For questions about the history of programming and computing.
36
votes
14answers
9k views
How have languages influenced CPU design?
We are often told that the hardware doesn't care what language a program is written in as it only sees the compiled binary code, however this is not the whole truth. For example, consider the humble ...
51
votes
3answers
18k views
Why do programming languages, especially C, use curly braces and not square ones?
The definition of "C-Style language" can practically be simplified down to "uses curly braces ({})." Why do we use that particular character (and why not something more reasonable, like [], which ...
-1
votes
0answers
98 views
Why does Eclipse have two versions which start with the same letter? [on hold]
I noticed that Eclipse versions start with letters in alphabetical order but there were two releases wich were starting with G (Ganymede and Galileo). Galileo does not fit in the list because it is ...
24
votes
6answers
3k views
What is the history of why bytes are eight bits?
What where the historical forces at work, the tradeoffs to make, in deciding to use groups of eight bits as the fundamental unit ?
There were machines, once upon a time, using other word sizes, ...
5
votes
3answers
182 views
Writing a bootloader with no bootloader
I have a question that I really can't find a straight answer to. Let me start by saying I'm not asking for a step by step tutorial, or even plan on doing anything. I'm just curious.
I've been ...
-1
votes
1answer
102 views
Lawsuits on setting unscalable fonts for web sites [closed]
Today I've learned something astonishingly new about CSS, from answer to this question:
There have been lawsuits (in the US) over accessibility issues on
websites that result from "hard-coding" ...
-1
votes
2answers
191 views
What is the origin/meaning of the name 'NHibernate'?
Been poking around the web because I was curious as to why they called it that but haven't found anything yet. Anyone know?
(I checked the FAQ and it wasn't clear if questions on history/origins were ...
-2
votes
1answer
105 views
Where have you seen JavaScript used in a surprising circumstance? [closed]
I’m looking for stories about JavaScript having been used in an odd/surprising circumstance. Do you know of any?
Examples include:
NodeCopter (JavaScript used to power quad-copter drones)
JScript + ...
0
votes
0answers
55 views
Who invented the otpauth:// URI scheme?
It seems really simple, but who invented the commonly-used otpauth:// scheme (used by Google Authenticator and other TOTP soft tokens by scanning QR codes)? When?
1
vote
0answers
46 views
What is the origin of the term “dongle”? [migrated]
Why was the word "dongle" chosen to represent this kind of hardware device?
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) lists the etymology of 'dongle' as "arbitrary"... so no help there.
The OED cites ...
3
votes
3answers
930 views
C Flexible Arrays: When did they become part of the standard?
I learned to program in C many years ago, and used C steadily for about 10 years.
These days, I occasionally have to look at C code, because our Informix 4GL RDS customized runners also contain C ...
43
votes
12answers
7k views
Why is 0 false?
This question may sound dumb, but why does 0 evaluates to false and any other [integer] value to true is most of programming languages?
String comparison
Since the question seems a little bit too ...
13
votes
1answer
928 views
What happened to Concurrent C?
I recently checked out a fantastic book from my college library. It is a bit old at 1989, but the language it describes sounds rather nice. And even while I may not be using it soon, I wanted to ...
0
votes
1answer
260 views
Why was F# created?
For my current class, I have to pick and research a Programming Language (or popular scripting language) and answer quite a few questions about it, write a paper, and do some example programs ...
42
votes
3answers
3k views
So what *did* Alan Kay really mean by the term “object-oriented”?
Reportedly, Alan Kay is the inventor of the term "object oriented". And he is often quoted as having said that what we call OO today is not what he meant.
For example, I just found this on Google:
...
