[SIGCIS-Members] So.Hist-info seminar 15/06/2026 - Amelie Mittlemeier - Programming languages and Communities of Programming

[Camille Paloque-Bergès]

Dear colleagues,

The So.Hist-Info seminar, coordinated by Mathilde Fichen, Camille
Paloque-Bergès, and Adrien Tournier at the HT2S laboratory, and Léandre
Bécard at COSTECH (UTC), invites you on *Monday, June 15, 2026, from 3:00
p.m. to 5:00 p.m.* at the *Cnam, 2 rue Conté (Paris FR) Room 30.-1.18*, for
its *sixth and final session of the 2025-2026 season*.

We will welcome *Amelie Mittlmeier* (Ludwig Maximilian University of
Munich) for a presentation in English entitled:

*Programming Languages and Communities of Programming*

The speaker will discuss the importance of software in the historical
formation and structuring of computing communities.

To attend the seminar, please register here
<https://framaforms.org/inscription-seminaire-de-socio-histoire-de-linformatique-1757664332>.
A videoconference link will be sent to you upon registration.

*Abstract:*
The emergence of so-called high-level programming languages at the end of
the 1950s not only marked a technological shift from earlier automatic
coding systems but also gave rise to distinct communities of computing.
Languages such as FORTRAN and ALGOL were not merely technical tools; they
became focal points around which practitioners organized themselves,
forming user groups and professional identities. In this sense, programming
languages did not simply serve pre-existing communities – they actively
contributed to their formation.
As these communities developed, so too did debates about the relative
merits of different programming languages. However, these discussions were
marked by the absence of clearly defined and widely accepted criteria for
evaluating programming languages. They reflected deeper disagreements about
the nature of programming itself – whether it should be understood as a
scientific discipline, an engineering practice, or even an artistic
endeavor.
This lecture asks why the question of the “best” programming language
became such a relevant and persistent concern among experts - and why it
lost its relevance at the end of the 1960s. It examines the debates between
different language communities and analyzes how these controversies shaped
both technological development and the emerging research field of
programming. By situating these discussions in their historical context,
the talk highlights how competition and disagreement contributed to
deepening experts’ understanding of programming and thus to the formation
of the field.
*https://sohistinfo.github.io/ <https://sohistinfo.github.io/>*

-- 
Institutional email address : camille.paloque_berges at cnam.fr
*Laboratory for the History of Techno-Sciences (HT2S), Conservatoire
national des arts et métiers, 2 rue Conté, 75003 Paris, France
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