The English Programming Language: An Overview
The English Programming Language (EPL) is a lesser-known programming language that appeared in the early 1970s, conceived as an attempt to create a more human-readable language for computer programming. Although it was not widely adopted and remains largely obscure in the history of programming languages, its development provides an intriguing glimpse into the evolution of computer science and the quest for greater accessibility in software development.
Origins and Development
EPL emerged in 1973, created by a company known as Microdata Corporation. While much of its development history remains undocumented, the key motivation behind EPL was to simplify the process of coding by using a syntax more closely aligned with the English language, making programming accessible to non-experts. At the time, programming languages such as Fortran and COBOL were already in use, but they were still complex and required a steep learning curve. EPL sought to address this issue by adopting more intuitive structures that might ease the understanding and creation of code, potentially allowing more people, even those without deep technical knowledge, to engage with programming.
Microdata Corporation, though not as well-known as other tech giants, played an important role in the development of several niche technologies in the 1970s, including the EPL. Unfortunately, there is little to no information available about the specific individuals or teams who directly contributed to its creation, nor are there many surviving documents that offer insights into the design choices behind the language.
Features and Design Philosophy
The English Programming Language was designed with the intent to simplify the user experience and align the language’s syntax with that of everyday English. In this sense, it was ahead of its time, foreshadowing later developments in the movement for “natural” programming languages. However, due to limited documentation and resources, it is difficult to ascertain the exact features and structure of EPL.
Despite the scarcity of detailed technical resources, we can infer that EPL attempted to make programming more intuitive by relying on keywords and constructs that resembled English phrases. This would have allowed programmers, or at least those with basic knowledge of English, to quickly grasp and start using the language without needing to dive deep into formal computer science concepts. This approach would be particularly appealing to a business-oriented audience or others who might have required software solutions but lacked technical expertise.
Like many programming languages of its time, EPL likely included the fundamental features such as variable declarations, loops, conditionals, and input/output operations, but the key difference would have been in the way these features were expressed—likely in a form that could be more easily understood by someone familiar with English syntax. This would represent an early attempt to break down the barriers that often separated non-programmers from the tools and systems they relied on.
However, there is little surviving information on specific features such as whether EPL included comments or semantic indentation, both of which are now seen as crucial elements in modern programming languages. The lack of a central repository or any notable open-source community around EPL further limits our understanding of its design and usage.
Decline and Obscurity
Although the intention behind the English Programming Language was to make programming more accessible, it did not gain significant traction in the broader tech community. Several factors likely contributed to its decline into obscurity. First, the technical landscape of the 1970s was rapidly evolving, with more popular and robust programming languages like C, BASIC, and Pascal emerging and gaining widespread adoption. These languages were not only more flexible and efficient but also had more substantial community support and resources, making them more attractive to developers.
Second, the business model behind Microdata Corporation may not have been able to support the widespread dissemination of EPL. The company did not have the resources or influence of larger technology firms, which meant that even if EPL had potential, it was unlikely to be adopted on a large scale. Additionally, the demand for “natural” languages in computing was still in its infancy, and the concept of a programming language designed to read like English was not yet a mainstream need.
By the late 1970s, other programming languages that better balanced human readability with computational efficiency had begun to dominate the field. EPL, as a result, faded into obscurity. Microdata Corporation itself eventually became part of larger corporations, and the language was lost to history, overshadowed by the rapid development of more advanced and versatile programming tools.
Legacy and Impact
While the English Programming Language was never widely adopted, it can be seen as part of a broader historical trend in which developers sought to make computing more accessible to the general population. The idea of using natural language to interact with computers has persisted over the decades and is still relevant today in the development of new programming languages and paradigms. For example, languages like Python and Ruby have been praised for their readability and simplicity, though they are far more powerful and feature-rich than EPL ever was.
The core philosophy of EPL, to make programming accessible to non-experts, has been realized in various forms over the years. Modern programming languages now emphasize human-readable syntax and ease of use, making it easier for beginners to learn and for professionals to create more efficient, readable code. EPL’s goal of bridging the gap between human communication and machine logic was an early attempt to solve a problem that continues to be explored in fields like artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
The Missing Pieces: Documentation and Open Source Contributions
One of the primary obstacles to understanding the full potential and impact of EPL is the lack of detailed documentation. Unlike other programming languages, which have extensive manuals, textbooks, and online resources, there is little to no record of the specifics of the EPL language, its syntax, and its implementation. Moreover, since the language never gained widespread adoption, no major code repositories, such as those found on GitHub, exist for EPL.
The absence of a central codebase or open-source contributions further complicates efforts to analyze and resurrect EPL. Modern efforts to revive older programming languages typically benefit from open-source communities, where individuals can contribute improvements, share ideas, and update legacy systems. However, with EPL, no such community has ever existed. This makes it difficult to gauge how the language was used, refined, or whether any version of it remains in use today.
While it’s not known whether EPL ever made its way into commercial or academic use in any meaningful capacity, it serves as an interesting case study in the history of programming language design. As developers continue to push for greater simplicity and accessibility in coding, the English Programming Language’s aspiration to create a bridge between natural language and computer code remains a fundamental idea in the field.
Conclusion
The English Programming Language, though largely forgotten and unremarkable in comparison to other languages that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, remains an important historical artifact. It represents the early attempts to make computer programming more accessible and human-readable—ideas that are still influencing the design of modern programming languages today. As technology continues to evolve, the notion of a programming language that can be written and understood like English is likely to become more relevant, and EPL’s legacy, while obscure, may yet contribute to this future.
Ultimately, the English Programming Language may not have lived up to its potential, but its existence speaks to the ongoing challenge of creating tools that make technology more approachable and usable for people outside the traditional realm of computer science.