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How Programming Languages Got Their Names

kylehigginson.medium.com

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Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#21

Post by devjam »

cygx wrote: post #20
p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

Perl: Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister (it's actually a reference to the Parable of the Pearl, but that name clashed with PEARL, a real-time programming language from the 70s developed in Germany)

Practical Extraction and Reporting Language

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#22

Post by tromp »

p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

> D: a successor to C

As expressed in Haskell: 'D' == succ 'C'

As another example: "IBM" == map succ "HAL"

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#23

Post by CrendKing »

p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

I think that list is limited to languages whose name comes from real life entities, and optionally with an interesting story behind. Names like "SQL" or "C" are more like pure knowledge rather nice good gossip.

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#24

Post by lawgimenez »

p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

Swift named after the Swift bird?

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#25

Post by eterps »

Pascal: named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

Oberon: named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_(moon)

Ada: named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

Eiffel: named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel

Sather: named afer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sather_Tower

Nim: named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod

Erlang (Ericsson language): named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericsson

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#26

Post by tromp »

Y_Y wrote: post #15
p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

I'm obliged to point out that C has the same value as C++.

There is in fact a higher valued ++C language: https://esolangs.org/wiki/%2B%2BC

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#29

Post by fhd2 »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #14
p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

There is also C#, where # represents a duplication of "++", on top of each other. Technically, the # is not the sign for the musical sharp key (♯), but "C sharp" sounds better than "C hash", "C pound" or "C octothorp". :) Edit: On an unrelated note, TIL that the sign used on telephone keys is also not #, but ⌗ -- a.k.a. the "Viewdata square" [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viewdata#Keypad_symbols:_the_s...

And then there's F#, which _does_ play on musical notation. But I suppose F is also for "functional".

Re: How Programming Languages Got Their Names

#30

Post by fhd2 »

p4bl0 wrote: post #9

This list is disappointingly short. Here's a few more of the top of my head, feel free to expand the list! : C: a successor to B, itself derived from BCPL. C++: increments over C. D: a successor to C. LISP: LISt Processor. FORTRAN: FORmula TRANslator. ALGOL: ALGorithmic Language. Prolog: PROgrammation LOGique (logic programming in French). PHP: initially PHP/FI for "Personal Home Page Form Interpreter", later rebrand…

I suppose it's quite widely known where "JavaScript" comes from, but seeing it next to all the others and how they were named on the list, it seems like the... saddest etymology of them all.
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