The Howdy Glossary

Plankalkül was proposed by Konrad Zuse in 1945. It is considered one of the first high-level programming languages to describe computer algorithms. Plankalkül manipulates bit strings and represents its numbers using them — a direct reflection of how early computers worked at the time. This language included mathematical formulas for both recursive functions and new types of data structures, allowing for more sophisticated calculations than contemporary systems equipped with assembly-like codes at that time could handle. Although not implemented until much later, Plankalkül contributed to the development and formalization of computing concepts still used today in modern programming languages design.