diff --git "a/13ea1049-2593-4f93-a46e-89dc336f1e91.json" "b/13ea1049-2593-4f93-a46e-89dc336f1e91.json" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/13ea1049-2593-4f93-a46e-89dc336f1e91.json" @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +{ + "interaction_id": "13ea1049-2593-4f93-a46e-89dc336f1e91", + "search_results": [ + { + "page_name": "Meet John Backus: Inventor of the First High Level Programming ...", + "page_url": "https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415", + "page_snippet": "FORTRAN, or formula translation, was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954.The IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design. Fortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated. I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM. John Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. FORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.", + "page_result": "\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n \n \n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFORTRAN: History of a Programming Language\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n
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\nFORTRAN Programming Language Explained\n

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\nFORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.\n

\n
\n

Generations of Codes

\n
    \n
  1. The first generation of codes used to program the functions of a computer was called machine language or machine code. Machine code is the language a computer really understands on a machine level, being a sequence of 0s and 1s that the computer's controls interpret as instructions electrically.
  2. The second generation of code was called assembly language. Assembly language turns the sequences of 0s and 1s into human words like "add". Assembly language is always translated back into machine code by programs called assemblers.
  3. The third generation of code was called high-level language or HLL, which has human sounding words and syntax (like words in a sentence). In order for the computer to understand any HLL, a compiler translates the high-level language into either assembly language or machine code. All programming languages need to be eventually translated into machine code for a computer to use the instructions they contain.
    4. \n
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John Backus and IBM

\n
\n\"I really didn't know what the hell I wanted to do with my life... I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM.\n
\n
\n

\nJohn Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. On the IBM team were the notable names of scientists like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick (who ran the first successful Fortran program), Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt, and David Sayre.\n

\n
\n

\nThe IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design.\n

\n
\n

Fortran Today

\n

\nFortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated.\n

\n
\n

\nThe invention of Fortran began a $24 million dollar computer software industry and began the development of other high-level programming languages.\n

\n
\n

\nFortran has been used for programming video games, air traffic control systems, payroll calculations, numerous scientific and military applications, and parallel computer research.\n

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\nJohn Backus won the 1993 National Academy of Engineering's Charles Stark Draper Prize, the highest national prize awarded in engineering, for the invention of Fortran.\n

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\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415.\nBellis, Mary. (2020, August 26). FORTRAN Programming Language Explained. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415 (accessed February 28, 2024).\n
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\t\t\n\n\t\t\n", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "The History of FORTRAN", + "page_url": "https://www.obliquity.com/computer/fortran/history.html", + "page_snippet": "FORTRAN 77 could do neither of these things. The next version of FORTRAN to emerge from the ANSI X3J3 committee was designed to address these deficiencies. It was tentatively named FORTRAN 8X but by the late 1980s, the committee did not appear to be close to releasing the new standard, and ...FORTRAN 77 could do neither of these things. The next version of FORTRAN to emerge from the ANSI X3J3 committee was designed to address these deficiencies. It was tentatively named FORTRAN 8X but by the late 1980s, the committee did not appear to be close to releasing the new standard, and there was a popular joke among computer scientists that 'X' would need to be a hexadecimal digit. The new version of FORTRAN was finally published as a standard by the International Standards Organisation in 1991, and it became known informally as FORTRAN 90. ... Copyright \u00a9 2014\u20132021 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman All Rights Reserved Designed and maintained by Obliquity https://www.obliquity.com/computer/fortran/history.html This was very important in ensuring the success of FORTRAN. Early computers were very slow by today's standards, and they represented an expensive commodity to their owners. Inefficient programs wasted time and money. Backus and his team understood this, and they knew that they had to confound their critics who said that a program compiled from a high-level language could never be as efficient as one that was hand-crafted directly using numerical codes or mnemonics. Backus proposed this idea to his manager in 1953. He was given a budget and encouraged to hire a small team to test the feasibility of the notion. Three years later, the team published a manual which described the IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System, or FORTRAN for short.", + "page_result": "\n\n\nThe History of FORTRAN\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The History of FORTRAN

