How Were the First Written Languages Created and the Evolution of Computer Programming Languages?
The creation of the first written languages is a fascinating journey from prehistoric cave drawings to the complex machine code used in modern computers. These ancient forms of communication represent a profound transition from spoken language to a visual and symbolic system that laid the foundation for civilization as we know it today.
The Genesis of Written Languages
As humans evolved and societies became more complex, the need to record information and share knowledge became increasingly important. Some of the earliest forms of writing are considered to be pictographs, or ideograms, which were representations of objects and concepts. According to historians, a form of writing was “done” with nails that were beaten into stone to form signs in symbols. These figures often resembled animals and some forms that resembled humans, serving as early attempts to convey messages visually. These crude marks on stone could have been a means for primitive peoples to record and communicate what they knew about their world.
It is suggested that written languages that are pictographs may have even predated vocal language. Grunts and crude sign language could have been used before the vocal cords developed enough to articulate complex sounds necessary for spoken language. The scribbling of pictures of animals and people on cave walls might have been a way for early humans to make records and communicate their observations and experiences.
From Visual Communication to Alphabetic Systems
To create a complete written language from scratch involves inventing vocabulary, rules of grammar, and perhaps even an alphabet. This process is similar to the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, a philologist and expert on Old Norse, who contributed to the Oxford English Dictionary and loved to create languages for his works, such as The Lord of the Rings. His languages are original in all three elements: vocabulary, grammar, and alphabet.
However, writing a few lines in an unknown language for a science fiction story requires no underlying structure. One could simply let a cat walk across a keyboard to generate text. This humorous take on language creation underscores the complexity and craftsmanship involved in developing a complete written language.
The Leap to Computer Programming Languages
The evolution of written language to computer programming languages is a similar journey of innovation and complexity. In the era of early computing, the idea of using a computer to translate a text file into binary that could be run on the same or different computer was conceived. This concept of an assembly language is generally credited to Maurice Wilkes and his team.
Writing is an assembly language is far better than numeric code but is still a tedious and very detailed process. To simplify programming, several efforts extended the assembler concept of using a computer to compile more abstract task descriptions into machine code. This led to the development of early compilers, such as FORTRAN, COBOL, and RPG.
The process of creating new or special computing architectures often supported the use of cross-compilers, which replaced the code-producing component of an existing compiler to produce binary code required by the target computer. Cross-assemblers also played a significant role in this development. As a personal experience, I have written cross-assemblers, compilers, and cross-compilers, contributing to the complex landscape of computer programming languages.