Which one among the following computer languages is the oldest?
- A.Prolog
- B.C++
- C.Java
- D.Fortran
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, Fortran. Released by IBM in 1957, Fortran is the oldest of the four and is often called the first widely used high-level programming language.
Fortran, short for FORmula TRANslation, was developed by a team led by John Backus at IBM for scientific and engineering calculations. It let programmers write formulas instead of machine code, and updated versions are still used for weather models and physics simulations on supercomputers. The other three came much later, in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
A is wrong because Prolog, a logic programming language used in artificial intelligence, was created in France in 1972. B is wrong because C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs in the early 1980s as an extension of C. C is wrong because Java was developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995.
Exam tip: order of arrival = Fortran (1957), COBOL (1959), BASIC (1964), C (1972), Prolog (1972), C++ (1983/85), Java (1995).
Practice Questions
View allWhich one among the following is not a part of the SWAYAM programme?
- A.Video lectures
- B.Classroom lectures
- C.Online discussion forum for clearing doubts
- D.Specially prepared material that can be downloaded/printed
Show answer
SWAYAM is an online learning platform, so live classroom lectures are not one of its parts.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following consists of a list of commands that is executed automatically as the computer system starts up ?
- A.COMMAND.COM
- B.AUTOEXEC.BAT
- C.CONFIG.SYS
- D.AUTOSTART.BAT
Show answer
It is the batch file that MS-DOS runs automatically, line by line, every time the computer starts. A batch file is a plain text file of DOS commands with the.BAT extension.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following is NOT true about Standard Generalised Markup Language (SGML)?
- A.It is an international open standard
- B.It is dependent on a computer's hardware
- C.It is independent of a computer's operating system
- D.It defines document type
Show answer
SGML was designed to be independent of both hardware and software, so saying it depends on a computer's hardware is false.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following tasks is NOT carried out by an operating system?
- A.To link a program with the subroutines it references
- B.To manage data transfer to and from peripherals
- C.To allocate memory for storing programs
- D.To provide a layered, user-friendly interface
Show answer
Joining a program to the library routines it calls is the job of a linker, a separate system utility, not of the operating system.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following protocols works at application layer in a TCP/IP protocol suite?
- A.IP
- B.TCP
- C.TELNET
- D.Go-back-N
Show answer
TELNET is an application-layer protocol that lets a user log in to a remote computer and work on it through a text terminal.
Read the full explanation →