Thousands of programming languages were invented in the first 50 years of the age of computing. Many of them were similar, and many followed a traditional, evolutionary path from their predecessors. What eventually became APL was first a mathematical notation, not as a computer programming language.
The Next 7000 Programming Languages
Landin’s seminal paper “The next 700 programming languages” considered programming languages prior to 1966 and speculated on the next 700. Half-a-century on, we cast programming languages in a Darwinian ‘tree of life’ and explore languages, their features (genes) and language evolution from the viewpoint of ‘survival of the fittest’.
J Notation as a Tool of Thought
Kenneth Iverson’s 1964 language, APL, won him the Turing Award. His award lecture, Notation as a Tool of Thought, argued that better notations would lead people to deeper insights about mathematics. He provided a number of examples ranging across linear algebra, arithmetic, probability, and logic. Unfortunately, most of the mathematics he covers isn’t relevant to programming. However, his core idea still applies, and changing how we describe programs changes how we think about them.
Its Time for a New Programming Language
Today, when compared to any other point in programming history, we find ourselves spoiled for choice when it comes to programming…
SHARP APL Source Code
SHARP APL source code (circa 1989). This is posted for educational and historical purposes and may not represent a fully working system. Tools associated with a full system (e.g., assembler, link-editor, IBM 370-code simulator, graphics driver, workspaces) may also not be included. Likely this was a version used to generate the PC version of SHARP APL. NOTE: The original files are ANSI encoded but look to have originally contained APL characters (which are no longer displayed as such). As a result, the comments and some other lines are sometimes hard to read. A secondary zip file has been added which attempts to convert the files to UTF8 and to change some characters back to APL. A zip file of SHARP APL/PC workspace listings has been added for example code. A version of SHARP APL/PC has been added which also has additional implementation code examples (requires a DOS emulator in order to run).
The Story of C++: The World's Most Consequential Programming Language | The Official Story
Something Pretty Right: A History of Visual Basic | Retool
How Visual Basic became the world’s most dominant programming environment, its sudden fall from grace, and why its influence is still shaping the future of software development.
Crafting Interpreters
Ever wanted to make your own programming language or wondered how they are designed and built?
The Man Who Revolutionized Computer Science With Math
The third golden age of software engineering – thanks to AI, with Grady Booch
The third golden age of software engineering – thanks to AI, with Grady Booch
A brief history of JavaScript | Deno
In 30 years, JavaScript went from being a little scripting language to one of the world's most popular. Here are key moments to show how it has evolved and where it is headed.
Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It - …
archived 16 Mar 2026 15:14:04 UTC
A Very Early History of Algebraic Data Types
Been quiet around here! I’ve been putting almost all of my writing time into Logic for Programmers and my whole brain is book-shaped. Trust me, you do not want to read my 2000-word rant on Sphinx post-build LaTeX customization. But I spent the past week in a historical rabbit hole and had to share what I found. It started with Algebraic [Data] Types are not Scary, Actually. The post covers AlgDTs1 in more detail, but a quick overview is:
A break from programming languages
This is a blog post I have been considering writing for a long time.
Logo (programming language)
Logo is an educational programming language, designed in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. The name was coined by Feurzeig while he was at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, and derives from the Greek logos, meaning 'word' or 'thought'.
Elements of Programming
After ten years in print, our publisher decided against further printings and reverted the rights to us. Elements of Programming is now available in two forms: a free PDF and a no-markup paperback.