Programming Language

This week in class we learned about the relevance of "language" in the computer programming process. To the left you will see a timeline of important advances in computer languages up to the year 2000, with many more being developed after the turn of the century. These different languages are very important in the programming of computers, in that they provide the ability to control the machines, and let us manipulate them in order to gain the information we require from them. Without these languages everything would need to be entered in binary which would be easier in terms of setting up a single program, but much more time consuming in that you have to write a new program if you want to make any changes. Programming languages are advantageous, even though it way take longer in the short run, because they are formulas that can be easily changed if adjustments are necessary.

All correct computer languages are composed of syntax and semantics. Syntax is basically the way that a languages is written. It is the code, symbols, letters, number, ect... that make up any given language. Semantics on the other hand refers to if the syntax of any given program have an acceptable meaning. You can have a well formed and gramatically correct line of syntax, that does not express semantics, because it is not logically relevant or possible.

There are thousands of computer languages in existence, with many new ones being formulated every day. Two of the most widely used and accepted are FORTRAN and COBOL(Java, Pascal, and Lisp are also in this catagory.), these are two of the oldest and most established programming languages. Fortran was introduced in 1957, while Cobol was introduced in 1960. These two are very different in make up, as Fortran has scientific use, while Cobol is used mainly for business. The main reason they are still widely used today is for legacy reasons, as many older programs or computers are programmed in these languages, and changing them would be dificult, many times almost impossible. These however, are only two computer languages. The list can go on for days, months, years who knows, the possiblilites are near endless and there is no doubt that i will see many new programming languages develop in my lifetime.