adding language influences page

ethereum · Apr 22, 2021 · 3913435 · 3913435
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diff --git a/docs/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ within the Ethereum state.
 
 Solidity is a `curly-bracket language <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_languages_by_type#Curly-bracket_languages>`_.
 It is influenced by C++, Python and JavaScript, and is designed to target the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
+You can find more details about which languages Solidity has been inspired by in
+the :doc:`language influences <language-influences>` section.
 
 Solidity is statically typed, supports inheritance, libraries and complex
 user-defined types among other features.
@@ -157,3 +159,4 @@ Contents
    bugs.rst
    contributing.rst
    brand-guide.rst
+   language-influences.rst
diff --git a/docs/language-influences.rst b/docs/language-influences.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+###################
+Language Influences
+###################
+
+Solidity is a `curly-bracket language <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_languages_by_type#Curly-bracket_languages>`_
+that has been influenced and inspired by several well-known programming languages.
+
+Solidity is most profoundly influenced by C++, but also borrowed concepts from languages like
+Python, JavaScript, and others.
+
+The influence from C++ can be seen in the syntax for variable declarations, for loops, the concept
+of overloading functions, implicit and explicit type conversions and many other details.
+
+In the early days of the language, Solidity used to be partly influenced by JavaScript.
+This was due to function-level scoping of variables and the use of the keyword ``var``.
+The JavaScript influence was reduced starting from version 0.4.0.
+Now, the main remaining similarity to JavaScript is that functions are defined using the keyword
+``function``. Solidity also supports import syntax and semantics that
+are similar to those available in JavaScript. Besides those points, Solidity looks like
+most other curly-bracket languages and has no major JavaScript influence anymore.
+
+Another influence to Solidity was Python. Solidity's modifiers were added trying to model
+Python's decorators with a much more restricted functionality. Furthermore, multiple inheritance, C3 linearization,
+and the ``super`` keyword are taken from Python as well as the general assignment and copy semantics of value
+and reference types.