around 97, initially was written in plain C and Perl (for the Enterprise Java Bean container EJB1 then EJB2).. Not in Java and Not in C++ and Not in PL/1 and Not in Smalltalk. Before being commercialized, v1 and v2 run on RS6000 AIX, and one had to customize the Makefile to compile the product... there is a mix up on the original product name.. some confusion (even on Wiki) as some think it was a continuation of IBM failing product "IBM San Francisco". Well, it is not... finally, the name "WEBSPHERE" I believe was used as an Apple product early 80's, but there is no trace of it on Google and anywhere else; don't recall if it was a product put by a third company to do backup...