napi@rangkom.MY (Mohd Hanafiah b. Abdullah) (11/30/90)
Hi Does anyone know which language is the first to use recursions. BTW, there were languages which started as non-recursive then later incorporated it, while many had it as part of the original specs. Please respond by email. Thanks. Napi
schales@photon.tamu.edu (Douglas Lee Schales) (12/01/90)
If you are referring to computer programming languages, that would be LISP. Doug. ----- Douglas Lee Schales schales@cs.tamu.edu Texas A&M University Dept. of Computer Science
rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn) (12/01/90)
napi@rangkom.MY (Mohd Hanafiah b. Abdullah) writes: > Does anyone know which language is the first to use recursions. Where do we draw a line for "language"? Certainly recursion is evident in mathematics that far predates programming. Would you consider Church's thesis[*] as defining a language? Some folks figure it as a direct progenitor of LISP, and recursion certainly figures in heavily. [*] _The_Calculi_of_Lambda_Conversion_, Alonzo Church. (I think it's 1940, Princeton) -- Dick Dunn rcd@ico.isc.com -or- ico!rcd Boulder, CO (303)449-2870 ...Mr. Natural says, "Use the right tool for the job."
6600dt@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Dave Goggin) (12/02/90)
In article <319@rangkom.MY> napi@rangkom.MY (Mohd Hanafiah b. Abdullah) writes: >Hi hello. From the stuff we've been learning, I believe that LISP had recursion as ist original specs. In fact, the iterative/loop features were added to it somewhat leter. It was developed a long time ago, 1950 or so. It's probably one of the oldest languages still in general use. ciao! *dt*
t901908@mp.cs.niu.edu (Joe Adamo) (12/02/90)
In article <7571@hub.ucsb.edu> 6600dt@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Dave Goggin) writes: >In article <319@rangkom.MY> napi@rangkom.MY (Mohd Hanafiah b. Abdullah) writes: > >>Hi > >hello. > > From the stuff we've been learning, I believe >that LISP had recursion as ist original specs. In >fact, the iterative/loop features were added to it >somewhat leter. It was developed a long time ago, >1950 >or so. It's probably one of the oldest languages >still in general use. > >ciao! > >*dt* I know that this has been a long going discussion, but I'm pretty sure assembly/370 supports recursion. How old is assembly language? Joe Adamo **Northern Illinois University, a nice place to visit but....
schales@cs.tamu.edu (Douglas Lee Schales) (12/03/90)
In article <1990Dec2.005049.25290@mp.cs.niu.edu> t901908@mp.cs.niu.edu (Joe Adamo) writes: >In article <7571@hub.ucsb.edu> 6600dt@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Dave Goggin) writes: >>In article <319@rangkom.MY> napi@rangkom.MY (Mohd Hanafiah b. Abdullah) writes: >> >>that LISP had recursion as ist original specs. In >I know that this has been a long going discussion, but I'm pretty sure >assembly/370 supports recursion. How old is assembly language? > LISP: Late 1950's (1958?) IBM 360 introduced: 1964 Let's not get ridiculous in the interpretation of the question. If we take it to the assembly level, then the IBM 704, on which LISP was originally written, could be said to support recursion. Doug. ----- Douglas Lee Schales schales@cs.tamu.edu Texas A&M University Dept. of Computer Science
bill@camco.Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) (12/06/90)
The first fully recursive language I used was ALGOL on a
Burroughs B-5500. This machine was designed from the ground up
to support ALGOL around 1960 (it also had virtual memory years
before IBM invented thrashing and called it VM).
I don't know whether this predates LISP or not.
Bill.
--
INTERNET: bill@Celestial.COM Bill Campbell; Celestial Software
UUCP: ...!thebes!camco!bill 6641 East Mercer Way
uunet!camco!bill Mercer Island, WA 98040; (206) 947-5591kinnersley@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (Bill Kinnersley) (12/08/90)
According to a historical account of the development of LISP by McCarthy, he was partially motivated by hearing an account of the IPL2 programming language in the summer of 1956. IPL2 was already a recursive list- processing language. -- --Bill Kinnersley