was the first high-level programming language designed that could perform complex mathematical calculations. FORTRAN COBOL Java

The first high-level programming language designed specifically to perform complex mathematical calculations is **FORTRAN**. ### **FORTRAN (Formula Translation)** - **Developed By:** IBM in the 1950s. - **Purpose:** Created to simplify the process of programming for scientific and engineering calculations. - **Significance:** It was the first widely adopted high-level language, allowing programmers to write code using mathematical formulas and abstractions rather than machine code or assembly language. This made it significantly easier to develop complex numerical and scientific applications. ### **Comparisons with Other Languages:** - **COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language):** - **Developed By:** CODASYL in the late 1950s. - **Purpose:** Designed for business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments. - **Focus:** Emphasizes data processing tasks rather than complex mathematical computations. - **Java:** - **Developed By:** Sun Microsystems in the mid-1990s. - **Purpose:** Designed to be platform-independent and widely used for web applications, enterprise software, and mobile applications. - **Focus:** General-purpose programming with strong emphasis on object-oriented principles, rather than being specifically tailored for mathematical computations. ### **Conclusion** **FORTRAN** holds the distinction of being the first high-level language tailored for complex mathematical and scientific computations, paving the way for many advancements in programming and computational science.