History of Programming and the Ancient Origin - Assignment Example

History of Programming Section Introduction Covered by this portfolio are the historical facts about programming from the time it can be logically traced up to the present. Looking into such relevant information will provide a better understanding of its value, changes, and trends for an analysis of the future purpose and use of programming. There has been a series of conferences trying to gather accurate knowledge about the root of each programming language. What seemed clear was that programming languages have multiplied considerably over the years, although some are known to be greatly in use by government and businesses. The aim of this product of research is to identify those valuable programming languages aside from knowing their history, and to find out why they are valuable. Section 2A. The Ancient Origin Parts of programming are definitely traceable to ancient times. Around 1790 BC, Babylonians left evidence of mathematical records shown in tablets. The archaeologists named it Plimpton 322. And in 780-895 BC, Mohammed Al-Khorzmi wrote the beginning of Algebra, originally written as Kita al-jabr wa’l muqabala which got translated in Latin and then used in Europe, and the book Algorithm originally called in Latin Algorthmi de numero Indorum.1 The ancient numbers were in Base 60 and later Base 10. Without numbers, programming in order to command a machine to do something on its own even with verbal instructions that are written would be inconceivable. Konrad Zuse, inventor of the first mechanical computer, utilized binary numbers and punched tapes. The same is true with words and languages. Both also have ancient origins. Section 2B. Words, Numbers, Signs, and Machine Met However, it took over 2000 years before civilization saw the connection between numbers, words, and machines. During the Age of Industrial Revolution, 1804, Joseph Marie-Jacquard programmed the “Jacquard Mechanical Loom” to mass produce textile materials with designs. He did it by using a punched card. Each row of holes corresponded to a design. Those holes controlled the looming operations to a certain extent in the way manufacturers wanted textiles to look like. By just replacing the card with a different combination of holes, they were able to change the design.2 Terence Parr summarizes the evolution of programming as one that was machine-based at the start to high-end abstractions that could be adjusted from one machine to another. The programming language before was tied to the computing machine itself. It could not be adjusted to make another machine work. 3   There was only a machine-dependent programming language. Codes were binary number combinations using zeros (0) and 1. It was only when Grace Murray Hopper developed a compiler in 1957 which could understand the English language and then convert it into machine language, that programming language became transferrable.4 There were attempts to trace the history of programming to the time when Charles Babbage, 1822, secured a “grant to fund computer science research” which eventually resulted in the invention of the Difference Engine, a mechanical computer that could do only one thing. It was said to be the “father of the computer”.5 But due to lack of clear documentation and limitations and limited funding, the analytical side was continued by his son, Henry Prevost Babbage, after the death of Charles Babbage, 1871. Henry was able to send his arithmetic model to many institutions worldwide. One of them was Harvard University. Both the Difference Engine and the Analytic Engine were calculating machines that contained the basic parts of a modern computer, like the I/O Unit, the program memory, and a control unit. However, it was not until 1890 when US Congress needed a computing program that could expedite the release of the population census. At that time, results of census took about 10 years after actual census was done. A competition was held. The winner was Herman Hollerith, founder of the Hollerith Tabulating Co. (HTC). A discovery then led to a joint venture of three entities, wherein HTC was one of them. The new company became known as International Business Machines (IBM) 10 years later. Section 2C. Early 1900s Programming By 1925, Vannevar Bush invented “a large-scale differential analyzer” funded by Rockefeller Foundation for the purpose of having “the largest computer in the world in 1930”.6 Konrad Zuse, a German scientist in 1935, was able to invent a more modern computer which came to be known as Z-1. It was based on the binary system of computing. He improved it 3 years later, 1938, and called the machine Z-2. He had to move out of Germany during the World War and go to Switzerland where he continued improving his work into Z-4. It was Konrad Zuse who introduced the first programming language in 1946. He called it the Plankalkul. In Z-3, he was able to come up with a program that played chess with a live opponent. Siemens Corporation tapped the ingenuity of Konrad Zuse by integrating Zuses computer firm into Siemens. The terminology “debug and debugging” commonly used in programming was first used when Grace Murray Hopper reported the results of findings by a technician who was assigned to find out why the Mark II machine calculator, Harvard University’s “Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator” to be exact, kept on malfunctioning. A moth got trapped somewhere in circuitry Relay # 70 Panel F.7 She called it a bug. The word “debugging” was born and then became popular. And so, the computing side of programming is traceable to Charles Babbage in 1822, while the use of a programming language is traceable to Konrad Zuse. In 1944, the Mark I used punched cards or cards with 24 holes.12 And debugging as a well known terminology in