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Definition Of A Programming Language

Decent Essays

Author: Solomon Bitone

Creating a programming language that can maintain a balance between power and compatibility is a great accomplishment. COBOL 60 was designed to be a standardized and widely used language across all businesses. However, as time passed, it became seen as a nuisance for its monolithic code structures and inefficient programming style (1). Despite its later shortcomings, COBOL managed to be the first language to implement recursion. This is significant, considering how time-restricted CODASYL was in making the language. COBOL was innovative for the 1960s because it was one of the first high-level programming languages and it was compatible across many computers.
In 1959, the need for a standardized programming language for businesses was apparent, so Mary K. Hawes (ElectroData Division, Burroughs Corporation) requested a formal meeting with programmers and manufacturers to create such a language (2). The resulting language was COBOL (common business-oriented language), which changed the world of programming for everyone. CODASYL (Committee on Data Systems Languages) was formed in order to guide the development of COBOL, and their team was made of individuals with backgrounds that involved data processing activities (3). One noteworthy individual is Grace Hopper, who was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944. She invented the first compiler for a computer programming language (5). Her goal with COBOL was to make it a highly

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