A Brief History of the Semicolon in Programming (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of the semicolon? ›

"The semicolon itself was a Renaissance invention. It first appeared in 1494, in a book published in Venice by Aldus Manutius. 'De Aetna,' Watson explains, was 'an essay, written in dialogue form,' about climbing Mt. Etna.

Statements in Fortran could only be written one per line, and the new line was the statement terminator. The first use of the semicolon in a modern programming language was with ALGOL 58. However, this version wasn't heavily implemented, and it quickly morphed into ALGOL 60.

The Semicolon lets the compiler know that it's reached the end of a command. Semicolon is often used to delimit one bit of C++ source code, indicating it's intentionally separated from the respective code.

Use a semicolon to join two related independent clauses in place of a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet). Make sure when you use the semicolon that the connection between the two independent clauses is clear without the coordinating conjunction.

The modern semicolon was invented in Venice, in 1494, by the printer and publisher Aldus Manutius, and, for much of history, it had no strictly defined function. It acted like a musical notation, allowing for a pause somewhere between the beat of a comma and a colon (hence its mongrel design).

Project Semicolon was founded by Amy Bleuel in 2013, as a tribute to her father, who died by suicide in 2003.

1883: The first programming language was developed in 1883 when Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage worked together on the Analytical Engine, which was a primitive mechanical computer. Lovelace was able to discern the importance of numbers, realizing that they could represent more than just numerical values of things.

A semicolon is used to separate two ideas (two independent clauses) that are closely related. They can also be used when listing complex ideas or phrases that use commas within them. Essentially, a semicolon is like a comma with more meaning or a colon with more flexibility.

Unnecessary semicolons can clutter your code, making it harder to read. Python's philosophy encourages writing code that is self-explanatory and clear. Therefore, omitting semicolons unless absolutely necessary contributes to this goal.

Haskell avoids semicolons only when using exclusively indentation-based layout, which is a common style. Python and BCPL are similar cases. Non-textual languages like Scratch or Piet naturally do not make use of semicolons.

Does Python accept semicolons? ›

Python does not usually use explicit line-ending characters; the parser can almost always figure out where a statement ends from the positioning of newlines. However, Python's syntax allows you to use a semicolon to end a statement instead, which allows you to place multiple statements on a single line.

However, despite the fact that in languages like C, C++, Java or C# all statements require semicolons at the end, blocks do not.

Rule. Use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses which are not joined by a coordinating conjunction. This rule means that semicolons are used between two complete sentences which are not already linked by words like and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.

What is a colon? A colon is a punctuation mark consisting of two dots, one placed above the other. It looks like this : Colons are often used to introduce a list, but that's not all they can do!

Amy Bleuel started Project Semicolon in 2013 to raise awareness of suicide and mental health in honour of her father, who died by suicide. At the time, awareness was sorely needed. Suicide was, and remains, one of the biggest killers of young people, and you can't fix a problem you can't see.

1) The semicolon is a 500-year-old, loose lady of literature, born in Italy. The semicolon was first conceived of and used in 1494 by an Italian printer named Aldus Manutius. Manutius was born in a city not far from Rome, but then migrated to Venice and opened his print shop.

Semicolons (;) separate two complete statements that are closely related. As a general rule, if a period would not work, neither will a semicolon. Semicolons also separate items in a series or equal parts of a sentence. Note that semicolons cannot replace most commas, nor can they introduce lists or items.

The first usage of the colon dates back to the 1600s to denote a pause time greater than a comma but less than a full stop. The semicolon has a much earlier history with its first written use in 1494.