Programming languages – why does it take so long to reach version v.1?

Question

Examples:- Crystal: Started 2011, reached v1 in 2021- Nim: Started in 2008, reached v1 in 2019- Julia: Started in 2009, reached v1 in 2018- Rust: Started in 2006, reached v1 in 2015Spot a pattern? 'New' languages take approximately a decade to reach the all-important version 1 milestone.Why does it take such a long time to create a programming language before it reaches v1? Is this duration typical and expected? And is this true of older languages from the 70s, 80s, and 90s?Just to add: I greatly admire the patience and persistence of the developers who have stuck with the development of their language despite how long it has taken :-)

AnimalMuppet · Accepted Answer

If you look at C, for example, I'm not sure that it had an official v1. But pick something (K&R 1st edition, say). Compare that with Rust v1 - not just the language, but the standard library. They are very much not equivalent.So v1 takes so long now because expectations for v1 are well above what they were in 1970.