programming, just happened along the way of improvements by September 9, 1945. There is a claim that the first computing machines were actually invented by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician in 1642, and Wilhelm Schickard in 1623.. Blaise Pascal prepared the way to the development of the “theory of probability”. Wilhelm, German astronomer, had invented the calculator machine long before Blaise made his own. It could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. However, both of them developed the calculator. It was not programmable unlike the Analytic Engine of Babbage. The Turing Machine, invented by Alan Turing, in 1936, which was described by David Chisnall as a mechanical programming engine, was able to simulate algorithms.8 This appeared to be very similar to the present time computer CPUs. However, it was not intended for practical use but only for development of theories by considering some hypothesis. It utilized a long tape to store data and could move the tape from left to right, very much like a typewriter, although with smaller paper. According to John Mitchell, there are hundreds of computer programming languages since the middle of last century.9 Therefore, to discuss them completely even if not thoroughly will simply consume much space beyond the limits of this discussion. This means that only a handful will be discussed within the limited number of pages. Section 2D. Mid-Century 1950s to 1970s Programming Fortran and Cobol became two of the more important programming languages in the 1950s. IBM made Fortran to simplify processes. Numbers were stored in order to facilitate better access to the memory of the computer. Cobol was for improvements that benefitted business applications. Once again, the name Grace Murray Hopper, initiator of the terminology “debug” is recognized for being the primary designer of Cobol language. In the early 1950s when commercial computing programs began, the market was dominated by Univac and IBM. It was a competition involving better programming for the memory. UNIVAC’s program was slow but reliable. IBM’s program was faster but not as reliable. And for most of the major task in typing with duplicates using carbon paper and keeping them in filing cabinets, there was only the punch card to be of help. The magnetic core memory was invented only in 1952 by An Wang who was then in Harvard University. That was what Harvard Mark IV also in 1952. From then on, core memories were installed and improved in ENIAC and Whirlwind. It made Whirlwind Computing Machines useful for bigger operational needs, especially for “the US Air Force’s SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment)” which involved not only computers but also the linked equipment and devices, like aircraft, radar, radio signals, telephone lines, even ships with the means to detect planes in the sky.10 Whirlwind computers were recognized as first to have a program that could operate in real time and show video on the monitor. It used to be too slow without the core memory in 1953. IBM improved the system further and delivered more computers for SAGE by 1955. Just to give an idea about the popularity of computers with their respective programs, by 1960, there were only “6,000 general-purpose electronic computers installed in the United States”. 11 But improvements in the programming became apparent as a result of the magnetic core memory. In order to understand improvements from the original programming many decades ago, consider the situation in the 1960s when a change of program meant the need to rewire the computer itself. Cobol was for business. Fortran was for science. Both translated the English language into binary codes for use of the computer. As a matter of fact, it was only after John von Neumann, Hungarian-American in Princeton University, a pioneer in the operations of Quantum Mechanics Theory, when the computer did not have to be rewired each time a program had to be run. “Neumann developed the logical side and the software.”13 The Turing Machine invented by Alan Turing in 1936 proved that a machine can solve problems. Then von Neumann’s storage concept sometime 1945 made that machine capable of being programmed with a vast collection of solutions to many problems. Speed in storing became possible with the discovery of the magnetic core memory in 1952 by An Wang. Also right before the 1960s, there was Kenneth Iverson, Canadian computer scientist in Harvard University, who had prepared APL for IBM. APL meant “A Programming Language” which was for the introduction of System 360, in 1964. This became APL\360 by 1974. That included “the workspace and library system, rules for scope of names, the use of shared variables for communication with other systems.”14 This would eventually be the programming language for an entire set of IBM products. The C programming language was produced for the UNIX System in 1970, by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie. It is said to be one of the most popularly used computer programming language. Aside from UNIX, Microsoft Windows also got originally written in C language. Although more advanced programming languages have been developed, many electronic devices at home – like washing machines and cell phones and other low-level software programs in appliances – utilize C language. In the teaching industry, the syntax used in Java, C#, C++, JavaScript, PHP are written in the same style as that for C language. Thus, anybody who knows C language can find it easy to learn the advanced programming languages.15 In order to be clear about the history of C programming language in particular, there would have to be some fundamentals that should serve as background. For example, by the time C language was introduced, the term programming had focused more on the software