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Who wrote the first Hello World program?

I am curious of the origins of the "Hello World" program. Who was the
first to make this popular? That is, where did it start? I did some
Google search and did not find an answer. Was it Kerringan and Richie?
I no longer have that book and I don't remember if it was in that
ubiquitous C book. It was so long ago.

Nov 24 '05 #1
13 2105
Todd wrote:
I am curious of the origins of the "Hello World" program. Who was the
first to make this popular? That is, where did it start? I did some
Google search and did not find an answer. Was it Kerringan and Richie?
I no longer have that book and I don't remember if it was in that
ubiquitous C book. It was so long ago.

Yes, it was K&R.

Wikipedia knows everything: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_world_program

S.
Nov 24 '05 #2
On 23 Nov 2005 18:09:20 -0800, "Todd" <tt**@aol.com> wrote in
comp.lang.c:
I am curious of the origins of the "Hello World" program. Who was the
first to make this popular? That is, where did it start? I did some
Google search and did not find an answer. Was it Kerringan and Richie?
I no longer have that book and I don't remember if it was in that
ubiquitous C book. It was so long ago.


The "Hello World" program was the first example C program in both
editions of K&R. But I doubt that the first edition of that book was
the first time it ever saw the light of day.

As for no longer having the book, shame on you.

Another name once used to refer to that book was "the white book". You
don't hear that much any more. Just as well, I suppose. My copy of
the first edition has become distinctly yellowish over the past
quarter century plus.

--
Jack Klein
Home: http://JK-Technology.Com
FAQs for
comp.lang.c http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
comp.lang.c++ http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/
alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~a...FAQ-acllc.html
Nov 24 '05 #3
That is a V8 moment. I should have thought to look in Wikipedia. I
see that it used by Ritche before the C book, as he used it internally
when teaching B. Thank you for confirming this answer. This will make
for good trivia. /T

Nov 24 '05 #4
Jack Klein wrote
(in article <h0********************************@4ax.com>):
As for no longer having the book, shame on you.
Ditto.
Another name once used to refer to that book was "the white book". You
don't hear that much any more. Just as well, I suppose. My copy of
the first edition has become distinctly yellowish over the past
quarter century plus.


Same here, but I won't be getting rid of it, regardless.

--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw

Nov 24 '05 #5
"Jack Klein" <ja*******@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:h0********************************@4ax.com...
Another name once used to refer to that book was "the white book". You
don't hear that much any more. Just as well, I suppose. My copy of
the first edition has become distinctly yellowish over the past
quarter century plus.


That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember "The
Aluminum Book" ?

But for some of us, it still works. When I said "Hey, Paul, you got a copy of
the white book here?" he reached for the shelf and handed me two copies.
Original and new.

- Bill
Nov 24 '05 #6

William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember "The
Aluminum Book" ?


I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?

haroon

Nov 24 '05 #7
haroon said:

William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember
"The Aluminum Book" ?


I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?


Okay, I'll bite - why was that book called "the Aluminum book" rather than
"the Steel book"?

--
Richard Heathfield
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29/7/1999
http://www.cpax.org.uk
email: rjh at above domain (but drop the www, obviously)
Nov 24 '05 #8
"haroon" <ha***********@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember "The Aluminum Book" ?


I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?


"Steele," yes.

I always figured the cover was SUPPOSED to look like steel, but they didn't
quite get it right.

- Bill
Nov 24 '05 #9
"Richard Heathfield" <in*****@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:dm**********@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
haroon said:
William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember
"The Aluminum Book" ?


I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?


Okay, I'll bite - why was that book called "the Aluminum book" rather than
"the Steel book"?


Because it was a color reminiscent of aluminum. I suspect they meant it to
look like steel, but missed.

See http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/B/book-titles.html for a few more.

Interestingly, this reference omits "the white book," which I'd always assumed
was very common usage for "The C Programming Language" right along with "K&R."
Perhaps this was New England common usage?

- Bill
Nov 24 '05 #10
"Todd" <tt**@aol.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@g47g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
That is a V8 moment. I should have thought to look in Wikipedia. I
see that it used by Ritche before the C book, as he used it internally
when teaching B. Thank you for confirming this answer. This will make
for good trivia. /T


Sounds right, but Kernighan should get full marks for popularizing
the "Hello, World" concept. I learned from him *always* to do the
simplest possible thing first in a new environment, to master the
basics.

Dennis Ritchie's genius lay in balance -- knowing what to simplify
and what to leave out to maximize power for a given amount of
complexity. Brian Kernighan's genius lay in restraint -- knowing
what to do *first* and putting off the difficult bits until
their need is clearly established (if ever).

P.J. Plauger
Dinkumware, Ltd.
http://www.dinkumware.com
Nov 24 '05 #11
Richard Heathfield wrote
(in article
<dm**********@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com>):
haroon said:

William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember
"The Aluminum Book" ?


I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?


Okay, I'll bite - why was that book called "the Aluminum book" rather than
"the Steel book"?


Probably because it would have been the "Steele" book instead?
--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw

Nov 24 '05 #12
In article <dm**********@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com>,
Richard Heathfield <in*****@invalid.invalid> wrote:
Okay, I'll bite - why was that book called "the Aluminum book" rather than
"the Steel book"?


It was sometimes called that.

-- Richard
Nov 24 '05 #13
On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 06:06:58 -0500, "William J. Leary Jr."
<Bi********@msn.com> wrote in comp.lang.c:
"Richard Heathfield" <in*****@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:dm**********@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
haroon said:
William J. Leary Jr. wrote:
> That sort of naming seems to have fallen out of favor. Anyone remember
> "The Aluminum Book" ?

I am not that old but AFAIK you are refering to Common LISP by Guy
Steel?


Okay, I'll bite - why was that book called "the Aluminum book" rather than
"the Steel book"?


Because it was a color reminiscent of aluminum. I suspect they meant it to
look like steel, but missed.

See http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/B/book-titles.html for a few more.

Interestingly, this reference omits "the white book," which I'd always assumed
was very common usage for "The C Programming Language" right along with "K&R."
Perhaps this was New England common usage?

- Bill


I'm in the Midwest, about 1,000 miles from New England, and I remember
"the white book". Otherwise I'd hardly have been able to introduce it
as a digression in this thread.

--
Jack Klein
Home: http://JK-Technology.Com
FAQs for
comp.lang.c http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
comp.lang.c++ http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/
alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~a...FAQ-acllc.html
Nov 25 '05 #14

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