B is a programming language developed by Ken Thompson, with contributions from Dennis Ritchie, at Bell Labs. It was derived from BCPL, a language created by Martin Richards, and simplified so that it could run on the small computers of the time, such as the PDP-7 used for the first version of Unix. B had no data types other than the machine word, which was treated as an integer or as a memory address. Its limitations, especially when the group moved to the PDP-11, which handled bytes and words differently, led Ritchie to create an extended language with types, which became C. B itself disappeared in favour of its successor.
Before and after
- 1969Introduction of special drawing rights
- 1969Establishment of Simien Mountains National Park
- 1969Founding of United Nations Population Fund
- 1969Construction of Melilla Airport
- 1969Creation of B
- 3 January 1969Birth of Michael Schumacher
- 4 January 1969International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- 14 January 1969Birth of Jason Bateman
- 11 February 1969Birth of Jennifer Aniston
More in Science & technology
- 25 April 1953Watson and Crick publish the structure of DNA
- 1955Discovery of mendelevium
- 14 February 1961Discovery of lawrencium
- 1996Discovery of copernicium
- August 2003Discovery of moscovium
- 2006Discovery of nihonium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.