Questions

Questions we have about history:

• Oldest computer program ?
• Number of programming languages over time ?
• Gender disparity over time ?
• Outrageous stories we told... (cf Story of Mel)
• What were the constraints people operated under at X time ? Can we reproduce them ?
  • Program with only a stack machine...
• How did one program the Minitel ? See http://hxc2001.free.fr/minitel/
• History of data structures ? How/when did we evolve away from primitive data ?
• See http://www.sigcis.org/files/A%20brief%20history.pdf
• How much, if at all, did we exploit the possibilities of self-modifying code ? (cf Priestley)
• How did Moore end up being so prescient about Moore's Law? Why is it discussed only from 1995? How well can we expect it to hold up?
• How did usage of programs spread from initial applications (aerospace), & how did the profession itself become fragmented into specialties (game programmer vs Web, etc) - how distinct are those specialites ?
• ...