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Welcome to the eigth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, dedicated to the subject of Programming History.
Kent Beck is deservedly famous for creating Test-Driven Development (TDD.) According to himself, he did not invent it. He only rediscovered it.
Somehow we all agree about the importance of history in our society. We teach it to our younger ones, we quote it in our speeches, we talk about it during our dinners. Maybe it is because we had to memorize the names of battles fought ages ago, and we expect to capitalize on that fact to appear wise (if not arrogant) to others. We might even agree with history itself, shaking our heads in dismay to some extent, as we see the events unfolding nowadays. A phenomenon which, by all measures, tends to increase with age.
What is the history of programming? There is none. There are many. It is too long. Let me summarise.