying career for those who love to combine both creative and technical solutions for all aspects of life.
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The Pioneer of Early Computer Programming Language: Ada Lovelace
When looking at a computer programming timeline, you might be astonished to find that early computer programming language has been around much longer that you may think.
The origin of programing language comes primarily from the work of Ada Lovelace who invented the first code in 1843.
She is well known with regards to the history of computer programming languages all over the world. Her breakthrough came during the time that she was working on Charles Babbage’s project for an analytical machine, essentially the ancestor of the computers we use today. Lovelace developed the first algorithm, which was hand-written on paper as it even pre-dated the ability to write it on a computer. The discovery of these notes are critical to the computer programing timeline where scientists were able to build on each other’s work through the ages.
Interesting, Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the famous poet Lord George Byron. She died in 1852 and is still an inspiration to anyone who is interested in finding out more about the history of computer programming languages.
Other Early Computer Programming Language
After the work of Ada Lovelace, it took several more decades before further computer language, or code was developed. In particular, Plankalkül (also known as calculation plan) and developed by Konrad Zuse during 1944 and 1945, is thought to be the first truly established programming code.
This computer language was used to carefully store pieces of code so that certain operations could be performed without the need to copy the code each time. Some years later, the Assembly language, which assisted in simplifying the language of the machine code came about. Though it was considered low-level at the time, in 1949 Short Code came onto the scene. This was a significant event on the computer programming timeline because it was the first HLL (High-Level Language) invention. This was due to the work of John McCauley and was later perfected by William Schmitt.
The computer programming timeline enjoyed another coup in 1957 when the Fortran language came onto the scene. Invented by John Backus, Fortran is an early computer programming language still in existence making it the oldest programming language available today.
Fortran, used for complex scientific calculations was preceded by ALGOL only one year later. ALGOL, an algorithmic language was invented by a group of scientists and is amongst the most important in the history of programming languages because it was one of the best computer science inventions of its time. The main reason for this is that today it still forms the basis for developers who work in C, Java and C++.
The late 1950s were also important in the history of programming languages.
In 1958, List Processors or LISP made it onto the list for early computer programming language. Similarly, to Fortran, LISP is still in use today and is not unlike its better-known counterparts called Ruby and Python. In 1959, COBOL (Common Business Orientated Language) was innovated by Grace Hopper. After her working experience at IBM, she began to work on simplifying codes so that they could better resemble the English language instead of the traditional codes that that had come up through the history of computer programming languages.
In a sense, Hopper’s contribution to the history of programming languages was that she popularised them by making them more user-friendly. Today, COBOL is still in use in the banking sector, particularly for automated teller machines and similar applications.
The Concept of Computer Programming in the 70s and 80s
During the early 1970s, programmer Niklaus Wirth developed Pascal, one of the simplest programmes to learn. So much so that Apple computer creators chose it to launch their company. Wirth is also well known in the history of programming languages for the development of Algol and Euler.
During 1972, the C language which is still widely used today, came onto the scene. This code or language, developed by Dennis Ritchie through his work at Bell Telephone Laboratories was a major contributor to the concept of computer programming. The rather simple name, is derived from the fact that Ritchie based his work on a language called B. Today, several modern programming languages use C as their base. These include, Java, JavaScript, C#, PHP, Perl and Python.
The C language is truly one of the ancestors of the code used today and made an important contribution to the concept of computer programming as we know it.
In 1972, SQL, developed by Donald Chamberlain and Raymond Boyce arrived on the scene for the purpose of reading databases. While it is not one of the most well-known languages, it is still used by Microsoft and other companies.
During the early 1980s, Ada, named after the first programmer in history, was born. This language, which was initially based on Pascal was used by the US Department of Defence. Today, it is used in the aviation, transport and space industries.
In 1983, C++ was created by Bjarne Stroustrup. As a modification to the C language, C++ included functional improvements that make it one of the most widely used computer programming languages in the world today. For instance, C++ is used for Adobe Photoshop and MS Office.
In 1987, Larry Wall created Perl. This high-level computer programming language, initially intended for word processing, gradually became so appreciated for its reliability that it also became used for network programming and database applications.
The 1990s: Modern Languages and the Internet
The arrival and seismic adoption of the internet during the early 1990s certainly shook up the world of computer programming. Languages, like Python, developed by Guido Van Rossum (and named after Monty Python) were birthed. Today, Python is used by huge industry names like Google and Spotify and is one of the most significant programming languages in the industry. During the same year, in 1991, the language Visual Basic was developed by Microsoft. As a code, Visual Basic makes it possible to visualise code graphically and therefore use parts of it, modify it or move it. The most well-known place where this code is used is in Microsoft’s Excel and Word.
Yukihiro Matsumoto developed Ruby in 1993, Ruby. Also a high-level programming language, Ruby was inspired by those before it like Ada and Perl and is widely used for web development applications like Groupon and Twitter.
Other programming languages that have appeared since the 1990s and are worth mentioning because of their use in software development today include:
- Java, created by James Gosling, used for technological tools
- PHP, developed by Rasmus Lerdorf, used to create dynamic web pages
- JavaScript, created by Brendan Eich for websites
- C# by Microsoft, created to combine C++ functions with Visual Basic
Of all the languages, why not learn how to use Python or the most popular of all coding languages JavaScript? All have made their contribution to the history of programming and will lead new inventors to generate new code for coming generations.
From Ada Lovelace to today, we have come a long way!
Throughout history, coding languages have had various uses from web creation to banking, but are even more important for the popular culture of the digital world we are living in today.
All these advances make it possible to build on the creations of the work of the computer science fraternity that has gone before us. From metaverses, gaming and real time technology, if you think about where we started and where we are now, it is quite mind-blowing to consider what progress in coding could create for the world around us next.
If you love the concept of computer programming and how it can be used in pop culture don’t miss our article on the best programming films out there.
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