A Cultural Diffusion Model for the Rise and Fall of Programming Languages

Bibliographic Data

ID8960530
AuthorsSergi Valverde (0000-0002-2150-9610, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, corresponding author), Valverde Valverde, Ricard V Solé (0000-0001-6974-1008), Sole Sole
Year2015
Volume87
Issue3
Pages224-224
Publication date2015-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Biology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7143 • E-ISSN: 1534-6617
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.13110/humanbiology.87.3.0224
PMID26932571
OpenAlexW2183642003
LanguageEN
References cited5

Our interaction with complex computing machines is mediated by programming languages (PLs), which constitute one of the major innovations in the evolution of technology. PLs allow flexible, scalable, and fast use of hardware and are largely responsible for shaping the history of information technology since the rise of computers in the 1950s. The rapid growth and impact of computers were followed closely by the development of PLs. As occurs with natural, human languages, PLs have emerged and gone extinct. There has been always a diversity of coexisting PLs that compete somewhat while occupying special niches. Here we show that the statistical patterns of language adoption, rise, and fall can be accounted for by a simple model in which a set of programmers can use several PLs, decide to use existing PLs used by other programmers, or decide not to use them. Our results highlight the influence of strong communities of practice in the diffusion of PL innovations

Data science · Diffusion · Diversity (politics · Epistemology · Programming language · Programming paradigm · Scalability · Set (abstract data type · Simple (philosophy · Sociology · Anthropology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Language and cultural evolution

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