[COFF] [TUHS] In Memoriam: Per Brinch Hansen

[peter at rulingia.com (Peter Jeremy)]

[Moved from TUHS to COFF]

On 2018-Aug-02 08:44:56 -0400, Doug McIlroy <doug at cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
>My collection of early computer manuals includes Brinch Hansen's manual
>for the RC 4000, which stands out for its precise description of the
>CPU logic--in Algol 60! It's the only manual I have seen that offers a
>good-to-the-last-bit formal description of the hardware.

The book "A Programming Language" by Kenneth Iverson included a formal
description of the IBM 7090 in Iverson Notation (now APL).  I believe that
is the first formal description of any computer.  The success of that led
IBM to include a formal description of the System/360 architecture in the
IBM Systems Journal issue introducing the S/360.

I've been told that IBM has since regretted that decision since it opened
the way for other manufacturers to clone the S/360.

-- 
Peter Jeremy
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