Evolution of the high level programming languages
Masud Ahmad Malik · ACM SIGPLAN Notices · 1998
Programming languages have emerged as the powerful tools we use to describe algorithms for execution by computers. Ever since need for such languages was felt half a century ago, numerous languages have been designed and implemented with varying goals and for different application areas. This article reviews the evolution of the imperative high level programming languages and critically examines the factors that influenced different design efforts and direction of programming language design, from Zuse's Plankalkul to the present day object-oriented programming languages.