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FORTRAN-1 is formally published

1957
FORTRAN-1 is formally published

FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator) uses notation that have a strong resemblance with those used in algebraic notation. For that Fortran will become very popular with scientists and technicians.
In late 1953, John W. Backus submitted a proposal to his superiors at IBM to develop a more efficient alternative to assembly language for programming their IBM 704 mainframe computer.

A draft specification for The IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System was completed by mid-1954.

The first manual for FORTRAN appeared in October 1956, with the first FORTRAN compiler delivered in April 1957. This was an optimizing compiler, because customers were reluctant to use a high-level programming language unless its compiler could generate code whose performance was comparable to that of hand-coded assembly language.