Here come the programming languages, making a bridge between our language and the machine language (binary). We can divide programming languages into low and high levels.
Low-level ones operate directly on the machine – whereas high-level ones constitute a series of words that are later condensed into binary language through compilation.
The usefulness of programming languages is at the base of the operation of the most varied technologies, becoming one of the most important developments of the last century.
Throughout the evolution of technology, many programming languages have emerged – if we count them all, we learn that there are about 1300 programming languages.
Brief History of Programming Languages
The first person to do an original work on programming languages was mathematics and writer, Ada Lovelace. This was a close friend of Charles Babbage, who would idealize the first programmable mechanical calculator – and about which Ada would also develop knowledge.
However, it is said that the first programming language was created by Konrad Zuse, in Nazi Germany – this programming language would end up having no expression over the other programming languages that would develop in the future.
It is worth noting the work of Grace Hopper, who, in 1952, would develop the first compiler – starting ground for high-level programming languages.
Programming languages that marked an era
In the 1950s, programming languages emerged that allowed a sharp development in the area of information technology. Among them was FORTRAN, the first high-level programming language.
It was the 70s that marked the archetype in the area of programming. Among the programming languages created were: Simula, C, Prolog and Pascal. The next two decades would be marked by the beginning of the personal computer and software to operate these machines that were already addressed to the public
But it was during the 90s that there was a real revolution in terms of programming languages, as the advent of the internet was born there. Among the most popular programming languages created at this time were: Java and PHP.
The Most Used Programming Languages Today
For those who are currently starting to learn programming languages, it is necessary to know which are the most used and with the greatest impact on the functioning of machines and computers. According to the TIOBB index, the most popular programming languages are:
- Java,
- C,
- C ++,
- Python,
- C #,
- JavaScript,
- Visual Basic .NET,
- R,
- PHP,
- MATLAB,
- Swift,
- Objective-C,
- Assembly,
- Perl,
- Ruby ,
- Delphi / Object Pascal,
- Go,
- Scratch,
- PL / SQL,
- Visual Basic.