From the obituary: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John W. Backus, who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran, the first widely used programming language, which helped open the door to modern computing, died on Saturday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 82.
His daughter Karen Backus announced the death, saying the family did not know the cause, other than age. Fortran, released in 1957, was “the turning point” in computer software, much as the microprocessor was a giant step forward in hardware, according to J. A. N. Lee, a leading computer historian. Fortran changed the terms of communication between humans and computers, moving up a level to a language that was more comprehensible by humans. So Fortran, in computing vernacular, is considered the first successful higher-level language. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/obituaries/20cnd-backus.html? ex=1331956800&en=9ca47a40690462bb&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss ( -or- http://tinyurl.com/2d6apw ) (Free registration required; use profox/profox) -- Ed Leafe -- http://leafe.com -- http://dabodev.com _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
