Computer Languages Used for Computers
A computer language is a set of commands or actions that a computer can understand and execute. Also known as a "programming language," it allows users to give instructions to computers in a format computers understand. The earliest programming languages predate the computer in the form of music sheets for the auto-piano and punch cards for the Jacquard loom. Today, there is a long list of programming languages intended for a variety of purpose and functions.
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BASIC
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The Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) programming language was developed at Dartmouth College by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz in 1964. This program was intended as a teaching tool for students and the average computer user. At that time, other programs such as FORTRAN and ALGOL were only understood by professionals and serious hobbyists. BASIC was very successful and various versions were released for computer systems, such as Apple and IBM. By the 1990s, Microsoft incorporated BASIC into the Windows platform in the form of Visual Basic, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and VBScript in Windows 98. The latest version available as of 2011 is VB.NET.
C / C++
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The C programming language was developed by Dennis Ritchie for the UNIX operating system from 1969 to 1973. Its most notable feature was its portability, which made it compatible with a number of computer systems. C++ was developed as an extension for the C language. It added the object-oriented programming (OOP) feature as well as inline function calls, encapsulation, polymorphism, inheritance, and overloading operators. Today, C++ is run using the compilers on UNIX, Windows, Linux, OpenVMS and Macintosh systems.
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Java
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The Java programming language was developed at Sun Microsystems in 1995. Its parent is the "Oak program," which was intended for interactive television at that time. With the growth of the Internet, the Oak program was redesigned and renamed Java. Java features platform independence, the use of object-oriented language, a rich standard library, applet interface, and similarity to the C++ syntax. Today, Java is used by software developers and vendors for a wide array of programs related to games, utilities, and business applications.
Perl
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The Perl programming language is dubbed the "the duct tape of the Internet" because of its ability to "glue together" web applications and programs over the Internet. It was developed by Larry Wall around 1987 as a scripting language for UNIX. With the advent of the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and the Win32 port, Perl became the programming language choice for CGI and NT for programming, website management and system administration. Its most notable feature is its ability to transform the output of a program into a format that can be used as input for another program. This feature literally made it possible for various programs to be glued and work together cohesively.
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References
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