Influential Dead Languages

This website discusses the influence of programming languages that are considered mostly dead, analyzing their historical significance and contributions to modern computing. It highlights languages like COBOL, ALGOL, and Smalltalk, and explains their impact on the evolution of programming.

The conversation highlights the significant impact of COBOL on programming language portability, with one user noting, "Cobol was designed to vastly reduce portability woes." This emphasizes how COBOL's innovations laid the groundwork for modern expectations of data and program portability across different machines.

Another recurring theme in the discussion is the evolution of programming languages, particularly regarding ML and its dialects. Another user points out, "ML did not mostly die, it morphed into two main dialects," illustrating how languages can adapt and coexist rather than simply fade away.