History of Programming Languages
The development of programming languages began alongside the evolution of early mechanical computers and has continued into today's advanced software tools. In the beginning, these languages were very specialized and often used complex mathematical symbols and difficult-to-understand syntax. During the 20th century, progress in compiler technology made it possible to create high-level programming languages. These new languages were designed to be easier for humans to read and write, allowing programmers to give instructions more clearly. One of the earliest high-level programming languages was Plankalkül, designed by Konrad Zuse between 1942 and 1945. Later, in 1951, Corrado Böhm developed a high-level language that included a compiler for his doctoral research. The first language made available for commercial use was FORTRAN (short for Formula Translation), developed by John Backus and his team at IBM, with the first manual released in 1956.
