# Mesa

> programming language

**Wikidata**: [Q1042397](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1042397)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_(programming_language))  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/mesa

## Summary
Mesa is a procedural programming language developed by PARC (Xerox PARC) that was first created in 1976. It uses strong, static typing and traces influence to the ALGOL family; a stable release identified as Mesa 6.0 (Version 41) is dated July 1981.

## Key Facts
- Mesa is a programming language and specifically a procedural programming language (instance_of: programming language; procedural programming language).
- Mesa was developed by PARC (Xerox PARC).
- Mesa's inception (creation) year is 1976.
- Mesa's typing discipline is strong typing and static typing.
- Mesa's programming paradigm is procedural programming.
- Mesa is influenced by ALGOL.
- A recorded stable version is Mesa 6.0 (Version 41), with a stability timestamp qualifier of 1981-07-00.
- Freebase identifier: /m/050f_.
- Microsoft Academic (discontinued) identifier: 2780940541.
- Wikipedia article title: "Mesa (programming language)"; the topic appears in multiple language Wikipedias (ar, ast, de, en, es, hu, ja, ko, no, pt).

## FAQs
### Q: What is Mesa?
A: Mesa is a procedural programming language developed by PARC, first created in 1976. It uses strong, static typing and was influenced by ALGOL.

### Q: Who developed Mesa?
A: Mesa was developed by PARC (Xerox PARC).

### Q: When was Mesa created and what is a known stable version?
A: Mesa's inception date is 1976. A known stable release is Mesa 6.0 (Version 41), with a stability qualifier dated July 1981.

### Q: What are Mesa's typing discipline and programming paradigm?
A: Mesa employs strong typing and static typing, and its programming paradigm is procedural programming.

## Why It Matters
Mesa represents a research-era procedural language produced at PARC with design roots in the ALGOL tradition and explicit emphasis on type safety through strong, static typing. Its development in 1976 places it among languages designed during a formative period for modern programming-language concepts. The presence of a stable release labeled Mesa 6.0 (Version 41) with a 1981 qualifier documents continued development and formalization of the language across the late 1970s and early 1980s. Identifiers such as a Freebase ID and a Microsoft Academic ID indicate that Mesa has been cataloged in multiple academic and data-aggregation systems. Mesa’s combination of procedural structure and strong static typing makes it a clear example of language design prioritizing compile-time type disciplines within a procedural model, and its ALGOL influence situates it within a family of languages that informed later language research and implementations.

## Notable For
- Developed at PARC and first created in 1976.
- Procedural programming language with strong, static typing.
- Influenced by the ALGOL family of languages.
- Stable release recorded as Mesa 6.0 (Version 41) with a 1981-07 qualifier.
- Documented in multiple data sources (Freebase ID /m/050f_; Microsoft Academic ID 2780940541) and multiple Wikipedia language editions.

## Body

### Overview
- Name: Mesa (programming language).
- Type: Programming language; specifically categorized as a procedural programming language.
- Developer: PARC.
- Inception year: 1976.

### History and Development
- Mesa was developed at PARC with an inception date recorded as 1976.
- Continued development led to a stable version named Mesa 6.0 (Version 41), with a stability qualifier dated 1981-07-00.

### Technical characteristics
- Typing discipline: strong typing and static typing.
- Programming paradigm: procedural programming.
- Language influence: influenced by ALGOL.

### Versioning
- Noted stable release: Mesa 6.0 (Version 41), qualifier indicating stability in July 1981.

### Classification and identifiers
- Instance of: programming language; procedural programming language.
- Freebase ID: /m/050f_.
- Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued): 2780940541.
- Wikipedia title: "Mesa (programming language)".
- Appearances in Wikimedia/Wikipedia languages: Arabic, Asturian, German, English, Spanish, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese.

### Related distinctions
- The item has entries noting it is different from other topics with the same name (different_from qualifiers referencing name-disambiguation criteria).
- Sitelink count (across Wikimedia projects): 11.

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## References

1. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
2. [OpenAlex](https://docs.openalex.org/download-snapshot/snapshot-data-format)