For questions about the history of programming and computing.
16
votes
5answers
612 views
How did programmers work back when a computer was very expensive, rare, as big as a room?
I assume they weren't able to sit in front of a computer for the whole day like we do today. So how did they write their program? On a piece of paper and type it later when the computer is available? ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Are Java's public fields just a tragic historical design flaw at this point?
It seems to be Java orthodoxy at this point that one should basically never use public fields for object state. (I don't necessarily agree, but that's not relevant to my question.) Given that, would ...
15
votes
1answer
568 views
How long was Microsoft working on .NET before they released it?
With the whole CLI, CTS, CLS, etc., not only did they release a powerful platform/infrastructure, but they released all the specs that describe it etc. It supports potentially infinite myriad ...
39
votes
2answers
2k views
So what *did* Alan Kay really mean by the term “object-oriented”?
Reportedly, Alan Kay is the inventor of the term "object oriented". And he is often quoted as having said that what we call OO today is not what he meant.
For example, I just found this on Google:
...
13
votes
3answers
708 views
Pure virtual or abstract, what's in a name?
While discussing a question about virtual functions on Stack Overflow, I wondered whether there was any official naming for pure (abstract) and non-pure virtual functions.
I always relied on ...
3
votes
4answers
243 views
What significant advances lost on side tracks should be revived in the main stream of software?
In reading Alan Kay's question on Significant new inventions I was coming up with answers that were not new ideas but old ones that have been passed by in the main stream. So, what significant lost ...
14
votes
1answer
907 views
Who designed exceptions?
Where did exceptions and exception handling come from?
I like how .NET uses it, I like how C++ supports it (but libraries unfortunately use return code or is written in C instead). I know its pretty ...
6
votes
3answers
223 views
Preserving version control commit history vs Refactoring and Documentation
It costs almost nothing to use the commit history maintained by the version control system. However, during a major project refactoring (or reorganization / cleanup) effort, functions and classes and ...
1
vote
5answers
347 views
History of open source software [closed]
I've been always interested, out of the pure self-amusement, in the history of open software used today:
who were the people which started it and what were the reasons to start
what were design ...
17
votes
12answers
2k views
How did JavaScript become popular?
In ancient history, Brendan Eich had a language design, and in today's world, JavaScript is a popular language implemented and used in many different places.
What caused the language to become ...
15
votes
6answers
8k views
Why is Python written in C and not in C++?
In Python's tutorial one can read that Python's original implementation is in C;
On the other hand, the Python implementation, written in C, (...)
I'm very curious why was Python written in C ...
8
votes
3answers
443 views
First languages with generic programming support
Which was the first language with generic programming support, and what was the first major staticly typed language (widely used) with generics support.
Generics implement the concept of ...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
What's the history of the non-official pronunciation of SQL?
SQL is officially pronounced as /ˌɛskjuːˈɛl/ like "S-Q-L", as stated in
Beaulieu, Alan (April 2009). Mary E. Treseler. ed. Learning SQL (2nd ed.). Sebastapol, CA, USA: O'Reilly. ISBN ...
9
votes
3answers
348 views
What is the first published reference to test-first programming?
I am rereading Refactoring by Martin Fowler. In Chapter 4, Building Tests, I came across the following passage.
In fact, one of the most usefull times to write tests is before you start programming. ...
13
votes
6answers
4k views
Why no client-side HTML include tag?
I had a question posed to me the other day by another programmer. I remember (a very long time ago) wondering the very same. Why was a browser-side include tag never considered? Or was it?
...
12
votes
11answers
5k views
Is MUMPS alive? [closed]
At my first workplace we were using Digital Standard MUMPS on a PDP 11-clone (TPA 440), then we've switched to Micronetics Standard MUMPS running on a Hewlett-Packard machine, HP-UX 9, around early ...
19
votes
6answers
593 views
Books and stories on programming culture, specifically in the 80's / early 90's
I've enjoyed a number of (fiction/non-fiction books) about hacker culture and running a software business in the 80's, 90's. For some reason things seemed so much more exciting back then. Examples ...
20
votes
11answers
1k views
Why Does Microsoft Frequently Use Generic Product Names?
Microsoft seems to use such generic names for their core products that it seems like it must be or have been part of a deliberate strategy. It is so common that I think it may have originated as a ...
14
votes
1answer
752 views
Where does the word “Programming” come from? [closed]
Where does the word "Programming" come from?
I'm referring to the word "program" as referring to "to instruct a computer". Programming, programmer etc...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
What's the origin of foo and bar? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using “Foo” and “Bar” in examples
I know AT&T labs used them in their Unix days, but do they have even deeper histories?
56
votes
13answers
9k views
What is the history of the use of “foo” and “bar” in source code examples?
Why do many code examples, especially tutorials, use the names "Foo" and "Bar" so often? It is almost a standard.
For example:
void foo(char* bar) {
printf("%s", bar);
}
