Fortran: Who Invented Fortran and Why Was It Created?
Fortran was created by John Backus and a small IBM team and released in 1957 for the IBM 704. Nearly 70 years later it still runs much of scientific computing.
Data & Science
APL: Why APL Uses Special Symbols Instead of Words
APL began as Kenneth Iverson's mathematical notation and became an IBM time-sharing language in 1966. Here is why it is written in symbols and who still uses it.
How IBM's SEQUEL Became the SQL Language
SQL began as SEQUEL at IBM in 1974, built on Codd's relational model, and became the standard language for querying relational databases.
How Cleve Moler's MATLAB Grew Out of LINPACK
MATLAB began in the late 1970s as Cleve Moler's matrix calculator for students and became, from 1984, the commercial standard for numerical computing in engineering.
R Language History: Why R Was Named After Its Creators
R began at the University of Auckland in 1993 as a free take on the S statistics language. Its one-letter name nods to both its creators and S.
How Julia Solves the Two-Language Problem in Science
Scientists used to prototype in Python or MATLAB and rewrite in C or Fortran. Julia was built at MIT to end that split. Here is how it works and who uses it.
What Is Mojo and How It Relates to Python
Mojo looks like Python but compiles like a systems language. Here is who built it, why, how it works with Python, and what is still experimental.