side rather than the hardware development. It referred to the instructions organized in a sequence which tells the computer what to do. And software is a set of programs. For a computer to process data, two types of software are required, namely, (1) a system software, and (2) an application software. For example, to be able to utilize MS Office Word which is application software for documentation, it has to run inside a Windows Operating System (XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8). And every programming language must have (a) input/output instructions, (b) arithmetic instructions, (c) Logical and Comparative Instructions, (d) instructions to store, retrieve, and move data, and finally (e) control instructions. Section 3. Links of Non-Text Primary Materials Webber.com showed proof of the fact that man’s ancestors had long been dealing with the numbers side, the algebraic and algorithmic aspects of programming. The link http://www.webber-labs.com/mpl/lectures/pdf-slides/24.pdf clarified such fact. Pictures of the early purpose of a program are viewable in the following links: (a) the programmable loom - http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/07/dayintech_0707/ , (b) the early computing machines - http://www.computersciencelab.com/ComputerHistory/History.htm , their sizes and appearance in http://www.csstc.org/manuals_e-readiness/supplement/S_Chapter1.htm , (c) what the early programmable computing machine looked like in the early years - http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Relays/Zuse.html , There is also a YouTube 2 minute presentation of Konrad Zuse’s computing machine long time ago and how complex it appears to be. This can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a6HMqsYnxk . Early computers were for the purpose of breaking codes. A set of pictures of Colossus and the other Father of Modern Computers, Alan Turing , can be found in the link as follows: http://www.rutherfordjournal.org/article040101.html . From 1956 onwards, IBM’s Fortran programming language starting with Fortran I led to the development of Lisp, Algol, Cobol, PL/I, and many others over the years. They were chronologically presented in a diagram available online at http://rigaux.org/language-study/diagram-light.pdf . The more complete set of languages would show how Cobol and Smalltalk eventually grew in number of versions to catch up with Fortran versions. There is an even more complicated interconnection shown in a chronologically arranged diagram shown in http://rigaux.org/language-study/diagram.pdf . In March 4, 2012, Eric Levenez, author of a Unix History, supplied the world with a website containing the top 50 programming languages along with many other related resources. That website arranged his top 50 in alphabetical order at http://www.levenez.com/lang/ . The overall programming language history he presented started with Fortran in 1954 up to the most recent updated Java 7 launched in February 15, 2012 and PHP 5.4.0 launched in March 1, 2012. See http://www.levenez.com/lang/lang_a4.pdf . Aside from Unix history of programming languages http://www.levenez.com/unix/unix_a4.pdf, Eric made available the world history of Windows from the time it started with Q Dos 0.1 in August 1980 to Windows 8 in February 29, 2012. That diagram can be viewed online at http://www.levenez.com/windows/windows_a4.pdf . He also brought to the awareness of the IT Industry the reality that there are about 2,500 programming languages and the list can be seen online at Bill Kinnersley’s website - http://people.ku.edu/~nkinners/LangList/Extras/langlist.htm . He presented them in alphabetical search order. In the diagram presented by DigiBarn Computer Museum, the webpage at shows the surviving languages as well as the languages that are being abandoned are shown in a diagram with color codes. Modula 2 ISO and APL started declining in the late 1990s. Those thriving can also be seen in that diagram. IBM funded Fortran, banks and businesses supported Cobol, Microsoft backed Visual Basic, and Internet/Online supported JavaScript, and Unix supported C are among the surviving languages in the 21st century. Section 4A. Dominant / Popular Programming Languages C language supports the low-level and high-level features of compatible operating systems. For this reason, it is called a middle-level language flexible for high and low levels.15 In the list of thriving programming languages, C in the early 1970s evolved to C++ in 1983, ANSI C in 1989, ISO C in 1996, Internet C++ in 2001, C# and JavaScript currently utilized by Microsoft, and more. C++ is most popular up to the present. Both Unix and IBM adjusted to their programs to move closer to the C language. Godse, A.P. and Godse, D.A. noted in 2008 that as of that year, there were thousands of programming languages already in use. He further wrote that C programming language had become widely accepted and had been around for decades. The developer of C was Dennis Ritchie of “AT & T Bell Laboratories in 1972”. The program was used only in AT & T until 1978. Its origin was an earlier B language developed by Ken Thompson in 1970 from the BCPL or Basic Combined Programming Language developed by Martin Richards in 1967. 16 This was further improved to follow the American National Standard Institute and became known as the ANSI C. The International Standard Organization recognized this by 1990. Perhaps what made it easy for people to use the C language was the fact that programmers only have to remember 32 keywords. Fortran is a higher-level language first developed sometime 1954-57 by an IBM Team then headed by John Backus. The word Fortran actually means Formula Translation. Its improvements were funded by IBM for many years until 2008, even up to the present sine IBM continues to operate. There were many versions of Fortran starting with Fortran 1 in 1957. There was a Fortran II in 1958.17 By 1963 it was Fortran IV when it added a common data storage. Engineers and scientists used Fortran for their calculation storage.By the 1970s, there was Fortran 77, followed by Fortran 90, then Fortran 2003. 