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Jef Raskin's Proposed Apple Calculator Language and His Views on Programming Languages
Key points
- Jef Raskin proposed a calculator language for Apple in 1979.
- Raskin intended this language as a potential Macintosh programming language.
- He criticized BASIC, Fortran, PL/1, Pascal, and Lisp.
- Raskin expressed strong approval for APL.
Raskin's Calculator Language Proposal
Documents from Jef Raskin, dating primarily from 1979 during his early tenure at Apple, reveal his proposal for a "calculator" language. This language was presented in the context of programming languages, suggesting Raskin's ambition for it to evolve into something more substantial, potentially serving as the programming language for the Macintosh, a role ultimately filled by Pascal.
Critiques of Contemporary Languages
The documents include an extensive addendum detailing Raskin's opinions on the programming languages prevalent at the time. He expressed dissatisfaction with existing languages, believing they were inadequate. Raskin was particularly critical of BASIC, which was widely used on personal computers, and also conveyed negative sentiments towards Fortran, PL/1, and Pascal, despite Pascal's eventual use on the Macintosh.
Disdain for Lisp and Praise for APL
Raskin also held a low opinion of Lisp, a language that later influenced Smalltalk and Objective-C. In contrast, he highly praised APL, dedicating an entire section to its positive attributes. Despite Raskin's admiration, APL's influence on languages like C/C++ and Python was limited, and it ultimately became a less prominent language in the evolutionary tree of programming languages.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Newly surfaced documents from Jef Raskin, an early Apple employee, reveal his proposal for a "calculator" language in 1979, which he envisioned as a potential programming language for the Macintosh. The documents also detail Raskin's critical opinions on contemporary programming languages like BASIC, Fortran, PL/1, Pascal, and Lisp, while praising APL.