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Hello, World!: A Brief History of Programming in 90 Languages
Win a free print copy of this book!
16 days and 03:12:59
8 copies available
U.S. only
Every programming language started with a human moment.
In 2006, a programmer climbed twenty-one flights of stairs because his elevator's software had crashed again. By the time he reached his apartment, he had decided to build a language that would make those bugs impossible. The White House ended up recommending it by name.
In 1952, Grace Hopper built the first compiler, and nobody believed her. In 1964, at 4 AM in a Dartmouth basement, a professor and a student typed RUN simultaneously and both got the right answer -- launching a language that would ignite the personal computer revolution. In 1995, Brendan Eich built JavaScript in ten days and accidentally created the most widely deployed programming language on earth.
Hello, World! tells all of these stories and dozens more. 90 programming languages, 76 years, from Konrad Zuse's Plankalkül in 1948 to Gleam in 2024. Each language gets one who made it, why, what the code looks like, and what happened next. 28 spotlight narratives go deeper into the human drama behind the code. Dip in anywhere or read it front to back and watch the entire history of programming unfold.
Reviewed and corrected by language creators. Entries were verified by the creators of BCPL, SQL, CUDA, Haskell, C++, F#, and Visual Basic.
"Biagio captures the human stories behind 90 programming languages with genuine care and accuracy. His book is a valuable contribution to the history of computing." -- Don Chamberlin, co-creator of SQL
"As far as I am concerned it is perfect." -- Martin Richards, creator of BCPL
What is
90 languages across 8 eras, from the Pioneers (1948) to the AI Age (2024)28 spotlight narratives you will not the elevator that inspired Rust, the 4 AM birth of BASIC, Grace Hopper's compiler that should not have worked, JavaScript's ten-day sprint, the COBOL code that outlived everything, and moreVerified Hello World code for every language, checked against official documentationFun facts that the White House memo that named Rust, the LOLCODE web server that actually worked, the language built entirely from eight charactersYou will like this book if you have
Wondered why there are so many programming languages, and whether anyone actually planned it this wayUsed a language for years without knowing the argument, accident, or bet that created itWanted a book about programming that reads like stories, not documentationThe perfect gift for the developer who already mass-produces side projects in languages they will never use professionally.
No coding experience required. No coding experience hurt, either.
In 2006, a programmer climbed twenty-one flights of stairs because his elevator's software had crashed again. By the time he reached his apartment, he had decided to build a language that would make those bugs impossible. The White House ended up recommending it by name.
In 1952, Grace Hopper built the first compiler, and nobody believed her. In 1964, at 4 AM in a Dartmouth basement, a professor and a student typed RUN simultaneously and both got the right answer -- launching a language that would ignite the personal computer revolution. In 1995, Brendan Eich built JavaScript in ten days and accidentally created the most widely deployed programming language on earth.
Hello, World! tells all of these stories and dozens more. 90 programming languages, 76 years, from Konrad Zuse's Plankalkül in 1948 to Gleam in 2024. Each language gets one who made it, why, what the code looks like, and what happened next. 28 spotlight narratives go deeper into the human drama behind the code. Dip in anywhere or read it front to back and watch the entire history of programming unfold.
Reviewed and corrected by language creators. Entries were verified by the creators of BCPL, SQL, CUDA, Haskell, C++, F#, and Visual Basic.
"Biagio captures the human stories behind 90 programming languages with genuine care and accuracy. His book is a valuable contribution to the history of computing." -- Don Chamberlin, co-creator of SQL
"As far as I am concerned it is perfect." -- Martin Richards, creator of BCPL
What is
90 languages across 8 eras, from the Pioneers (1948) to the AI Age (2024)28 spotlight narratives you will not the elevator that inspired Rust, the 4 AM birth of BASIC, Grace Hopper's compiler that should not have worked, JavaScript's ten-day sprint, the COBOL code that outlived everything, and moreVerified Hello World code for every language, checked against official documentationFun facts that the White House memo that named Rust, the LOLCODE web server that actually worked, the language built entirely from eight charactersYou will like this book if you have
Wondered why there are so many programming languages, and whether anyone actually planned it this wayUsed a language for years without knowing the argument, accident, or bet that created itWanted a book about programming that reads like stories, not documentationThe perfect gift for the developer who already mass-produces side projects in languages they will never use professionally.
No coding experience required. No coding experience hurt, either.
239 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2026
About the author
Dale Biagio
1 book6 followersDale Biagio is a Software Architect with over twenty-five years of
experience turning complex technology challenges into scalable
solutions, from early mobile platforms to modern enterprise AI.
He has built and led global engineering teams, driving digital
transformation across cloud, data, and AI disciplines, and holds
professional certifications in Enterprise Architecture, AWS, and
Azure AI. His business foundation is rooted in Harvard Business
School, where he studied Business Analytics, Economics for
Managers, and Financial Accounting, giving him a rare ability to
bridge enterprise technology strategy with financial and
organizational impact.
He wrote this book because after a quarter century of typing
“Hello, World!” in new languages, he wanted to know where those
two words actually came from.
He lives in Georgia, USA with his wonderful Wife, fearless
Daughter, and one very unprogrammable Dog.
experience turning complex technology challenges into scalable
solutions, from early mobile platforms to modern enterprise AI.
He has built and led global engineering teams, driving digital
transformation across cloud, data, and AI disciplines, and holds
professional certifications in Enterprise Architecture, AWS, and
Azure AI. His business foundation is rooted in Harvard Business
School, where he studied Business Analytics, Economics for
Managers, and Financial Accounting, giving him a rare ability to
bridge enterprise technology strategy with financial and
organizational impact.
He wrote this book because after a quarter century of typing
“Hello, World!” in new languages, he wanted to know where those
two words actually came from.
He lives in Georgia, USA with his wonderful Wife, fearless
Daughter, and one very unprogrammable Dog.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 15, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for review.
If you're even slightly interested in coding languages, I would definitely consider reading this. The different entries are short and sweet (with a cute note about whether they're endangered or not) while going more in depth into the more used or notable languages. Even for the languages that don't get a lot of time, it gives just enough information that if you wanted to look into it more by yourself you'd have the information to do.
You definitely need at least some coding knowledge to understand the terms, as they're not really explained, but I managed it just fine with a rudimentary understanding.
If you're even slightly interested in coding languages, I would definitely consider reading this. The different entries are short and sweet (with a cute note about whether they're endangered or not) while going more in depth into the more used or notable languages. Even for the languages that don't get a lot of time, it gives just enough information that if you wanted to look into it more by yourself you'd have the information to do.
You definitely need at least some coding knowledge to understand the terms, as they're not really explained, but I managed it just fine with a rudimentary understanding.
Displaying 1 of 1 review