\n

\nFORTRAN was the world's first high-level programming language. It was \ndeveloped at \nIBM by a \nsmall team led by John Backus. The earliest version of FORTRAN was released \nin 1957 as a programming tool for the \nIBM 704. \nFifty years later, FORTRAN remains the programming language of choice for \nlarge-scale numerical calculations in science and engineering.\n

\n\n

Before FORTRAN

\n

\nPrograms for the earliest computers consisted of sequences of numerical codes. \nEach code represented a basic operation such as\n'fetch a number from memory location X and put it in register A' \nor 'add the number in register A to the number in register B'. \nThis style of programming was time-consuming and error-prone. Mistakes were \ndifficult to find.\n

\n

\nBy the time John Backus joined \nIBM as a \nscientific programmer in 1950, it had become possible to write programs \nusing mnemomics such as ADD in place of the numerical codes. A \nspecial program (which we would call an assembler today) converted the \nmnemonics into the corresponding numerical codes. This made programming a \nlittle easier, but even a simple program required dozens of operations, and \nit was still difficult to track down mistakes.\n

\n

\nBackus reasoned that it should be possible to create a programming language \nwhich allowed a series of calculations to be expressed in something resembling \nmathematical notation. A translation program (a compiler, in today's \nterminology) would then convert it into the numerical codes which the computer \nunderstood. Backus proposed this idea to his manager in 1953. He was given a \nbudget and encouraged to hire a small team to test the feasibility of the \nnotion.\n

\n

\nThree years later, the team published a manual which described the \nIBM \nMathematical Formula Translating System, or FORTRAN for short. Soon after, \nIBM made the \nfirst FORTRAN compiler available to users of the \nIBM 704.\n

\n

\nBackus and his team had created the world'd first high-level programming \nlanguage. Scientists and engineers would no longer have to write their \nprograms as numerical codes or long-winded mnemonics.\n

\n

\nSignificantly, Backus's team had implemented the first \noptimizing compiler, which not only translated FORTRAN \nprograms into the \nIBM 704's \nnumerical codes, but produced codes which ran very nearly as fast as anything \nthat could be crafted by hand.\n

\n

\nThis was very important in ensuring the success of FORTRAN. Early computers\nwere very slow by today's standards, and they represented an expensive \ncommodity to their owners. Inefficient programs wasted time and money. \nBackus and his team understood this, and they knew that they had to confound \ntheir critics who said that a program compiled from a high-level language \ncould never be as efficient as one that was hand-crafted directly using \nnumerical codes or mnemonics.\n

\n\n

The Early Years

\n

\nIn 1958, IBM \nreleased a revised version of the language, named FORTRAN II. It \nprovided support for procedural programming by introducing statements which \nallowed programmers to create subroutines and functions, thereby encouraging \nthe re-use of code.\n

\n

\nFORTRAN's growing popularity led many computer manufacturers to implement \nversions of it for their own machines. Each manufacturer added its own \ncustomisations, making it impossible to guarantee that a program written for \none type of machine would compile and run on a different type. \nIBM responded \nby removing all machine-dependent features from its version of the language. \nThe result, released in 1961, was called FORTRAN IV.\n

\n\n

FORTRAN 66

\n

\nBy the early 1960s, there was growing pressure to create a standardised \nversion of FORTRAN which was not tied to any single type of computer. In \n1962, the American Standards Association (the precursor of \nANSI, the \nAmerican National Standards Institute) convened a committee \nto pursue this goal. The result, published in 1966, was a document which \ndefined the language which became known as FORTRAN 66.\n

\n

\nFORTRAN 66 marked a significant milestone in computer science. It was \nthe first programming language to be defined by a formal standard.\n

\n\n

FORTRAN 77

\n

\nWithin only a few years, the shortcomings of FORTRAN 66 began to become \napparent, especially by comparison with other programming languages such as C, \nPascal and Algol. Computer manufacturers again added customisations to the \nlanguage to try to address some of these faults.\n

