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From: eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya)
Newsgroups: net.lang,net.lang.pascal
Subject: Re: How Do Languages Become Popular?
Message-ID: <850@ames.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 6-Mar-85 11:49:50 EST
Article-I.D.: ames.850
Posted: Wed Mar  6 11:49:50 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 07:25:56 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
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Xref: watmath net.lang:1502 net.lang.pascal:262

i tried posting this once before and i suspect our news feed was down.
it does warrent discussion.

i saw this with the development of pascal and then with c as a part
of unix ports: the issue is the popularity of porting a compiler
implementation, P4 for pascal and pcc for c, rather than just the language.
i am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that most compilers
for these and other languages began with versions of 'portable'
compilers.

i detect a number of 'darwinian' effects: faster, more syntax compatible across
manufacturer compilers in contrast to older languages.

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  {hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,vortex}!ames!aurora!eugene
  emiya@ames-vmsb.ARPA