On the classification of programming language names:
Artificially shortened names:
- Scheme (from “Schemer”, following on from “Planner” and “Conniver”; shortened to fit in 6 characters because ofa limitation of the ITS operating system)
- Perl (from “Pearl”, the precious stone; shortened to avoid a clash with “some obscure graphics language called Pearl”)
- Forth (from “Fourth”, because its creator considered Forth a “fourth-generation language”; shortened to fit into 5 characters because of a limitation on the IBM 1130)
The origins of some programming language names are fascinating.