\n

\nThis forced the ANSI \nFORTRAN standards committee, known as X3J3, to start work on a new version of \nthe language in 1969. The resulting standard would take eight years to reach \nmaturity, but the language it defined, known as FORTRAN 77, represented a \nmajor enhancement. Among the features which it added were a true \nblock IF statement, a CHARACTER data type, \ndirect-access I/O and the \nPARAMETER statement to define constants.\n

\n

\nFORTRAN 77 became the became the most widely-used version of the \nlanguage, and it is likely that much of the legacy FORTRAN code around the \nworld is written in this dialect of the language.\n

\n\n

FORTRAN 90

\n

\nFORTRAN 77 faced competition from languages such as C, which allowed \nprogrammers to allocate memory dynamically and to define heterogeneous data \nstructures. FORTRAN 77 could do neither of these things. The next \nversion of FORTRAN to emerge from the \nANSI X3J3 committee \nwas designed to address these deficiencies. It was tentatively named \nFORTRAN 8X but by the late 1980s, the committee did not appear to be \nclose to releasing the new standard, and there was a popular joke among \ncomputer scientists that 'X' would need to be a hexadecimal digit.\n

\n

\nThe new version of FORTRAN was finally published as a standard by the \nInternational Standards Organisation in 1991, and it became \nknown informally as FORTRAN 90.\n

\n\n

\nTable of Contents\nIndex\n

\n

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\n\n\n\n", + "page_last_modified": " Tue, 28 Sep 2021 11:26:27 GMT" + }, + { + "page_name": "Meet John Backus: Inventor of the First High Level Programming ...", + "page_url": "https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415", + "page_snippet": "FORTRAN, or formula translation, was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954.The IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design. Fortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated. I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM. John Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. FORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.", + "page_result": "\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n \n \n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFORTRAN: History of a Programming Language\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n
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\nFORTRAN Programming Language Explained\n

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\nMary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell.\n
\n
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\nLearn about our\nEditorial Process\n
\n
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Updated on February 23, 2019
\n
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\n
\n

\nFORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.\n

\n
\n

Generations of Codes

\n
    \n
  1. The first generation of codes used to program the functions of a computer was called machine language or machine code. Machine code is the language a computer really understands on a machine level, being a sequence of 0s and 1s that the computer's controls interpret as instructions electrically.
  2. The second generation of code was called assembly language. Assembly language turns the sequences of 0s and 1s into human words like "add". Assembly language is always translated back into machine code by programs called assemblers.
  3. The third generation of code was called high-level language or HLL, which has human sounding words and syntax (like words in a sentence). In order for the computer to understand any HLL, a compiler translates the high-level language into either assembly language or machine code. All programming languages need to be eventually translated into machine code for a computer to use the instructions they contain.
    4. \n
\n
\n

John Backus and IBM

\n
\n\"I really didn't know what the hell I wanted to do with my life... I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM.\n
\n
\n

\nJohn Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. On the IBM team were the notable names of scientists like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick (who ran the first successful Fortran program), Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt, and David Sayre.\n

\n
\n

\nThe IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design.\n

\n
\n

Fortran Today

\n

\nFortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated.\n

\n
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\nThe invention of Fortran began a $24 million dollar computer software industry and began the development of other high-level programming languages.\n

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\nFortran has been used for programming video games, air traffic control systems, payroll calculations, numerous scientific and military applications, and parallel computer research.\n

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\nJohn Backus won the 1993 National Academy of Engineering's Charles Stark Draper Prize, the highest national prize awarded in engineering, for the invention of Fortran.\n

