Programming and its implication on programming languages: Overview and introduction

In the short time that has elapsed since the appearance of the special issue of Computing Survey, [8, 12, 23, 31, 32, 33], it has become one of the classics in computer science. Articles from that issue have become required reading material for introductory computer science courses at many universities. When I was asked to organize a panel session to serve as a sequel to this issue I was therefore understandably excited. As my first task I conducted an informal survey of what people from both academe and industry feel are the pragmatic issues of concern today. It is known that a strong correlation exists between the language and the culture a populace develops, and that the thought process of an individual is very much influenced by the language she grows up with. We might correspondingly ask how programming languages affect the thought process involved in solving problems. Proponents of FORTRAN and alike languages claim that no similar conclusions can be drawn for programming languages or at least that the degree of influence is considerably less. Which argument is used as a defense against the accusation that FORTRAN has induced a style detrimental to solving problems.