History of Programming Languages: Volume 2

This specially prepared work comprises a living archive of important programming languages, described by the people most instrumental in their creation and development. Drawn from the ACM/SIGPLAN Second History of Programming Languages Conference, this volume, like the earlier book from the first such conference (HOPL), conveys the motivations of the language designers, and the reasons why they rejected existing languages and created new ones. The book relates the processes by which different languages evolved, in the words of the individuals active in the languages' development. Most important, participants share insights about influences and decisions, both on choices made, and on the many roads not taken. In the book's conclusion, distinguished historians of computing share views about preserving programming language history.