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\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415.\nBellis, Mary. (2020, August 26). FORTRAN Programming Language Explained. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415 (accessed February 28, 2024).\n
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\t\t\n\n\t\t\n", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "A brief history of FORTRAN/Fortran", + "page_url": "https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/languages/fortran/ch1-1.html", + "page_snippet": "This wonderful first FORTRAN compiler was designed and written from scratch in 1954-57 by an IBM team lead by John W. Backus and staffed with super-programmers like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick, Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt and David Sayre.They designed an HLL that is still widely used, and an optimizing compiler that produced very efficient code, in fact the FORTRAN I compiler held the record for optimizing code for 20 years! This wonderful first FORTRAN compiler was designed and written from scratch in 1954-57 by an IBM team lead by John W. Backus and staffed with super-programmers like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick, Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt and David Sayre. The pioneers of FORTRAN didn't invent the idea of writing programs in a High Level Language (HLL) and compiling the source code to object code with an optimizing compiler, but they produced the first successful HLL. They designed an HLL that is still widely used, and an optimizing compiler that produced very efficient code, in fact the FORTRAN I compiler held the record for optimizing code for 20 years! By the way, Backus was also system co-designer of the computer that run the first compiler, the IBM 704. The new invention caught quickly, no wonder, programs computing nuclear power reactor parameters took now hours instead of weeks to write, and required much less programming skill. Another great advantage of the new invention was that programs now became portable. Fortran won the battle against Assembly language, the first in a series of battles to come, and was adopted by the scientific and military communities and used extensively in the Space Program and military projects. The delay in publishing a new standard can be attributed in part to political reasons as testified by Brian Meek in: The Fortran Saga Fortran 90 standard ------------------- A new standard has been designed and widely implemented in recent years. It is unofficially called Fortran 90, and adds many powerful extensions to FORTRAN 77.", + "page_result": "\n\n A brief history of FORTRAN/Fortran \n\n\n
\n\n\n 1-1  A Brief History of FORTRAN/Fortran\n ***************************************\n (Thanks to John Nebel for the nice description of a FORTRAN's user\n  point of view)\n\n\n A note on names\n ---------------\n Both forms of the language name, FORTRAN and Fortran, are used. \n\n In this text, older versions (before and including 1977) of the \n language will be referred to as FORTRAN, post-1977 ones will be \n referred to as 'Fortran 90', 'Fortran 95' etc. \n\n\n The development of FORTRAN I \n ----------------------------\n The first FORTRAN compiler was a milestone in the history of computing, \n at that time computers had very small memories (on the order of 15KB,\n it was common then to count memory capacities in bits), they were slow \n and had very primitive operating systems (if they had them at all). \n At those days it seemed that the only practical way is to program in \n assembly language. \n\n The pioneers of FORTRAN didn't invent the idea of writing programs in a \n High Level Language (HLL) and compiling the source code to object code \n with an optimizing compiler, but they produced the first successful HLL. \n They designed an HLL that is still widely used, and an optimizing compiler \n that produced very efficient code, in fact the FORTRAN I compiler held \n the record for optimizing code for 20 years! \n\n This wonderful first FORTRAN compiler was designed and written from \n scratch in 1954-57 by an IBM team lead by John W. Backus and staffed with \n super-programmers like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick, Peter Sheridan, \n Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt \n and David Sayre.  By the way, Backus was also system co-designer of the \n computer that run the first compiler, the IBM 704.\n\n The new invention caught quickly, no wonder, programs computing nuclear \n power reactor parameters took now hours instead of weeks to write, and \n required much less programming skill.  Another great advantage of the new \n invention was that programs now became portable.  Fortran won the battle \n against Assembly language, the first in a series of battles to come, \n and was adopted by the scientific and military communities and used\n extensively in the Space Program and military projects. \n\n The phenomenal success of the FORTRAN I team, can be attributed in part \n to the friendly non-authoritative group climate.  Another factor may be\n that IBM management had the sense to shelter and protect the group, \n even though the project took much more time than was first anticipated. \n\n\n\n FORTRAN II, III, IV and FORTRAN 66\n ----------------------------------\n FORTRAN II (1958) was a significant improvement, it added the capability \n for separate compilation of program modules, assembly language modules\n could also be 'linked loaded' with FORTRAN modules.\n\n FORTRAN III (1958) was never released to the public.  It made possible \n using assembly language code right in the middle of the FORTRAN code. \n Such \"inlined\" assembly code can be more efficient, but the advantages \n of an HLL are lost (e.g. portability, ease of use).\n\n FORTRAN IV (1961) was a 'clean up' of FORTRAN II, improving things \n like the implementation of the COMMON and EQUIVALENCE statements, \n and eliminating some machine-dependant language irregularities.