Skip to content
◈ALB Atlas

FORTRAN Alive

FORTRAN
KindProgramming language
Appeared1957
StatusAlive
CreatorJohn Backus / IBM
FamilyFORTRAN
Also known asFortran
Sourcefortran-lang.org ↗

The first commercially successful high-level language — Backus's team proved a compiler could match hand-coded assembly, and every scientific language since has lived in its wake. Still standardized: Fortran 2023.

Created by IBM John Backus
Influenced PL/I

Backus's IBM team shipped the first FORTRAN compiler for the 704 in 1957 — the first commercially successful high-level language, proving generated code could compete with assembly and ending the era when 'real programmers' wrote only machine code.\n\nFortran 2023 still ships; it is the oldest language in continuous commercial use and the foundation of scientific computing.

→ Read the full article on the ALB Wiki

Timeline

1957First compiler delivered for the IBM 704
1966FORTRAN 66 — first language ever standardized
2023Fortran 2023 standard published

Sources

  1. fortran-lang.org/
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran