LISP

programming2The LISP programming language was invented by John McCarthy at MIT in 1958. Since it’s inception, it has been closely related with artificial intelligence research. It used many principles from the first AI language, Information Processing Language. He published a paper showing that one could build an entire language using simple operators and functions.

The language was first implemented on an IBM 704 computer, and the first LISP compiler was written in 1962. It was also used in some of the earliest artificial intelligence systems like SHRDLU. In the early 1970s, computing memory power wasn’t enough to run truly efficient LISP code, so dedicated LISP machines were built. In the 80s and 90s the different variations of the code that had spawned were unified into the Common LISP standard, but by then it’s glory days were over. It is one of the oldest known languages, and is still in use today along with it’s siblings COBOL and Fortran.

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