Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
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Is Erlang named for mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang or as a syllabic abbreviation of Ericsson Language?

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Why Open
Sources describe the name as presumed by telephony-switch engineers to honor Danish mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang, and also as a syllabic abbreviation of Ericsson Language, the company where the language was created; no single authoritative account settles which motivation, if not both, actually drove the choice. 1
What Would Resolve
A primary statement from Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding or Mike Williams, or an Ericsson internal record from the 1980s, definitively naming the intended derivation of the name. 1
Discipline Needed
Computing history 1
Question Status
Open 1
Open Question

Sources describe the name as presumed by telephony-switch engineers to honor Danish mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang, and also as a syllabic abbreviation of Ericsson Language, the company where the language was created; no single authoritative account settles which motivation, if not both, actually drove the choice.

What would resolve this A primary statement from Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding or Mike Williams, or an Ericsson internal record from the 1980s, definitively naming the intended derivation of the name.
OpenComputing historyWikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
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1. Wikipedia: Erlang (programming language)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionView the Source
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