Days in the Life of Mo

If you’ve ever dipped your toes into coding, even once, there’s a 98% chance your screen’s first words were “Hello, World!”

But have you ever stopped mid-coffee sip and asked: Wait… why that phrase? Who decided “Hello, World!” was the universal greeting of code? Why not “Hi Universe” or “Sup Computer” or even something unhinged like “I have become sentient”?

Well, pull up a chair, because I’ve got you covered.

It All Started in 1972. With a Book.

Yup. Like most things in programming, this one started with someone smarter than the rest of us doing something deceptively simple.

The phrase “Hello, World!” was first popularized by Brian Kernighan in a 1972 internal memo called A Tutorial Introduction to the Language B. But the real breakout moment came in 1978 with the legendary programming manual The C Programming Language, written by Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie (yes, that Ritchie; the father of the C language itself).

In the book, one of the earliest code examples goes like this:

And that was it. The tech world never looked back.

Why “Hello, World”?

You know how when you enter a room full of strangers, you try to make a good impression with something simple, friendly, and non-threatening like “Hi”?

Same logic.

“Hello, World!” is the ultimate non-confrontational phrase. It’s short, warm, a little bit awkward; and that’s what makes it charming. It says, “Hey, I’m here! I’m working! Please don’t crash on me.”

And from a teaching standpoint, it’s perfect. It’s easy to understand, doesn’t require complex input or logic, and it gets you up and running with something on the screen. Which is exactly what beginners need: a win.

But Why Is It Still a Thing?

Well… because tech loves tradition. And memes.

The phrase has become a rite of passage. It’s the developer’s version of a baby’s first word; except the baby is your code editor, and the proud parent is you, frantically trying to debug a semicolon error.

Even today, when frameworks and languages have evolved way beyond C, we still cling to “Hello, World!” like a safety blanket. It’s nostalgic. It’s low-pressure. It’s universal.

And let’s be real: it feels kind of poetic to have a string of text be the first handshake between human and machine.

So the Next Time You Write “Hello, World!”…

Know that you’re part of a long lineage of devs who’ve done the exact same thing; some panicking, some hopeful, all trying to prove: Yes, I can make this thing run.

It’s not just a phrase.

It’s a moment.

---

Like this post?

Stick around for more nerdy backstories, casual dev chat, and a few rants from your local dev girl with too many tabs open and an unhealthy attachment to semicolons.