EMUL-8 is a fascinating programming language. It's described in just one paper from 1977. It's a mix of features from APL, LISP, ALGOL, and SNOBOL. And, I think, it's a wonderful window into how counterculture and home computing...
Jun 21, 2026
I mean that both in the specific and the abstract. This episode we are looking at APL, which stands for A Programming Language. APL was developed in the mid 50s, but didn't see a working implementation until 1965. It's a language that truly looks like no others, but has some odd parallels to everything from BASIC...
Jun 14, 2026
Dale Biagio(author of Hello, World!) got in touch with me recently. He said he had a book full of short histories of programming languages. Better still, it has sources! How could I resist! In this episode I sit down with Dale to talk about the intersection of technical and human histories.
You can find more about...
May 31, 2026
I've been browsing old compur surveys and trying to build up a comprehensive data set. What I've found is a little surprising: between late 1945 and 1949 only 10 new computers entered service. Once we get to the 50s that number explodes. What's going on here? What caused the gap between the first digital machines and...
May 18, 2026
What connects IBM, the NSA, the Third Reich, and high fidelity recordings of symphonies? The answer is: magnetic drum memory. Join me as I lose all track of scope and plot to discovery just how and why magnetic drum memory was invented.
Like Advent of Computing? Then check out the after show! Adjunct of Computing is now...
