4 ms·

counterexamples: python ruby perl clojure C C++

jakeinspace 4y ago
C++ had a whole host of compilers and tooling/IDEs pushed by large private companies (Microsoft, Borland, Intel). I think that somewhat qualifies as institutional backing of another sort.
- p_l 4y ago
  The initial push for C was that most Unix systems arrived with a C compiler included (there were exceptions ofc, and once the compilers started going pricy there was a lot of volunteers for GCC). Microsoft and Borland both were companies that made money on selling developer tools (it's been overshadowed by OS and office software for MS, but Microsoft had a lot of business selling compilers etc.) so of course they sold compilers for languages that got popular (and in case of MS, later used the compilers to prop the environment for developers building software for their OSes)
linguae 4y ago
Counterpoint regarding C and C++ is the famous “Worse is Better” essay by famed Lisp hacker Richard Gabriel: https://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html https://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html C was the implementation language of AT&T Unix. The operating system spread across universities in the 1970s due to AT&T’s inexpensive licensing to them, including source code. Unix, though its variants and clones, became the dominant operating system with most competitors either dying out or adopting Unix. Both C and C++ also had the benefits of being the “blessed” languages of Windows (for example, Win32 is a C API, and MFC is a C++ API). Even in the days of the classic Mac, while Pascal was originally the language of choice, eventually in the 1990s C would be “blessed” by Apple.
nerdponx 4y ago
Python I think got a major popularity boost by becoming the de-facto standard language of the natural sciences, machine learning, AI, and data science. That, and being a substantially more accessible alternative to Java, and arguably to Ruby as well.

C++ had a whole host of compilers and tooling/IDEs pushed by large private companies (Microsoft, Borland, Intel). I think that somewhat qualifies as institutional backing of another sort.

p_l 4y ago
The initial push for C was that most Unix systems arrived with a C compiler included (there were exceptions ofc, and once the compilers started going pricy there was a lot of volunteers for GCC). Microsoft and Borland both were companies that made money on selling developer tools (it's been overshadowed by OS and office software for MS, but Microsoft had a lot of business selling compilers etc.) so of course they sold compilers for languages that got popular (and in case of MS, later used the compilers to prop the environment for developers building software for their OSes)

linguae 4y ago

Counterpoint regarding C and C++ is the famous “Worse is Better” essay by famed Lisp hacker Richard Gabriel: https://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html https://www.dreamsongs.com/RiseOfWorseIsBetter.html C was the implementation language of AT&T Unix. The operating system spread across universities in the 1970s due to AT&T’s inexpensive licensing to them, including source code. Unix, though its variants and clones, became the dominant operating system with most competitors either dying out or adopting Unix. Both C and C++ also had the benefits of being the “blessed” languages of Windows (for example, Win32 is a C API, and MFC is a C++ API). Even in the days of the classic Mac, while Pascal was originally the language of choice, eventually in the 1990s C would be “blessed” by Apple.

nerdponx 4y ago

Python I think got a major popularity boost by becoming the de-facto standard language of the natural sciences, machine learning, AI, and data science. That, and being a substantially more accessible alternative to Java, and arguably to Ruby as well.