18 Among the well known general principles recommended by Fortran developers are: (1) “Write programs that are clear to both the reader and the compiler”…(2) “Write programs that can be efficiently tested.”…(3) “Write programs that will scale to different problem sizes.”…..(4) “Write code that can be reused.”…and (5) “Document all code changes, keeping a history of all code revisions..”17 C programming language is interoperable with Fortran 2003 and up as per the guidelines of Fortran developers.19 The demand for a high-level programming language for the business data processing was high since the 1950s when computing machines started to emerge. The term COBOL came from Common Business Oriented Language. Four divisions or parts can be found in any COBOL version, namely, identification, environment, data, and procedures.20 FORTRAN was found to be “not suitable for commercial environment” since its focus was in computing complex scientific information. It was useful for “climate modelling, simulations of the Solar System, satellite trajectories, and mathematical computations.There was a need for a computer programming language that could handle voluminous data with simple computations, for accounting and materials inventory management just to cite examples. COBOL turned out to be the result of an effort of the US government to provide such a program language for the business community.21 Every Cobol programming language has four major divisions, namely, the identification, environment, data, and procedure. In the procedures, algorithm will be found. It uses numbers and letters along with a minus or dash sign. Cobol came into use starting 1961. In the history of programming, two major parts have to be considered in any language that had been developed and will be developed. And these two are syntax and semantics.”Syntax is the grammar of the language.”22 Semantics are usually in the form of mathematical model. Thus, Gerard O’Regan gave the relationship of the two in the form of an equation. Syntax + Semantics = Programming Language.17 Along with the invention of the computing machine came the low level programming language. otherwise known as the machine code. Nowadays, we call it the firmware embedded in the BIOS Chip for computers. As a programmable equipment, the computer can perform various operations. like “store, retrieve, and process data”.22 Unlike way back in the early years of a computing machine, there is no need to re-wire the entire system just to change the program. The modern way to make the computer perform another function is to simply change the instructions within the program. No need to re-wire ! There used to be only the machine (low-level) language until mid-level to high-level programming languages were developed. In the present, high-level language is first developed and then translated into the low-level machine language. Instructions are translated into numerical codes for the computer to understand. An example would be Stop Operation translates into 0000. Load the instructions into a specific location within the hardware (a chip or hard drive) can have the code 1110. These are binary codes. One of the articles within the “History of Programming Languages II” prepared for the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. was about the “Development of the C Language”.23 It stated in the abstract that the C Language was developed in the 1970s for the Unix system of operations, and was indeed (as earlier mentioned) derived from the BCPL which Martin Richards designed. in the mid-1960s. However, BCPL was used only only in the early 1970s. for the OS6 project in Oxford. The major users then were GE and Bell Labs. The reason why B was eventually shelved was due to the machine changes at Unix. It turned out the the machine program language or assembly language was faster than the B language. Thus, C evolved to work with PDP-11 Unix. C language thereafter had to be improved. It gained descendants named Objective C (by Cox in 1986), C++ (by Stroustrup in 1986), Concurrent C (by Gehani in 1989), C* ( by Thinking Machines Inc. in 1990). Section 4B Search for Historical Info About Each Programming Language By 1978, a series of conferences was formed to arrive at some agreements about the accurate history of programming languages.24 13 of those software programs were highlighted, in HOPL I namely, (1)ALGOL, (2)APL, (3)APT, (4)Basic, (5)Cobol, (6)Fortran, (7)GPSS, (8)Joss, (9)Jovial, (10)Lisp, (11)PI / I, (12) Simula, (13)Snobol.. By the time the 2nd conference in 1993, HOPL II was held, 14 more programming languages were highlighted. And these were (14) Ada, (15)Algol 68, (16) C, (17) C++, (18) CLU, (19)Discrete Event Simulation, (20) Formac, (21)Icon, (22)Lisp, (23)Monitors and Concurrent Pascal, (24)Pascal, (25)Prolog, (26)Smalltalk, and (27)Forth. And in 2007, HOPL III conference took place covering 12 more programming languages plus a continuation of C++. These software were as follows: (28)AppleScript, (29)BETA, (30) Emerald, (31)Erlang, (32)Haskell, (33) High Performance Fortran, (34)Lua, (35)Modula-2 / Oberon, (36) Self, (37) Statecharts, (38) ZPL. Denis Sureau recognized Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage as having generated the first programming language.The program was for the analytic engine. This confirms that the first program was directly machine-related. This was the instruction or language fit for a specific machine, which the present time recognizes as the firmware that requires a compatible software or set of softwares. Sureau also identified three other low-level programming language, that is, directly machine-related. That was the Assembly, the Autocode by Alick E. Glenie in 1952 when Mark I was released, and IPL or Information Processing Language by A. Newell, H. Simon, and J.C. Shaw in 1956. 