■ First-generation languages (1954–1958)
- FORTRAN I Mathematical expressions
- ALGOL 58 Mathematical expressions
- Flowmatic Mathematical expressions
- IPL V Mathematical expressions
■ Second-generation languages (1959–1961)
- FORTRAN II Subroutines, separate compilation
- ALGOL 60 Block structure, data types
- COBOL Data descrīption, file handling
- Lisp List processing, pointers, garbage collection
■ Third-generation languages (1962–1970)
- PL/1 FORTRAN + ALGOL + COBOL
- ALGOL 68 Rigorous successor to ALGOL 60
- Pascal Simple successor to ALGOL 60
- Simula Classes, data abstraction
■ The generation gap (1970–1980)
Many different languages were invented, but few endured. However, the following
are worth noting:
- C Efficient; small executables
- FORTRAN 77 ANSI standardiz