On Fri, 18 Feb 2005, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:

> Peter L. Peres wrote:
>
>>>> Don't forget .NET's new one- C# , and of course Java. Some cynics might
>>>> argue that C# is Microsoft Java.
>
>> Is this the same C# that was compared with Perl, Sather, Python and a
>> couple of others nearly 10 years ago in Byte Magazine (and not at all
>> originated by ms), and is implemented as a front end in the GNU gcc
>> compiler that comes standard with Linux ?
>
> Probably not. I don't know that C# that you are talking about, but
> Microsoft's C# is based on the .NET VM (something quite similar in concept
> to the Java VM).

Ok, now you got me started. I dug my copy of the magazine out, it was 
Dr. Dobb's Journal, #206, October 1993, Which features the title page:

"Beyond C++,
Considering the Alternatives
* C+@
* Sather
* Parasol
* Liana
* Beta
* Eiffel"

there is also an article called "networking with Perl (in 1993!)"

so it was my time machine that was broken again. But:

the article on C+@ is on page 24, by Jim Fleming, and says that:

"C+@ is derived from C++ and Smalltalk ... and was started at the same 
time as C++, but derived from the Calico language developed at Bell 
Labs' ... 'C+@ was designed to be a confortable companion language to C 
and C++, rather than an extension to C. It retains C's expression syntax 
and control statements. C functions and data objects can be accessed 
directly from C+@. ... The complete C+@ graphical development 
environment is written in C+@ ... a GUI builder is included for quickly 
building applications ... C+@ can also be used in command-line mode ... 
applications can be moved between platforms without recompiling, from 
Sparc to 68k to Ix86 ... C+@ is not interpretative - the binaries are 
encoded using a sophisticated "beading" technique (my note: the term VM 
did not yet exist in this context) ... for the past EIGHT YEARS (my 
emphasis: we are in 1993, that means 1993-8=1985), C+@ has been evolving 
and has reached a state where AT&T has decided to release it to the 
commercial world."

Examples of C+@ are provided in the article. It looks a lot like C# to 
me (I do not know a lot of C# - only occasional use) - but so do other 
C?? flavors.

SO my wetware time machine is not so bad, the context of the article 
seems to say C# may have been inspired by C+@ among other things.

Peter


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