25 From the point of view of a student not familiar with any programming language, the powerpoint presentation of Mark Hennessey would be enlightening. He described programming language as software needed to communicate what a machine must do for the user with the help of electronics. He said: “Software is the encoding of the task to control this machine.” as he described how von Neumann made the machine compute. In the early years of von Neumann, the model of architecture used to be ALU (Assembly Language Unit) + Memory + Input + Output. He also cited Algol 60 wherein Algol means Algoritmic Language as the first to use a “block structure and syntax define by grammar”.26 Section 4C. C Languages and Java The advent of internet gave programmers the opportunity to develop a language suitable for the World Wide Web. Its foundation is the C and C++ language. There was a need for a program that could run on different CPUs, because the C and C++ were not compatible to many other CPUs. It first became useful to micro-CPUs of electronic devices like the microwave oven, toasters, and remote controls. It was not intended to replace C++ but to solve other problems that C++ could not solve. Java was meant for improvements of performance over the internet. This is the program that creates “applets” and sends them over the World Wide Web for use by other computers to run certain applications. No other software can ceate “applets”. And they can do no harm to the computer. Applets are smaller programs within Java Virtual Machine.27 Java solved the problem of applications getting infected with virus as a result of downloads. It includes a firewall for the computer to protect itself against virus in the network. Its programming language is a Java Virtual Machine that can interpret data and allow only those that Java can accept on a runtime (meaning after checking functions are done). Unlike the C++ which supports pointers that can result in a security breach, Java does not support pointers which can run outside a program. Furthermore, Java has byte codes that Java validates.27 It is therefore known that Java provides the benefit of security and portability at the same time. Section 4D. Tracing the History of HTML HTML 2.0 was the original version. But the widely used HTML version which IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Novell, SoftQuad, Spyglass, and Sun Microsystem supported turned out to be HTML 3.2 which was developed in 1996. It was developed along with the internet which began with the US Department of National Defence in 1960. 28 As part of the history of programming language, HTML must not be overlooked because of the contributions it has been giving to the whole world of internet users through the web pages the people see. It is in itself a programming language that actually stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. From being the tool of government, it spread starting with universities when the ARPANet was born and the communication protocols were multiplied to cover more and more locations. It was Tim Berners Lee, a British software engineer, who developed the HTML in order to create documents via the communication protocol HTTP or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol which he also invented.29 Tim Lee also invented the first browser editor known as the WWW or World Wide Web. However, it was only in the early 2000s when the web became available for commercial use. Those working in universities in USA, UK, and other European countries had it in the 1990s. To make the contents of a webpage dynamic and interactive, the programming language needed is JavaScript. Without JavaScript, HTML WebPages will look static.30 It should be clarified that JavaScript is not connected to the Java programming language that evolved out of the C language. Instead, it should be understood as a developmental tool of the HTML, in other words, all about webpage building programming language. As a matter of fact, JavaScript is found in the latest version of HTML which is HTML5. It would be good to highlight the important fact about programming language in the early stages of its development. The purpose then was for the machine to respond to instructions. After standards for that purpose became readily available and there was no urgent need to develop new programs for machine instructions, the direction of development was towards the high-level software program development that had to be compatible with the hardware components. From C language which was a mid-level to high-level programming language, many other high-level software programs were developed. The functional value of Fortran for scientific and computational purposes kept improving as a result of ongoing funding by IBM. As of May 2012, Cobol programs are said to have 343 million lines of codes which control and maintain the banking computer systems. That programming language is being maintained by “the world’s largest corporations”. But because there are signs that some companies are moving out of Cobol, prospective new programmers who would like to pursue their IT career are also choosing other languages.31 The reason was reported to be due to the lack of innovation or development in Cobol language although it is being widely used the way it is.32 The trend is towards improvements in the online software development. And the .NET Framework language has more room for adopting to the changes. According to Peter E.C. Dashwood, the present recognizes Cobol as “the most successful computer