Who Invented Assembly Language and When? A Short History
Assembly language turns raw machine code into readable mnemonics. Its roots go back to Kathleen Booth in 1947 and EDSAC in 1949, and it still matters in kernels and embedded systems.
Systems Programming
BCPL Programming Language: How BCPL Led to the B and C Languages
BCPL was Martin Richards' small, typeless systems language from 1967. It shaped B, and through B, the C language that still runs the world.
What Was the B Programming Language Used For? History and Legacy
B was Ken Thompson's small, typeless language for early Unix, created around 1969. It lasted only a few years but led directly to C.
Forth Programming Language: How Forth Stack-Based Programming Works
Forth is Chuck Moore's tiny, stack-based language from around 1970. It runs on almost nothing and still controls embedded hardware today.
C Programming Language: Why Dennis Ritchie Created C at Bell Labs
Dennis Ritchie created C at Bell Labs around 1972 to rewrite Unix. Five decades later it still runs operating systems, databases and embedded devices.
Niklaus Wirth's Modula-2 and the Lilith Workstation
Modula-2 was designed by Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zurich around 1978 as a modular successor to Pascal, and was used to write the entire software of the Lilith workstation.
How Bjarne Stroustrup Turned C with Classes into C++
C++ started in 1979 as 'C with Classes' at Bell Labs and became a standard systems language behind browsers, game engines, databases and trading systems.
Why Walter Bright Designed D as a Better C++
D is what a veteran C++ compiler writer built when he started over. A look at its origins, features, compilers and real-world users.
Why Google Created the Go Language in 2007
Go was born from frustration with slow builds and complex code at Google. How three veteran engineers designed it and why it now runs the cloud.
How Rust Prevents Memory Bugs Without Garbage Collection
Rust gives C-level control with compile-time memory safety. How ownership works, where Rust came from, and why Linux, Windows and Android adopted it.
Why Andrew Kelley Created Zig as a C Replacement
Zig aims to be a better C, not a bigger one. Here is why Andrew Kelley started it, how comptime and explicit allocators work, and what pre-1.0 really means.
Why Google's Carbon Language Wants to Succeed C++
Carbon is an experimental language meant to do for C++ what Kotlin did for Java. Here is why Google engineers started it, how it works and how far along it is.
