Programming languages: History and future

This paper discusses both the history and future of programming languages ( = higher level languages). Some of the difficulties in writing such a history are indicated. A key part of the paper is a tree showing the chronological development of languages and their interrelationships. Reasons for the prolifera-tion of languages are given. The major languages are listed with the reasons for their importance. A section on chronology indicates the happenings of the significant previous time periods and the major topics of 1972. Key concepts other than specific languages are discussed. Key Words and Phrases: programming languages, higher level languages, languages, history, future directions, language interrelationships, programming language tree, programming language history, programming language futur