Tower of Babel: Standardize or Diversify Programming Languages (1960s)
by Anonymous
In computing's early decades, the industry debated whether to standardize on one universal language (like COBOL or PL/I) or let many languages flourish. IBM pushed PL/I as the one language to rule them all. The market chose diversity.
One Universal Language (PL/I)
1960s
decade
Single language for all purposes
approach
IBM
key advocate
Failed — too complex, pleased nobody fully
outcome
Domain-Specific Languages
1960s
decade
Different languages for different tasks
approach
The market
key advocate
Won — COBOL for business, Fortran for science, C for systems
outcome
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