The phrase “first programming language” is answered in different ways depending on what is considered a programming language. talentgrid
Historical firsts
In 1843, Ada Lovelace wrote an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine; many historians regard this as the first program designed to be executed by a computer and, indirectly, as the first example of a programming language. talentgrid
Some sources give the title of a programming language in the true sense to Plankalkül, developed in the 1940s by Konrad Zuse; this language is more systematic and general‑purpose, like modern languages. talentgrid
The first high‑level languages
The first widely accepted high‑level and commercially successful language is FORTRAN, developed in the mid‑1950s at IBM by John Backus’s team; it is considered one of the oldest languages still in use today. talentgrid
Languages such as LISP and COBOL, developed in the same period, are also counted among the early high‑level languages and are still used in certain domains. talentgrid
Summary answer
For the beginning of the recorded “first program” and the idea of a programming language: Ada Lovelace’s 1843 algorithm. talentgrid
For the first general‑purpose programming language in the modern sense: Konrad Zuse’s Plankalkül language. talentgrid
For the first widely used high‑level language in practice: FORTRAN. talentgrid
With which language was the first language developed, was it assembly?
No, the first programming languages were not developed with assembly; assembly emerged in the late 1940s as a low‑level language closer to machine code. talentgrid
Early period languages
The history of programming begins in 1843 with Ada Lovelace’s algorithm written for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine; this is considered the first program containing machine instructions, but it is not a complete language. talentgrid
In the 1940s, Konrad Zuse’s Plankalkül was designed as the first general‑purpose programming language to carry high‑level concepts, but it was not implemented in practice. talentgrid
The place of assembly
Assembly‑like languages were used on early electronic computers such as the ARC Assembly in 1947 and the short codes developed for ENIAC in 1948; these were symbolic instructions close to machine language. emirhankabakci
Truly widespread assembly appeared in the early 1950s with the commercialization of computers and provided the infrastructure for compilers of high‑level languages such as FORTRAN. talentgrid
Chronological order
1843: Ada Lovelace’s algorithm (first program). talentgrid
1944–45: Plankalkül (first high‑level design). talentgrid
1947–49: Short Code and early assemblies. emirhankabakci
1957: FORTRAN (first commercial high‑level language). talentgrid
What are the differences between Plankalkül and assembly?
Plankalkül and assembly languages were developed in the early period of programming history, but they show distinct differences in level, abstraction, and usage. reddit
Level and abstraction
Plankalkül (1940s, Konrad Zuse) is a high‑level language design; it contains modern concepts such as loops, conditionals, subprograms, and data structures, and is independent of machine architecture. talentgrid
Assembly, on the other hand, is a low‑level (machine‑close) language; it directly represents processor instructions with mnemonic codes and provides access to registers and memory addresses. muhammedaygun
Usage and historical implementation
Plankalkül remained theoretical; it was designed in 1945 but was not implemented in practice and no compiler was developed. talentgrid
Assembly was used practically on electronic computers in the late 1940s and early 1950s (for example ENIAC, 1947); it is translated into machine code by assemblers and is common in high‑performance systems. emirhankabakci
Feature comparison: Plankalkül vs. assembly
Feature – Plankalkül – Assembly reddit
Level: High (abstract concepts) – Low (processor instructions)
Independence: Architecture‑independent – Architecture‑dependent (x86, ARM, etc.)
Complexity: Algorithmic structures (loops, functions) – Simple instructions (MOV, ADD, etc.)
Implementation: Theoretical, not implemented – Practical, works with assemblers
What is the historical development of assembly language and its first applications?
Assembly language developed in the late 1940s as a low‑level programming language that represents machine code (binary instructions) with mnemonic symbols. tr.wikipedia
First applications
The first assembly‑like systems began with the EDSAC order code developed by Maurice Wilkes for the Cambridge EDSAC in 1947 and with Short Code in 1949; these made it possible to write machine instructions using abbreviated symbols. emirhankabakci
In 1948, shortened codes were used for ENIAC by programmers such as Kathryn Kleiman and Betty Holberton, but a full assembler appeared in 1951 in IBM’s EDVAC project. tr.wikipedia
Historical development
In the early 1950s, commercial assemblers became widespread with Grace Hopper’s A‑0 and A‑2 assemblers; these formed the infrastructure for high‑level languages such as FORTRAN. talentgrid
By the 1960s, standard assembly languages (for example BAL) were developed for architectures such as the IBM System/360, and today they have been adapted to architectures such as x86 and ARM. muhammedaygun
1947: EDSAC order code (first symbolic assembly). tr.wikipedia
1949: Short Code (for ENIAC). emirhankabakci
1951: First full assembler (EDVAC). tr.wikipedia
1952: A‑2 (commercial assembler). talentgrid
With what language was C developed, with which language?