programming language” that has ever been invented in over 50 years. But times are changing and the online world has been developing new software for the worldwide web, the internet, the VPN (Virtual Private Network), the virtual back up in “Cloud”, and so on, while Cobol has not been responding with corresponding developments.33 Section 4E. Summary Insights Although the various sources of information shows thousands of programming languages that have been developed over the years, it is quite evident that only a handful have continued to survive the test of time. C language, Fortran, Cobol, Java, HTML, and the Microsoft Pioneered Basic are prevailing over the years because of the wide support of users. Lisp appeals to children and students. The scientific community will find Fortran still useful for their multiple professional purposes. Cobol will be upheld by very many businesses for its functionality and security. The growing online users are most likely learning the right way to create web pages in order to either entertain people or to do business online without exposing themselves and their visitors to security risks. Therefore, Java, XHTML, HTML 5, and JavaSript will most probably be in use for immediate available resources. And because of the popularity or wide use of Windows by Microsoft, the programming languages used by Microsoft (SQL, Visual Basic, C++, and JavaScript) will also be in demand. The history of programming language developed from being concerned with the machine functionality to one that seeks to serve the purposes of people worldwide wherever they may be. Whether the desktop computers or laptop or cell phones and other appliances will become the predominant medium for the dominant programs is not certain, although most likely, the businesses would have to maintain safeguarded equipment for the privacy and continuity of operations. Security softwares are likely to remain valuable over the years. The present phenomenon over the internet wherein people would like to earn and work will define part of the value of programming languages. Those already established, like Cobol for business, Fortran for science, C for a preparatory language to specialize with another that will be required by the times, Visual Basic for Windows, HTML, JavaScript, etc. will define the market of employment opportunities for the IT industry for many years to come. It is but natural for one program to have a useful life, after which an improved language will do a better job. Just for an idea about where the trend might lead, our world will proceed with the development of robots to do jobs that people cannot safely perform. Robotics will require programming language for the machine to function in a way that people hope they can become serviceable. This idea will most probably bring programming language back to the time when the concern was to make the computing machine follow instructions accurately. It means the development of machine-based programming language that are more sophisticated than firmwares of computers. Robots cannot bend using just the existing firmwares of standard computers. They can compute by gathering data through scanning, storing, analyzing, processing corresponding response. But their mobility of parts require new programs. It is as though the present programming language is just attending to the improvement of human brains .in terms of expanding the capacity to absorb, retain, process, analyze, utilize, and retrieve information at a fast pace and with accuracy. But in terms of making the machine move like a human being, programming languages remain to be fiction along with science fiction movies of Iron Man, Robocop, and Dr. Octopus. Animation (through programming languages) makes it possible on screen. Terminator looks real because it looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps there are experiments being done with classified National Security projects. Who knows? Only time will tell. The internet used to be a project of the US National Defence. It took decades before their secret technology became useful for commercial purposes. Cell phones used to be special communication devices of government agents. And so was the satellite usefulness limited way back in the past. A similar trend can be expected with programming languages. There can be more functional technologies in the form of more comprehensive and in-depth programming languages somewhere that are not yet made known to the public. Programming language for light electric vehicles, for example, can help prevent vehicle accidents with the use of long distance sensors and telescopes built into the vehicle. Due to the inevitable rise in prices of oil-based products following the rise in demand and decline in supply, the automobile industry will most likely shift to alternative sources of energy supported by computer analysis of those alternative sources in the electric vehicle. Such a program will definitely not be internet-based. People might wonder which programming language might be the foundation needed to build such a system for vehicles. In other words, the historical trend can change anytime. People make history. It should be remembered that behind those inventions are human beings with innovative ideas responsive to the needs of the times. Programming languages were developed to meet needs of government, businesses, scientific communities, educational communities, the manufacturing industries, and even the family’s needs for a faster and economical way to cook, wash clothes, communicate, and watch TV. Trends can change when a great number of people see the need for changes in any aspect of life. When they do happen and there will be requirements for innovative programs, people with flexibility and willingness to adopt to those changes will define the future