HackerTube.dev

John Backus: Function Level Programming and the FL Language 1987

Arthur Vard · 2.8K views · 2017-07-12 · 47:30

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A 1987 talk in which John Backus, creator of Fortran, presents function-level programming and the FL language, a successor to his FP work. It is an archival recording with links to the related paper.

On Hacker News

HN points to it as the primary source for Backus's ideas on programming beyond the von Neumann style, in threads about dead technologies and obscure languages.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2019–2026

Topics

Functional programmingProgramming language designTech pioneers & interviews
Search by tags
john backusfl languageprogramming languageshistory of computing

What people said

metazip · 2026-08 · Reference

Videos to FL and FP: John Backus: Function Level Programming and the FL Language 1987 ( [VIDEO] ), John Backus Group Meeting - IBM Research - 5 July 1989 ( [LINK] ), Backus on functional programming ( [LINK] ) from Original: Oral History of John Backus ( [LINK] )

Read the original HN comment ↗
mlajtos · 2022-10 · Reference

I see FP [0] (and FL [1,2]) as continuations of the original APL vision – an algebra for programs. It is really nice to see this implementation of FP and I hope it will spark interest in the community. :) [0]: [LINK] [1]: [LINK] [2]: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
maxharris · 2019-07 · Reference

John Backus's FL: [VIDEO] IBM research really should release the FL compiler they wrote! They stopped working on it in the early 90s, and haven't said a single thing about it since. There is the beginnings of a Haskell implementation that I tried to mess with a bit, but I don't know enough Haskell to get anywhere: [LINK]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Arthur Vard, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources