We moved from punch cards to programming languages because punch cards became more limited and inefficient in their capabilities. The punch cards could only hold limited information, and if a mistake was made, then the card would have to be punched again, wasting significant time. In addition, the machines that punched the cards were slow and cost a great deal of money. With programming languages, these problems such as inefficiency and limited storage were solved, which made the creation of these languages so important in the development of programming.
The reason why there are so many different programming languages is that over time, our ability to use technology and its capabilities have expanded. When programming languages are created, they open the door to new possibilities and new ways to use technologies. But what happens when that language becomes obsolete, and we need a more efficient or a new approach to solve complex problems? That's when the development of new programming languages emerge. As we continue to develop new goals and different requirements for software, the creation of new programming languages becomes a necessity to catch up to the constantly evolving field of Computer Science.
The programming language I use is Python, which is a great programming language for beginner programmers, as its user-friendly syntax makes it easy to pick up. However, some drawbacks of it is its slow runtime compared to other programming languages and its confusing results when executing certain code (like floating-point arithmetic). For example, when adding 0.1 3 times, you may think that it should result in 0.3. However, when executing this in Python, it instead results in 0.30000000000000004. I would want this changed, as it makes confusing when dealing with certain functions and results in wasted time and effort.
If I was to create a new programming language, I would start by defining what the purpose of the language is. I would need to determine the issues that I am trying to solve that cannot already be solved with other languages. Additionally, I would need to understand if I am creating it for a specific problem, or if it can be used for general programming. Then, I would need to define how its layout would be, such as establishing its syntax, data types, keywords, etc. One of the biggest issues to face with creating programming languages is ensuring it is user-friendly. To achieve this, I would ensure the language is easily understandable, intuitive, and use abstraction to discreetly run more complex actions without the user knowing.
If you want to learn more about programming languages and punch cards, check these links:
"Create Programming Language: Design Principles." Daily.dev, Daily Dev Ltd, 8 Apr. 2024, https://daily.dev/blog/create-programming-language-design-principles. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Lagutin, Vasyl. "Why Are There So Many Programming Languages?" freeCodeCamp, Hashnode, 14 Sep. 2021, https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/why-are-there-so-many-programming-languages/. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Traversy Media. "The Programming Language Guide." Youtube, Traversy Media, 21 Feb. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lVDktWK-pc. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
"What is a Punch Card?" Lenovo, Lenovo, https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/glossary/punch-card/. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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