| A | B |
|---|
| C++ | Compiled, high-level language developed by Bjarne STROUSTRUP in 1985 at Bell Labs. Adds object-oriented features to C. |
| Java | High-level language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. Pure object-oriented. Compiled to bytecode; "write once, run everywhere." |
| BASIC | High-level language developed by John KEMENY and Thomas KURTZ at Dartmouth College in the mid 1960s. Easy to use but hard to maintain programs. Name is an acronym. |
| C | Compiled successor to B; developed by Dennis RITCHIE in 1972. High-level and highly standardized language. |
| Perl | Interpreted language designed principally to process text. Written by Larry WALL and first released in 1998. Makes use of heavy symbols and idoms. |
| ALGOL | Created in the late 1950s, first procedural language intended for solving mathematical and scientific problems. Acronym of Algorithmic Language. |
| Pascal | High-level, compiled language built upon ALGOL. Developed by Niklaus WIRTH during 1967-1971. Named for a French mathematician. |
| LISP | The ancestor of the family of functional languages. Developed in 1950-1960 by John MCCARTHY and is used primarily for symbolic manipulations of complicated structures. |
| Fortran | Oldest high-level language. Designed by John BACKUS for IBM during the late 1950s. Once in use on virtually every computer in the world. Acronym of Formula Translation. |
| COBOL | Developed in 1959 by CODASYL under the direction of Rear Admiral Grace HOPPER. Second-oldest high level language. Uses an English-like syntax that lead to widespread use in business, especially finance. Main source of Year 2000 problems. Acronym for Common Business-Oriented Language. |
