Programming, The Impossible Challenge
Published on 1. December 1988
Book
Hardback
472 pages
978-0-444-87128-2 (ISBN)
Description
In its modern form, the computer is only about 40 years old. And so is the job of the computer programmer. This book is a critical history of programming, written to give programmers and analysts in the commercial application field a more pragmatic insight into the background of their profession. It tells the story of why the technology evolved as it did, and how Fifth Generation techniques are already changing the situation.As well as charting the real advances and the passing fashions, this unusual book looks at the situation in perspective, drawing some sad and maybe surprising conclusions while discussing questions such as ``Is programming a job for human beings?'' ``Is it High Noon for the world of programming?''
Reviews / Votes
R. StrobelThe book addresses programmers and analysts in the application field wanting a deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts of their work and how those evolved. The interest of the reader is kept alive by a lot of figures, well-chosen paradigms and provocative statements like "Is it high noon for programming?", with no positive answers given. The rich material also covers long passages from outstanding papers (Dijkstra, Backus, et al.) and can therefore be regarded as a source of reference.
Journal of Information Processing and Cybernetics
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Elsevier Science & Technology
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-0-444-87128-2 (9780444871282)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Content
1. The World of Programs and Systems. The Years of Assembler and FORTRAN. The Years of System and Cobol. The Years of Algol and PL1. The Years of Multi and Pascal. The Years of the Semaphores. The Years of Structured Programming. Recursion, The Ominous. The Years of On-Line and 4G. The Years of C and ADA.
2. The World of Symbols and Strings. String Processing. The Years of Formal Languages. The Years of Undecidability. Tuering Machines and Automata. List Processing and Lisp.
3. The World of Data. The Years of Files and Data-Bases. The Years of Data Normalization. The Years of the Structured Query Language. The Years of the B.O.M. The Years of Data Structuring. Years of War and Methods.
4. The World of Knowledge. The Years of the Fifth Generation. The Years of the New Programming Style. The Years of Knowledge Structures. The Years of Expert Systems.
5. Epilogue. Programming, The Impossible Challenge. Programming, The Inhuman Challenge.
Index. Bibliography.
2. The World of Symbols and Strings. String Processing. The Years of Formal Languages. The Years of Undecidability. Tuering Machines and Automata. List Processing and Lisp.
3. The World of Data. The Years of Files and Data-Bases. The Years of Data Normalization. The Years of the Structured Query Language. The Years of the B.O.M. The Years of Data Structuring. Years of War and Methods.
4. The World of Knowledge. The Years of the Fifth Generation. The Years of the New Programming Style. The Years of Knowledge Structures. The Years of Expert Systems.
5. Epilogue. Programming, The Impossible Challenge. Programming, The Inhuman Challenge.
Index. Bibliography.