It might be an interesting contest to find the earliest reference to this debate. It isn't quite what I was looking for, but I found this short comparison of pr

It might be an interesting contest to find the earliest reference to this debate. It isn't quite what I was looking for, but I found this short comparison of programming languages from 1972 amusing: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720025540.pdf http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/1972002... For example, this quote from the conclusion: "The possibility of standardization of computer languages is still remote, and in the author's opinion will remain so until standardization in hardware applied to standard problems is first achieved" Are we there yet?