Programming languages are fundamental tools in the world of technology. Since the early days of computing, programmers have used different languages to develop software.
Here we will take a brief overview of some of the main programming languages that have been used throughout history.
Low-level language
At the beginning of programming and the era of computing, programmers had to write code in machine language. This consisted of binary instructions understandable to computers. It was a long, tedious, complex and error-prone task.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the first programming languages began to emerge. These languages, known as low-level languages, were closely related to the architecture of the computers of the time.
To make it more accessible, the language Assembly emerged, which used mnemonics to represent low-level instructions. Although it still required a deep knowledge of machine architecture, assembly language was an important step in simplifying programming.
High-level languages
In the 1950s, the first high-level languages were developed, which resembled more human language and were easier to read and write.
Fortran (Formula Translation) was developed by IBM in the 1950s. It was designed specifically for scientific computing and became a popular choice for numerical programming. Fortran allowed scientists and programmers to express complex mathematical algorithms in a more understandable and efficient way than low-level languages.
COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), on the other hand, focused on business and administrative applications. These languages allowed programmers to be more productive and encouraged software development in various areas.
Rise of programming languages
The 1960s saw rapid development of new programming languages.
For example, Algol (Algorithmic Language) introduced concepts such as control structures and recursion.
Lisp (List Processing) stood out for its focus on symbolic processing and artificial intelligence. As the demand for software grew, programming languages diversified and evolved to meet different needs.
On the other hand, Basic (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), developed in the 1960s by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz at Dartmouth College, was designed with the intention of being a simple and accessible language for beginners. This friendly approach allowed many people to enter the world of programming, becoming a very important tool for the dissemination of computing.
In the 1970s, the language C made its appearance and became one of the reference languages. It was developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs and stood out for its efficiency and ability to perform low-level programming. C became the basis for many operating systems and its influence can be seen to this day in later languages.
Object-oriented languages
At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, two languages emerged that laid the foundations for object-oriented programming: Simula and Smalltalk.
Simula, developed in Norway, was the first language to introduce the concepts of classes and objects. This allowed for greater abstraction and facilitated the creation of more realistic models.
Smalltalk, on the other hand, was a revolutionary language that introduced the concept of “everything is an object”. Smalltalk became the basis for many modern languages, including Java and Ruby.
In the 1980s, Bjarne Stroustrup developed C++, an extension of the C language that introduced the object-oriented programming paradigm in a low-level programming language. C++ combines the features of object-oriented programming with the ability to perform low-level programming.
Due to its efficiency and flexibility, C++ became a very popular language. It is still actively used today, being used in high-performance applications, embedded systems, and video games.
Web revolution
The 1990s marked a milestone in the history of programming languages with the rise of the Internet. The development of the World Wide Web led to the creation of three fundamental languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the markup language used to create web pages. It was designed to structure and present content in a semantic way. On the other hand, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a style sheet language that allows defining the appearance and layout of web pages created with HTML.
Both were accompanied by JavaScript, an interpreted programming language that adds interactivity and dynamism to web pages.
Unlike HTML and CSS, JavaScript allows manipulating the content and behavior of a page in real time. With JavaScript, developers can respond to events, perform calculations, interact with the user, and make requests to the server. Thanks to its versatility, JavaScript has become one of the most popular and widely used languages in web development.
PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), an open-source programming language specially designed for web development. PHP was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf and has evolved in recent years, becoming one of the most used languages in the creation of dynamic websites and web applications.
Modern languages
As technology advanced, new programming languages with more sophisticated approaches and paradigms emerged. Some of these languages include:
Python is a high-level programming language known for its readability and simplicity. Python was launched in February 1991. It was created by Guido van Rossum at the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) in the Netherlands.
It is widely used in fields such as data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Python has become a popular choice for beginners due to its clear syntax and wide developer community.
R is a programming language launched in 1995. R was developed by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a software environment mainly used in statistical analysis and data science.
Haskell is a high-level functional programming language initially launched in 1990. It was developed by a committee of researchers and was based on the previous work of several functional languages such as ML and Miranda. Haskell is characterized by its focus on pure functional programming.
Java is another language that undoubtedly deserves special mention. Developed by Sun Microsystems and initially released in 1995, Java has become one of the most popular and widely used programming languages in the software industry.
Finally, we have C# (pronounced “C sharp”), developed by Microsoft and publicly introduced in the year 2000. C# is part of Microsoft’s .NET platform. C# has become the main language for developing applications on the Microsoft platform, including desktop, web, and mobile applications.
Emerging languages
Currently, the evolution of programming languages continues faster than ever. This has led to the emergence of new languages that are becoming increasingly popular in the software industry.
Rust, initially released in 2010 by Mozilla, is a systems programming language that has gained a solid reputation for its focus on safety, concurrency, and performance. Designed to overcome the limitations of existing languages, Rust has been growing in popularity and has gained recognition from the development community for its approach to error prevention and code safety.
Go (also known as Golang) was released by Google in 2009. Go stands out for its simplicity, efficiency, and ease of use. Designed to address the challenges of concurrent programming and the creation of scalable systems, Go has gained popularity quickly due to its performance and focus on developer productivity.
Kotlin is a modern programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It was developed by JetBrains in 2011 and has become the preferred language for Android application development. Kotlin combines features of languages such as Java and Scala, offering concise syntax, null safety, and full support for functional programming.
Swift is a programming language developed by Apple for creating iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS applications. It was released in 2014 and has gained popularity due to its modern syntax, type safety, and interoperability with Objective-C. Swift has simplified the application development process for the Apple platform and has gained a large following in the iOS developer community.
These emerging languages demonstrate how the programming industry continues to evolve and adapt to the changing needs of developers and projects.