Historically, the C language was developed by deriving it from the B language; B is a language influenced by BCPL. tr.wikipedia
Origins of C
Around 1972, C was created by Dennis Ritchie at AT&T Bell Laboratories by extending and improving the B language in order to develop the UNIX operating system. tr.wikipedia
Therefore, the short answer to the question “With what was C developed?” is: The C language is a systems programming language built on top of B and influenced by ideas coming from BCPL. tr.wikipedia
Writing of the C compiler
The first C compilers and the early versions of the UNIX kernel were written largely in assembly language and partly in earlier languages (for example B), depending on the architecture of the target hardware; later, most of the UNIX kernel was rewritten in C. tr.wikipedia
Over time, C became the primary language used to write both its own compilers and the compilers of other languages; most C compilers in use today have been developed in C or C++. tr.wikipedia
With what language was BCPL developed?
BCPL (Basic Combined Programming Language) was developed in 1967 by Martin Richards as a simplified version of a more complex language called the Cambridge Programming Language (CPL). tr.wikipedia
Origin and development process
BCPL was designed to eliminate the compilation difficulties of CPL; CPL had been developed in the early 1960s, and BCPL emerged by simplifying the features of this language. en.wikipedia
Ken Thompson used BCPL to bootstrap‑develop the B language; that is, the first implementation of B was written with a BCPL compiler, and then the BCPL compiler was rewritten in B. reddit
Technical details
BCPL is an untyped language; all data are handled as “words” and it is suitable for low‑level system programming close to the machine. en.wikipedia
The first BCPL compiler was written for the IBM 7094 in 1967 and generated an intermediate language called O‑code to provide portability. en.wikipedia
With what language was CPL written?
CPL (Cambridge Programming Language) was developed in the early 1960s and was not written directly in a preceding programming language; at the design stage it was heavily influenced by ALGOL 60. en.wikipedia
Design and development origin
CPL was designed at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory by Christopher Strachey, David Barron, and others; its first paper was published in 1963, and it was implemented on Titan and Atlas computers. en.wikipedia
Unlike the simplicity of ALGOL 60, CPL was planned as an extended language for industrial control, data processing, and low‑level programming, but because of its complexity its first compiler was completed in the 1970s. en.wikipedia
Implementation details
The first CPL compiler was most likely written in assembly language or low‑level machine‑specific code of that period, because high‑level compilers were not yet widespread. en.wikipedia
BCPL, as a simplified version of CPL, was developed in 1967 by Martin Richards using the bootstrap method (with its own compiler) and became CPL’s practical successor. en.wikipedia
How was assembly language developed?
Assembly language was developed in the late 1940s by using mnemonic symbols and symbolic addresses to make machine code (binary instructions) readable to programmers. tr.wikipedia
Development process
Early computers (ENIAC, EDSAC) were programmed only with binary machine code; to overcome this difficulty, in 1947 Maurice Wilkes designed the first symbolic assembly system (order code) for EDSAC. emirhankabakci
In 1949, Short Code and, in 1951, full assemblers for IBM EDVAC appeared; assembler programs were the first tools that automatically translated symbolic code into machine code. tr.wikipedia
Key steps
1947: EDSAC order code – Mnemonic instructions (e.g., ADD instead of 101). tr.wikipedia
1949: ENIAC Short Code – Numeric abbreviations. emirhankabakci
1951: EDVAC assembler – Symbolic addressing and labels. tr.wikipedia
1952: Grace Hopper’s A‑0/A‑2 – Commercial assemblers, infrastructure for FORTRAN. talentgrid
Assemblers themselves were written in assembly or machine code and formed the basis for high‑level languages. tr.wikipedia
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