programming language and the corresponding software to meet needs. It is a discipline of mind and body wanting to become more serviceable to other people. There may be two groups of serviceable program developers, namely, those who are ready to learn something new out of the changes in technology, and those who use their imagination to take the initiative to identify needs and to develop solutions that will meet needs without waiting for other people to be the first to develop a programming language fit for the requirements of the times. What will be very critical is the foundation to be ready for whichever opportunity comes. Programming starts with learning how to create a program with at least one language. This study of the history of programming has given the tip about what ought to be learned first. A good starting point should be an understanding of some fundamentals of programming regardless of which programming language will be studied. There are common underlying principles involved. A certain attitude of the mind should be willing to adhere to these underlying knowledge, one of which is patience; another is diligence. It is not just the virtue of patience by waiting but patience with active thinking. Careful analysis and creativity should go along with due diligence. Or a person interested in programming language can end up like being an old dog that did not learn new tricks. By programming, governments and all other entities became more organized and able to become more productive, even with a faster pace of data processing performed by a high speed computing machine. Th US Census which used to take 10 years to arrive at accurate results was able to summarize and report data within a much shorter time, 1-2 years. Business transactions are recorded and updated within a day to a few days. What used to be a mailing system that took days to weeks before recipients learned about a report now takes only minutes via email or text messaging. But there are many more areas for technological advancements, particularly in the field of energy conservation, energy generation, provision of employment with online resouirces for the rest of the world to enjoy. The power of imagination and the use of knowledge in programming can perhaps instruct various types of portable, mobile, or built-in computers to harness an abundance of energy for households, for vehicles, and for offices – just to give an example of how powerful programming can be in history. Notes 1. Webber Labs. Modern Programming Languages, 2nd Edition. . Accessed June 15, 2012. 2. Eric Hobsbawm. The Age of Revolution: 1789 to 1848. (London & New York: Vintage Books, a Division of Random House Inc., 1962), p. 30 3. Terence Parr. “The Evolution of Programming Languages.” , January 23, 2012. Accessed June 14, 2012. 4. Terry Evans. “Evolution of Programming Language”. , 2012. 5. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes and Kathie Kingsley-Hughes. Beginning Programming. (Indianapolis, IN, USA: .John Wiley.Publishing Inc., 2005) p. 1 6. Ibid., p. 2. 7. Ibid., p. 3 8. David Chisnall. “A Brief History of Programming, Part 1.” Pearson InformIT: The Trusted Technology Learning Source, October 26, 2007. p.1.. . Accessed June 12, 2012. 9. John C. Mitchell. Concepts in Programming Languages. (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 6. 10. Paul E. Ceruzzi. A History of Modern Computing, 2nd Edition. ( UK & USA: MIT Press, May 1, 2003), p. 45 11. Ibid., p.58. 12. Ibid., p. 81 13. Dennis M. Adams. Computers and Teacher Training: A Practical Guide. (New York and London: Haworth Press, Jan. 1, 1986), p. 9 14. Federico Biancuzzi and Shane Warden, Eds.. Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages. ( USA: O’Reilly Media Inc., March 28, 2009), p.44. 15. Dey Kashi Nath. and Samir Bandyopadhyay. C Programming Essentials. ( India: Pearson Education Dorling Kindersley, 2010), p. xiii 16. A.P. Godse and D. A. Godse. Advanced C Programming. (India: Technical Publications Pune, 2008), p. 1-1 17. Gerard O’Regan. A Brief History of Computing, 2nd Edition. (London, New York, and Heidelberg: Springer, March 6, 2012), p. 141 18. Harry Henderson. Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology. (USA: Infobase Publishing, May 18, 2010), p. 202 19. Norman S. Cleman and Walter Spector. Modern Fortran: Style and Usage. ( USA: Cambridge University Press, December 31, 2011), p. 3-6. 20. M.K. Roy and Debabrata Ghosh Dastidar. Cobol Programming. (New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. , 1989), p. 47. 21. M.P. Bhave and S.A. Patekar. Computer Programming I (For University of Mumbai). (India: Pearson Education Dorling Kindersley, Sept. 1, 2010), p.1 22. Nell Dale and John Lewis. Computer Science Illuminated, Fifth Edition. (Burlington, MA, USA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2012), p. 152. 23. Dennis M. Ritchie. “The Development of the C Language.” (NJ, USA: Bell Labs/ Lucent Technologies, 1993). . Accessed June 15, 2012. 24. ACM. HOPL: History of Programming Language. ( NY, USA & China: The Association for Computing Machinery Conferences, 2012) Accessed June 15, 2012. 25. Denis Sureau. “History of Programming Languages and Their Evolution.” Scriptol, http://www.scriptol.com/programming/history.php, Accessed June 15, 2012. 26. Mark Hennessey. “The Evolution of Programming Language”. (Powerpoint Presentation, Dept. of Computer Science NUM CS 351 Lecture) www.cs.nuim.ie/~markh/paradigms/CS351Lect2.ppt 27. Herbert. Schildt. Java 2: A Beginner’s Guide. (CA, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002), p. 3 28. Jon Duckett. Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS. (USA & Canada: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004), Chapter 1. 