> On Apr 29, 2016, at 9:09 AM, Noel Chiappa <j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
>
> ...
>> From: Liam Proven
>
>> C is popular because C is popular.
>
> Yes, but that had to start somewhere.
>
> I think it _became_ popular for two reasons: i) it was 'the' language of
> Unix, and Unix was so much better than 99% of the alternatives _at the time_
> that it grew like crazy, and ii) C was a lot better than many of the
> alternatives _at the time it first appeared_ (for a number of reasons, which
> I won't expand on unless there is interest).
I think the answer is simpler: Unix was adopted by a number of academic groups
because it was available on easy terms, and it was adopted by a very successful
company (Sun).
If Burroughs had been successful, its Algol might well have won; it certainly
is every bit as capable as C and far safer. (For those who don't want safety,
there's ESPOL.)
paul
