This is a different take on the history of programming than I have typically seen. The author compares statements and how the different languages have used them i.e. loops with if and while statements. Dennie Van Tassel, the author, is with the Computer Science and Information Systems Department of Gavilan College. He does not include personal information on his webpage but from the text itself, Tassel mentions programming computers for over 50 years. Who better to write a book like this than someone who has used most of the languages (dozens by his counting) being discussed?
Tassel suggests that his online textbook would be useful for:
- Survey of programming languages course
- Historical study of programming language statements
- Reference document for variations of program statements
I suspect part of the motivation behind this text is to get students considering the use of different languages depending upon the requirements of the project.
Chapter Titles from History and Comparison of Programming Languages Online Textbook
- Introduction: Programming language Statements.
- Comments: Programming language comments.
- Labels: History of labels use in programming languages.
- Assignment: History of assignment statements in programming languages.
- Arithmetic: History of arithmetic statements in programming languages.
- Arrays: History of arrays use in programming languages.
- Stop-end: History of stop, end statements use in programming languages.
- Literals: Literals used in Programming Languages.
- Parentheses: History of parentheses use in Programming Languages.
- References: References and links.
View this Free Online Material at the source:
History and Comparison of Programming Languages