\n\n A FORTRAN II to FORTRAN IV translator was used to retain backward\n compatibility with earlier FORTRAN programs.\n\n On May 1962 another milestone was traversed, an ASA committee started \n developing a standard for the FORTRAN language, a very important step\n that made it worthwhile for vendors to produce FORTRAN systems for \n every new computer, and made FORTRAN an even more popular HLL. \n\n The new ASA standard was published in 1966, and was known accordingly\n as FORTRAN 66, it was the first HLL standard in the world.\n\n\n FORTRAN 77 standard\n -------------------\n Formally outdated many years ago, compilers for FORTRAN 77 are still \n used today, mainly to re-compile legacy code.  \n\n FORTRAN 77 added: \n\n   o  DO loops with a decreasing control variable (index). \n   o  Block if statements IF ... THEN ... ELSE ... ENDIF.\n      Before F77 there were only IF GOTO statements. \n   o  Pre-test of DO loops.  Before F77 DO loops were always \n      executed at least once, so you had to add an IF GOTO \n      before the loop if you wanted the expected behaviour.\n   o  CHARACTER data type.  Before F77 characters were always \n      stored inside INTEGER variables.\n   o  Apostrophe delimited character string constants.\n   o  Main program termination without a STOP statement.\n\n The next Fortran standard (fortran 90) was published too many years \n after Fortran 77 was out, allowing other programming languages to \n evolve and compete with Fortran.  For example, the system-programming \n language C, and its evolved variant C++, became more popular in the\n traditional strongholds of Fortran: the scientific and engineering \n worlds, in spite of being non-computationally oriented.\n\n The delay in publishing a new standard can be attributed in part\n to political reasons as testified by Brian Meek in: \n\n   The Fortran Saga\n\n\n\n Fortran 90 standard\n -------------------\n A new standard has been designed and widely implemented in recent years. \n It is unofficially called Fortran 90, and adds many powerful extensions \n to FORTRAN 77.  The language in its present form is competitive with \n computer languages created later (e.g. C).\n\n Fortran 90 added:\n\n   o  Free format source code form (column independent)\n   o  Modern control structures (CASE & DO WHILE)\n   o  Records/structures - called \"Derived Data Types\"\n   o  Powerful array notation (array sections, array operators, etc.)\n   o  Dynamic memory allocation\n   o  Operator overloading\n   o  Keyword argument passing \n   o  The INTENT (in, out, inout) procedure argument attribute\n   o  Control of numeric precision and range \n   o  Modules - packages containing variable and code\n\n\n Fortran 95 standard\n -------------------\n Fortran 95 added some minor improvements to the Fortran 90 standard.\n\n\n Fortran from a user point of view\n ---------------------------------\n ... yes, it was FORTRAN on the IBM 7094. [I] Have written volumes \n of Fortran code and have suffered through \"it ought to be written \n in assembly language\", \"it ought to be written in PL/1\", \"it ought \n to be written in COBOL\", \"it ought to be written in Pascal\", \"it \n ought to be written in C\", etc. depending on what generation of \n programmers was doing the criticizing.\n\n A few years ago, in the COBOL era, one of the users resorted to \n replying to questioners by showing them some function they liked \n and asking \"you tell me, what language was that written in?\"\n\n ... It was good to see someone else cognizant of the language's \n obvious merits.\n\n\n Bibliography on FORTRAN history\n -------------------------------\n    Annals of History of Computing, 6, 1, January, 1984 (whole issue).\n\n    Programming Systems and Languages (S. Rosen ed.), McGraw Hill,\n    1967, pp 29-47 (this is Backus's original paper).\n\n    History of Programming Languages (R.L. Wexelblat ed.),\n    Academic Press, 1981, pp 25-74.\n\n    A summary appears in vol. 5 of the Encyclopedia of Science\n    and Technology, Academic Press, 1986, under 'Fortran'.\n    and in Chapter 1 of Fortran 90 Explained (Oxford, 1990).\n\n  +-------------------------------------------------+\n  |   FORTRAN IS THE COMPUTING LANGUAGE OF CHOICE   |\n  +-------------------------------------------------+\n\n
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\n\n\n\n", + "page_last_modified": " Mon, 25 Mar 2002 17:00:00 GMT" + }, + { + "page_name": "Meet John Backus: Inventor of the First High Level Programming ...", + "page_url": "https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415", + "page_snippet": "FORTRAN, or formula translation, was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954.The IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design. Fortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated. I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM. John Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. FORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.", + "page_result": "\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n \n \n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFORTRAN: History of a Programming Language\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n
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Updated on February 23, 2019
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\nFORTRAN (or formula translation) was the first high-level programming language (software) invented by John Backus for IBM in 1954, released commercially in 1957. Fortran is still used today for programming scientific and mathematical applications. Fortran began as a digital code interpreter for the IBM 701 and was originally named Speedcoding. John Backus wanted a programming language that was closer in appearance to human language, which is the definition of a high-level language, other high language programs include Ada, Algol, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, LISP, Pascal, and Prolog.\n

