in full Formula Translation
computer-programming language
created in 1957 by John Backus that shortened the
process of programming and made computer programming more accessible.
The creation of FORTRAN, which
debuted in 1957, marked a significant stage in the development of
computer-programming languages. Previous programming was written in machine
(first-generation) language or assembly (second-generation) language, which
required the programmer to write instructions in binary or hexadecimal
arithmetic. Frustration with the arduous nature of such programming led Backus
to search for a simpler, more accessible way to communicate with computers.
During the three-year development stage, Backus led an eclectic team of 10
International Business Machines (IBM) employees to create a language that
combined a form of English shorthand with algebraic equations.
FORTRAN enabled the rapid writing of
computer programs that ran nearly as efficiently as programs that had been
laboriously hand coded in machine language. As computers were rare and
extremely expensive, inefficient programs were a greater financial problem than
the lengthy and painstaking development of machine-language programs. With the
creation of an efficient higher-level (or natural) language, also known as a
third-generation language, computer programming moved beyond a small coterie to
include engineers and scientists, who were instrumental in expanding the use of
computers.
By allowing the creation of
natural-language programs that ran as efficiently as hand-coded ones, FORTRAN
became the programming language of choice in the late 1950s. It was updated a
number of times in the 1950s and 1960s in order to remain competitive with more
contemporary programming languages. FORTRAN 77 was released in 1978, followed
by FORTRAN 90 in 1991 and further updates in 1996 and 2004. However, fourth-
and fifth-generation languages largely supplanted FORTRAN outside academic
circles beginning in the 1970s.
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