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By Adrian Kosmaczewski, September 5th, 2022
Welcome to the forty-eighth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, dedicated to the subject of Evolution, and closing the 4th year of publication of this magazine. In this edition we will analyze how Alan Perlis thought programming languages would evolve from 1966 to today; in the Library section, we will talk about "Platform Revolution" by Parker, Van Alstyne, & Choudary; and in the new Vidéothèque section, we will talk about the time Bret Victor took us on a trip to 1973.
Alan Jay Perlis knew a thing or two about programming languages, both as an early pioneer of our industry and as one of the designers of ALGOL. The language that has inspired the one you, dear reader of this magazine, probably use every day to earn a living.
The first video of this series will feature none other than Bret Victor in one of his most memorable talks. We have already discussed Bret in a previous article about Smalltalk, where we named him one of the most influential figures in that galaxy. This video, however, shows that his light shines much brighter than that.
Let us talk about a book that would be usually featured in the "Business" section of your nearest bookstore. As such, it might have been overlooked by those inspecting the shelves of the "Computer" section. This book delves deeply into the economic fabric of the software industry and, for that reason, becomes a much-needed read by all software workers.