29. Steven M. Schafer. HTML, “XHTML, and CSS Bible, 5th Edition. ( IN, USA: John Wiley & Sons, March 10, 2011), Introduction 30. John Pollock. JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide. ( CA, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004), p. 2 31 Robert L. Mitchell. “Brain Drain: Where Cobol Systems Go From Here.” International: Computerworld Data Center, May 21, 2012. . Accessed June 15, 2012. 32.Brian Bloom. “The Future of Cobol: Part 2. ” Canada: Computer World Canada / IT World Canada, January 11, 2012. . Accessed June 15, 2012 33. Peter E.C. Dashwood. “Is Cobol Still Relevant?” NZ: Prima Computing Inc. 2012. Accessed June 16, 2012. Bibliography ACM. HOPL: History of Programming Language. NY, USA & China: The Association for Computing Machinery Conferences, 2012. Accessed June 15, 2012 Adams, Dennis M. Computers and Teacher Training: A Practical Guide. New York and London: Haworth Press, Jan. 1, 1986 Bhave, M.P. and Patekar, S.A.. Computer Programming I (For University of Mumbai). India: Pearson Education Dorling Kindersley, Sept. 1, 2010 Biancuzzi, Federico and Warden, Shane Eds.. Masterminds of Programming: Conversations with the Creators of Major Programming Languages. USA: O’Reilly Media Inc., March 28, 2009 Bloom, Brian. “The Future of Cobol: Part 2. ” Canada: Computer World Canada / IT World Canada, January 11, 2012. . Accessed June 15, 2012 Ceruzzi. Paul E.. A History of Modern Computing, 2nd Edition. UK & USA: MIT Press, May 1, 2003 Chisnall, David. “A Brief History of Programming, Part 1.” Pearson InformIT: The Trusted Technology Learning Source, October 26, 2007. p.1.. . Accessed June 12, 2012. Cleman, Norman S. and Spector, Walter. Modern Fortran: Style and Usage. USA: Cambridge University Press, December 31, 2011 Dale, Nell and Lewis, John. Computer Science Illuminated, Fifth Edition. Burlington, MA, USA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2012 Dashwood, Peter E.C.. “Is Cobol Still Relevant?” NZ: Prima Computing Inc. 2012. Accessed June 16, 2012. Duckett, Jon. Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS. USA & Canada: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004. Evans, Terry. “Evolution of Programming Language”. , 2012. Godse, A.P. and Godse, D.A.. Advanced C Programming. India: Technical Publications Pune, 2008 Harvard University. “Easy Robotic Design and Production”, R&DMag.com, April 3, 2012. < http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/04/Manufacturing-Robotics-Easy-Robotic-Design-And-Production/>. Accessed June 16, 2012. Henderson, Harry. Encyclopaedia of Computer Science and Technology. USA: Infobase Publishing, May 18, 2010 Hennessey, Mark. “The Evolution of Programming Language.” PowerPoint Presentation, Dept. of Computer Science NUM CS 351 Lecture. Accessed June 15, 2012. Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Revolution: 1789 to 1848. London & New York: Vintage Books, a Division of Random House Inc., 1962 Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian and Kingsley-Hughes, Kathie. Beginning Programming. Indianapolis, IN, USA: .John Wiley.Publishing Inc., 2005 Mitchell, John C.. Concepts in Programming Languages. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003 Mitchell, Robert L.. “Brain Drain: Where Cobol Systems Go From Here.” International: Computerworld Data Center, May 21, 2012. . Accessed June 15, 2012. Nath, Dey Kashi. and Bandyopadhyay, Samir. C Programming Essentials. India: Pearson Education Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. xiii O’Regan, Gerard. A Brief History of Computing, 2nd Edition. London, New York, and Heidelberg: Springer, March 6, 2012, Parr, Terence. “The Evolution of Programming Languages.” , January 23, 2012. Accessed June 14, 2012. Pollock, John. JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide. CA, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004 Ritchie, Dennis M. “The Development of the C Language.” NJ, USA: Bell Labs/ Lucent Technologies, 1993. . Accessed June 15, 2012. Roy, M.K. and Dastidar, Debabrata Ghosh. Cobol Programming. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. , 1989 Schafer, Steven M.. HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible, 5th Edition. IN, USA: John Wiley & Sons, March 10, 2011 Schildt, Herbert. Java 2: A Beginner’s Guide. CA, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002 Sureau, Denis. “History of Programming Languages and Their Evolution.” Scriptol, http://www.scriptol.com/programming/history.php, Accessed June 15, 2012. Webber Labs. “Modern Programming Languages, 2nd Edition.” . Accessed June 15, 2012. Other Bibliography “Chapter I-Computer Evolution”. Supplement in Information and Communication Technology. . Accessed June 17, 2012. “Diagram of Programming Languages”. . Accessed June 17, 2012. Ganapati, Priya.” July 7, 1752: Jacquard’s Loom Will Weave a Durable Web”. This Day in Tech. July 7, 2009.. Accessed June 17, 2012. Kinnersley, Bill. “The Language List”. Collected Information On About 2500 Computer Languages, Past and Present. . Accessed June 17, 2012. “Konrad Zuse’s Computing Machine Z3”. YouTube. December 17, 2007. . Accessed June 17, 2012. “Konrad Zuse – The First Relay Computer”. Article.. Accessed June 17, 2012. Koplin, John. “An Illustrated History of Computers”. Computer Science Lab., 2002. . Accessed June 17, 2012. Levenez, Eric. “Computer Languages History”. Web Resources. March 4, 2012. . Accessed June 17, 2012. Levenez, Eric. “Closed Systems”. Microsoft Windows Diagram. March 3, 2012. . Accessed June 17, 2012. Levenez, Eric. “Languages”. Diagram in PDF. March 4, 2012. . AccessedJune 17, 2012. Levenez, Eric. “Open Systems”. Unix Diagram in PDF. May 26, 2012. . Accessed June 17, 2012. “Mother Tongues”. Computer Languages Chart. . Accessed June 17,2012. “ The History of Programming Languages”. Chapter 24 Modern Programming Languages, 2nd Ed. , Accessed June 17, 2012. Read More