Programming Languages - Wiki

Every programming language was created to solve a specific problem. Understanding their origins helps explain why they work the way they do and what they're best suited for.

Python

Created 1991 by Guido van Rossum
Origin Netherlands, while working at CWI
Named after Monty Python's Flying Circus
Built on ABC language, influenced by C and Modula-3
Philosophy Readability counts, explicit is better than implicit
Used for AI/ML, data science, web backends, automation, scripting
Why it won Easy to learn, massive ecosystem, versatile

JavaScript

Created 1995 by Brendan Eich at Netscape
Timeline Famously built in 10 days
Original name Mocha, then LiveScript, then JavaScript (marketing)
Built on Influenced by Java, Scheme, and Self
Purpose Make web pages interactive
Used for Web frontends, backends (Node.js), mobile apps, everything
Why it won Only language that runs in browsers natively

TypeScript

Created 2012 by Microsoft, led by Anders Hejlsberg
Built on JavaScript - it's a superset that compiles to JS
Why created Add static typing to catch errors at compile time
Anders Hejlsberg Also created Turbo Pascal, Delphi, and C#
Used for Large-scale web apps, anything JavaScript does but safer
Why it won Makes JavaScript manageable for big codebases

C

Created 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs
Built on B language (Ken Thompson), which came from BCPL
Purpose Rewrite Unix in a high-level language
Legacy Foundation for C++, Java, C#, Go, Rust, and many others
Used for Operating systems, embedded systems, performance-critical code
Why it matters The mother of most modern languages

C++

Created 1983 by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs
Original name "C with Classes"
Built on C, with ideas from Simula (object-oriented)
Used for Game engines, browsers, databases, operating systems
Powers Chrome, Firefox, Windows, Unreal Engine, Adobe products

Java

Created 1995 by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems
Original name Oak (after a tree outside Gosling's office)
Philosophy "Write once, run anywhere" via the JVM
Built on Influenced by C++, but simplified and safer
Used for Enterprise software, Android apps, backend systems
Legacy Spawned Kotlin, Scala, Clojure, Groovy

Go (Golang)

Created 2009 by Google (Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, Ken Thompson)
Ken Thompson Also co-created Unix and C
Why created Frustration with C++ compile times and complexity
Philosophy Simplicity, fast compilation, built-in concurrency
Used for Cloud infrastructure, Docker, Kubernetes, backend services

Rust

Created 2010 by Graydon Hoare at Mozilla
Purpose Systems programming without memory safety bugs
Philosophy Speed of C/C++ with guaranteed memory safety
Used for Firefox components, Linux kernel, CLI tools, WebAssembly
Loved Most loved language on Stack Overflow for 7+ years

Swift

Created 2014 by Apple, led by Chris Lattner
Built on Replaced Objective-C for Apple development
Influenced by Objective-C, Rust, Haskell, Ruby, Python
Used for iOS apps, macOS apps, Apple ecosystem
Chris Lattner Also created LLVM compiler infrastructure

The Family Tree

Most modern languages trace back to a few ancestors. C (1972) influenced nearly everything. JavaScript (1995) dominates the web. Python (1991) dominates AI. Understanding these roots helps you pick the right tool and learn new languages faster.