Homework 01 - Programming Languages

You are to create a text file named hw01.txt or a Word file named hw01.doc and submit it to the following site:

csit.graceland.edu/~jsjones/submit

This is a simple first assignment to get you started looking on-line for definitions and information about programming languages. DO NOT CUT AND PASTE your answers, but rather put them in your own words. That is, paraphrase what you have found at several sites into something you understand and can explain. Also, cite your references by giving the URL of the web pages.

1. [2 pts] What was the first programming language?
   
   
2. [2 pts] What was the first high-level programming language that gained popular use by programmers?
   
   
3. [3 pts] Approximately how many different programming languages have been created? Try your best to get a recent answer to this and explain how you came up with your estimate, what source(s) did you use, and give the date for the source(s).
   
   
4. [5 pts] For any 5 of the following languages, find something positive programmers said about the language and why they liked it or found it useful:
   • FORTRAN
   • COBOL
   • PL/1
   • ADA
   • SNOBOL
   • FORTH
   • PERL
   • C
   • Smalltalk
   
   
   
5. [2 pts] What is the difference between a scripting language and other types of programming languages?
   
   
6. [4 pts] In what sense is the following statement correct? In what sense is it incorrect? (answer both ways)
   
   A programming language can only make the hardware do what it is designed to do.
   
   
7. [2 pts] Find examples of the "Hello World" program in different languages and show a clip of the weirdest language example you could find and also the shortest one you could find. For this you can cut and paste the two examples you found, but identify the languages and the URLs for them.