History of Programming Languages, Volume 2 [Paperback]

Thomas J. Bergin (Editor), Richard G. Gibson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201895021 | ISBN-13: 978-0201895025 | Publication Date: February 22, 1996 | Edition: 1

This specially prepared work comprises a living archive of important programming languages, described by the people most instrumental in their creation and development. Drawn from the ACM/SIGPLAN Second History of Programming Languages Conference, this volume, like the earlier book from the first such conference (HOPL), conveys the motivations of the language designers, and the reasons why they rejected existing languages and created new ones. The book relates the processes by which different languages evolved, in the words of the individuals active in the languages' development. Most important, participants share insights about influences and decisions, both on choices made, and on the many roads not taken. In the book's conclusion, distinguished historians of computing share views about preserving programming language history. Fourteen chapters cover a broad range of languages in wide use today, as well as lesser known languages that made significant contributions to programming language evolution: C, C++, Smalltalk, Pascal, Ada, Prolog, Lisp, ALGOL 68, FORMAC, CLU, Icon, Forth, Monitors and Concurrent Pascal, and Discrete Simulation Languages. Prominent contributors to the book are Frederick Brooks, Alain Colmerauer, Richard Gabriel, Ralph Griswold, Per Brinch Hansen, Alan Kay, C.H. Lindsey, Barbara Liskov, Richard Nance, Elizabeth Rather, Dennis Ritchie, Jean Sammet, Guy Steels, Bjarne Stroustrup, William Whitaker, and Niklaus Wirth. Together, the conference contributors and the book's editors have put together a volume of interest to researchers, teachers, students, and computing professionals everywhere who are involved in the use or the development of programming languages today. 0201895021B04062001

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This specially prepared work comprises a living archive of important programming languages, described by the people most instrumental in their creation and development. Drawn from the ACM/SIGPLAN Second History of Programming Languages Conference, this volume, like the earlier book from the first such conference (HOPL), conveys the motivations of the language designers, and the reasons why they rejected existing languages and created new ones. The book relates the processes by which different languages evolved, in the words of the individuals active in the languages' development. Most important, participants share insights about influences and decisions, both on choices made, and on the many roads not taken. In the book's conclusion, distinguished historians of computing share views about preserving programming language history.

Fourteen chapters cover a broad range of languages in wide use today, as well as lesser known languages that made significant contributions to programming language evolution: C, C++, Smalltalk, Pascal, Ada, Prolog, Lisp, ALGOL 68, FORMAC, CLU, Icon, Forth, Monitors and Concurrent Pascal, and Discrete Simulation Languages. Prominent contributors to the book are Frederick Brooks, Alain Colmerauer, Richard Gabriel, Ralph Griswold, Per Brinch Hansen, Alan Kay, C.H. Lindsey, Barbara Liskov, Richard Nance, Elizabeth Rather, Dennis Ritchie, Jean Sammet, Guy Steels, Bjarne Stroustrup, William Whitaker, and Niklaus Wirth. Together, the conference contributors and the book's editors have put together a volume of interest to researchers, teachers, students, and computing professionals everywhere who are involved in the use or the development of programming languages today.

0201895021B04062001

About the Author

Editor Thomas J. (Tim) Bergin, a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at the American University in Washington, D.C., edited Computer-Aided Software Engineering: Issues and Trends for the 1990s and Beyond (1993) and coauthored A Microcomputer Based Primer on Structural Behavior (1986).

About Richard G. Gibson

Editor Richard G. (Rick) Gibson has taught a variety of programming languages around the globe. He serves on several editorial boards, including those of The Journal of Global Information Management, The Journal of Database Management, and The Journal of End-User Computing.

0201895021AB04062001

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (February 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201895021
• ISBN-13: 978-0201895025
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,759,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at the Origins of Important Languages, February 22, 2001

By 

James Jones (Clive, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of Programming Languages, Volume 2 (Paperback)

Until such time as someone tries to fill the shoes of Jean Sammet and write a new overview of programming languages (a major job, that!), the HOPL conferences are the main source of insight into the development of programming languages that, Sapir-Whorf style, have shaped the way we view programming and the problems we try to solve with a computer. Even if someone does take up that task, the HOPL conferences are invaluable, since they provide information straight from the people involved.

This volume of the proceedings of HOPL II is thus invaluable for the student of programming. HOPL I covered the main early languages (Algol 60, FORTRAN, COBOL, LISP, APT, BASIC...); HOPL II covers important languages of more recent vintage (Algol 68, Pascal, C, C++. more recent dialects of LISP). C.H. Lindsey's fine paper on the turbulent development of Algol 68, the best language you probably never used and a major influence on later languages, is worth the price of admission by itself.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Collection of Resources, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: History of Programming Languages, Volume 2 (Paperback)

I have read many many computer jounrals about the history of computing. Very few resources have put the kind of time and effort that Thomas Bergin has done in his book. Along with assistant editor, RIck Gibson, both men do a fine job collecting the best of the best resources and giving it right to the public upfront. I wish Bergin can do another book or something Internet related because this is truly apart of computing that we do not really have much material on.