language parallax

While flipping through the latest issue of “Communications of the ACM”, my eye caught a drawing of the Tower of Babel with the names of early programming languages inscribed in the spirals of the tower. It was Figure 1 of an article called “A History of the History of Programming Languages” (also in html) by Thomas J. (Tim) Bergin.

The article describes the first two HOPL conferences, and talks a bit about the upcoming HOPL III conference in San Diego this June. Maybe I’ll show up!

It’s good to see that as early as 1960, the problem of the programming language “Tower of Babel” was known (and literally talked about in those terms!).

Yet it seems that we’re still dealing with a lot of the same issues. Why?

My first thought is that the problem of many languages didn’t hurt back then as much as it does now. In the age of the internet, where every computer and even phone are accessible, the problems are exposed like never before. Potential user bases can grow into the millions overnight - as opposed to those early days when the shape of the computer networks very closely resembled the shape of the existing social networks within academia or industrial research communities.