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Generations of Codes

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  1. The first generation of codes used to program the functions of a computer was called machine language or machine code. Machine code is the language a computer really understands on a machine level, being a sequence of 0s and 1s that the computer's controls interpret as instructions electrically.
  2. The second generation of code was called assembly language. Assembly language turns the sequences of 0s and 1s into human words like "add". Assembly language is always translated back into machine code by programs called assemblers.
  3. The third generation of code was called high-level language or HLL, which has human sounding words and syntax (like words in a sentence). In order for the computer to understand any HLL, a compiler translates the high-level language into either assembly language or machine code. All programming languages need to be eventually translated into machine code for a computer to use the instructions they contain.
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John Backus and IBM

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\n\"I really didn't know what the hell I wanted to do with my life... I said no, I couldn't. I looked sloppy and disheveled. But she insisted and so I did. I took a test and did OK.\" John Backus on his experience interviewing for IBM.\n
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\nJohn Backus headed the IBM team of researchers at the Watson Scientific Laboratory that invented Fortran. On the IBM team were the notable names of scientists like Sheldon F. Best, Harlan Herrick (who ran the first successful Fortran program), Peter Sheridan, Roy Nutt, Robert Nelson, Irving Ziller, Richard Goldberg, Lois Haibt, and David Sayre.\n

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\nThe IBM team didn't invent HLL or the idea of compiling programming language into machine code, but Fortran was the first successful HLL and the Fortran I compiler holds the record for translating code for over 20 years. The first computer to run the first compiler was the IBM 704, which John Backus helped design.\n

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Fortran Today

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\nFortran is now over forty years old and remains the top language in scientific and industrial programming\u2014of course, it has constantly been updated.\n

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\nThe invention of Fortran began a $24 million dollar computer software industry and began the development of other high-level programming languages.\n

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\nFortran has been used for programming video games, air traffic control systems, payroll calculations, numerous scientific and military applications, and parallel computer research.\n

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\nJohn Backus won the 1993 National Academy of Engineering's Charles Stark Draper Prize, the highest national prize awarded in engineering, for the invention of Fortran.\n

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Format
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Your Citation
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\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415.\nBellis, Mary. (2020, August 26). FORTRAN Programming Language Explained. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415\nBellis, Mary. \"FORTRAN Programming Language Explained.\" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-fortran-1991415 (accessed February 28, 2024).\n
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