Regularity

Revision as of 22:57, 27 July 2011 (view source)

Nickm (Talk | contribs)

(→BASIC Considered Harmful (Sidebar))

← Older edit

Revision as of 23:15, 27 July 2011 (view source)

Nickm (Talk | contribs)

(→BASIC Considered Harmful (Sidebar))

Newer edit →

Line 156:

Dijkstra's papers contain a single reference to BASIC co-inventor John Kemeny. Dijkstra read Kemeny's 1983 article in ''Daedalus,'' an article that discussed the idea of computer literacy and declared that "the development of 'structured languages' in recent years has been a giant step forward." Dijkstra simply wrote a dismissive sentence about the article, saying it "gave a striking example of superficiality" by comparing computer languages to natural languages (EWD858).

−

Some of the context for these statements is the formation and fortification of a discipline, computer science, and the development and use of languages that would support first formal verification (the provability of programs) and later the weaker but still potentially very useful technique of program derivation (Tribble 2005). BASIC, created for quick interactive use and very amenable to creative production, was simply not a suitable language for Dijkstra's desiderata.

+

Some of the context for these statements is the formation and fortification of a discipline, computer science, and the development and use of languages that might support first formal verification (the provability of programs) and later the weaker but still potentially very useful technique of program derivation (Tribble 2005). BASIC, created for quick interactive use and very amenable to creative production, was simply not a suitable language for Dijkstra's desiderata.

Another bit of context for these statements comes from Alan Kay, who remarked in his keynote speech to the 1997 Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages & Applications conference: "I don't know how many of you have ever met Dijkstra, but you probably know that arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras."

From Maze

Revision as of 23:15, 27 July 2011

Views

Personal tools

Navigation

Search

Toolbox

@@ Line 156: / Line 156: @@
 Dijkstra's papers contain a single reference to BASIC co-inventor John Kemeny. Dijkstra read Kemeny's 1983 article in ''Daedalus,'' an article that discussed the idea of computer literacy and declared that "the development of 'structured languages' in recent years has been a giant step forward." Dijkstra simply wrote a dismissive sentence about the article, saying it "gave a striking example of superficiality" by comparing computer languages to natural languages (EWD858).
-Some of the context for these statements is the formation and fortification of a discipline, computer science, and the development and use of languages that would support first formal verification (the provability of programs) and later the weaker but still potentially very useful technique of program derivation (Tribble 2005). BASIC, created for quick interactive use and very amenable to creative production, was simply not a suitable language for Dijkstra's desiderata.
+Some of the context for these statements is the formation and fortification of a discipline, computer science, and the development and use of languages that might support first formal verification (the provability of programs) and later the weaker but still potentially very useful technique of program derivation (Tribble 2005). BASIC, created for quick interactive use and very amenable to creative production, was simply not a suitable language for Dijkstra's desiderata.
 Another bit of context for these statements comes from Alan Kay, who remarked in his keynote speech to the 1997 Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages & Applications conference: "I don't know how many of you have ever met Dijkstra, but you probably know that arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras."