Programming Primes (1968-1976): A Paradigmatic Program and Its Incarnations in the Age of Structured Programming
In response to the so-called 'software crisis' of the late 1960s, many approaches were proposed to turn (parts of) software engineering and programming into more systematic disciplines, to turn an art into a science. This paper studies one popular example often used in these proposals, the...
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| Published in: | History and philosophy of logic Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 229 - 241 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
03.07.2015
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| Subjects: | |
| ISSN: | 0144-5340, 1464-5149 |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | In response to the so-called 'software crisis' of the late 1960s, many approaches were proposed to turn (parts of) software engineering and programming into more systematic disciplines, to turn an art into a science. This paper studies one popular example often used in these proposals, the computation of a list of primes, to discuss some salient features of the proposed programming paradigms. It also looks at the actual implementation in the early 1970s of the prime program on a time-sharing system (MULTICS) and on a complex scientific computer (ILLIAC IV). Confronting theory with practice uncovers what the programming paradigms fail to grasp: the interaction with the user and the interaction with the machine. |
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| ISSN: | 0144-5340 1464-5149 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01445340.2015.1065459 |