The development of programming languages is quite an interesting topic which reveals the growth of technology as well as the development of complicated problems that can be solved using computers. The evolution of programming languages has been one of the most crucial aspects in the evolution of the digital era starting from the mere machine code to the present day highly flexible and generalized languages.
The Early Days: Machine Code and Assembly Language
Programming languages are said to have begun in the 1940s and 1950s when early computers such as ENIAC and UNIVAC were in use. First there was assembly, followed by machine code which was the first level of coding in which programmers used the direct commands of the hardware of the computer. But writing programs in machine code was a very lengthy and prone to errors process in those days. To reduce these difficulties, assembly language was invented. Assembly language is similar to machine language; however, it is slightly easier for humans to read and write since mnemon codes and symbols are used instead of the actual machine instructions. However, programming in assembly language was still complex because it involved a lot of understanding of the architecture of the computer used.
The Advent of High-Level Languages: FORTRAN and COBOL
High level programming languages that concealed the characteristics of machine code and assembly language appeared in the 1950s and 1960s. FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation), which was invented by IBM during 1950s, is one of the oldest representatives of high-level language. FORTRAN was used for scientific and engineering computations and incorporated such features as loops and conditions that made programming more natural.
At the same period, COBOL, (Common Business-Oriented Language) was developed for business data processing. COBOL has been programmed to be easily understandable and written in English so that the layman can work on the system. These languages drastically cut the time and effort needed to produce intricate algorithms, thus opening the door to computer science for mass use.
The Rise of Structured Programming: C and Pascal
Structured programming dominated the 1970s and 1980s as a paradigm that aimed at creating clear structures of programs and the use of subroutines, loops, and conditionals. This period introduced two influential languages: C and Pascal and so on.
C, created by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs, enjoyed a great success because of its speed and adaptability. It offered direct access to memory and system resources at the lower level while preserving the high level abstractions thereby being useful for system programming as well as application development. C is the basis of many other subsequent languages such as C++, Java, and Python in terms of syntax and structure. PASCAL which was developed by Niklaus Wirth was developed to promote good programming practices and structured programming. It was widely used in the academic circles for teaching concepts of programming and formed the basis for later languages like Modula-2 and Ada.
Object-Oriented Programming:
C++ and Java are the two most commonly used languages in the development of computer programs. OOP that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s is a paradigm the key concept of which is based on objects, instances of classes. This approach was targeted at making code more modular, reusable and comprehensible for the maintainer.
C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup is an extension of the mighty C language which incorporated the OOP principles into it. It enabled developers to come up with intricate applications with codes that were more manageable and reusable. Java developed by Sun Microsystems in mid 1990s also helped in spreading OOP. Java’s platform independency which was possible due to the Java Virtual Machine made Java a good choice for developing applications for multiple platforms especially in web development which was quickly growing at the time.
The Modern Era: Python and JavaScript
It is only at the turn of the 21st century that languages such as Python or JavaScript – languages which are easy to read and intended for fast application development appeared.
Python, developed by Guido van Rossum in the late 1980s, has gained immense popularity because of its distinguished feature of simple syntax as well as its flexibility. This is applied in different areas such as web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence among others. A vast number of libraries and frameworks available for Python including Django and TensorFlow has made Python a preferred language for many developers.
JavaScript which was created by Brendan Eich in 1995 changed the face of the web development by providing dynamic content and interactivity to browsers. In time it has grown to become a full fledged scripting language with the introduction of frameworks such as Node. Js, React and Angular, which enables the developers to design good server side and client side applications.
Author – Atharav Kansal
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