From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 29644 invoked from network); 22 May 2020 21:13:06 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 22 May 2020 21:13:06 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 2DC379C83F; Sat, 23 May 2020 07:13:05 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 874389C194; Sat, 23 May 2020 07:12:45 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id D206E9C194; Sat, 23 May 2020 07:12:43 +1000 (AEST) Received: from ipo12.cc.utah.edu (ipo12.cc.utah.edu [155.97.144.22]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A1F999C187 for ; Sat, 23 May 2020 07:12:42 +1000 (AEST) IronPort-SDR: JKkntssmjcrpEuySCkaZXQhkSQWPpAo53txQpjSvbriP/DEuUuND9wsgN2/cJ23magfnLHFpCe 78wc8a8beZ8a3NLyYfD0yQj1pyKZ2oVL1rWhQRwKQvmje+J7MGKhwHYHok/NXloc4cVsD0oS5U qXx61rlfm0UI4VjQxbeDaTheEfruDQy5HAbmozJE5pa3dCL8JoRTRY1OdQ5AUeYQT7C6qFrEd1 tCw715ZlRWWTcfDKGAFybWDrUgsPuGfmLHQgX2RlBxdNSVQdeK8/2dg6wQZEPmFnyD1ZmtJoJM L7I= X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="5.73,423,1583218800"; d="scan'208";a="52328360" Received: from mail.math.utah.edu ([155.101.98.135]) by ipo12smtp.cc.utah.edu with ESMTP/TLS/ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256; 22 May 2020 15:12:42 -0600 Received: from gamma.math.utah.edu (gamma.math.utah.edu [155.101.96.20]) by mail.math.utah.edu (8.14.8/8.14.8) with ESMTP id 04MLCfgB020219; Fri, 22 May 2020 15:12:41 -0600 (MDT) Received: from gamma.math.utah.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by gamma.math.utah.edu (8.15.1/8.15.1) with ESMTP id 04MLCfRk001389; Fri, 22 May 2020 15:12:41 -0600 Received: (from beebe@localhost) by gamma.math.utah.edu (8.15.1/8.15.1/Submit) id 04MLCfA3001387; Fri, 22 May 2020 15:12:41 -0600 Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 15:12:41 -0600 From: "Nelson H. F. Beebe" To: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-US-Mail: "Department of Mathematics, 110 LCB, University of Utah, 155 S 1400 E RM 233, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090, USA" X-Telephone: +1 801 581 5254 X-FAX: +1 801 581 4148 X-URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe Message-ID: X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.3.8 (mail.math.utah.edu [155.101.98.135]); Fri, 22 May 2020 15:12:41 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: [TUHS] TUHS] where did "main" come from? X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Lawrence Stewart asks on Fri, 22 May 2020 14:43:40 -0400: >> So who started "main" and when? I have just checked several PDFs of IBM mainframe and Fortran manuals going back to 1954. The early manuals did not appear to use the name "main", but in ibm-7030/C22-6578_7030_Programming_Examples_Apr61.pdf, the phrase "the main program" occurs in the context of assembly language coding. In ibm-7030/C22-6751_7030_FORTRAN_IV_May63.pdf, on page 22, which begins with Part II. FORTRAN Programming for the IBM 7030 the first paragraph ends with "the main program". In silliac/SPMpart1-ocr.pdf, titled Silliac Programming Manual The Adolph Basser Computing Laboratory School of Physics The University of Sydney and dated January 1959, on page 99, I find >> ... >> In this way a program is seen to consist of several distinct, >> self-contained blocks, namely the various subroutines and the part of >> the program (usually called the main program or master routine) which >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> makes use of its subroutines by sending control to them. >> ... I have many manuals for older systems, but most have not been subjected to optical-character recognition, so it is difficult to find specific text in them. Nevertheless, I have demonstrated that by at least January 1959, the phrase "main program" was common enough to appear in computer documentation, qualified by "usually". Some day, perhaps I'll find time to do OCR conversion on my extensive PDF file archives. I'll be pleased to hear of earlier uses of "main program" from TUHS list members. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Nelson H. F. Beebe Tel: +1 801 581 5254 - - University of Utah FAX: +1 801 581 4148 - - Department of Mathematics, 110 LCB Internet e-mail: beebe@math.utah.edu - - 155 S 1400 E RM 233 beebe@acm.org beebe@computer.org - - Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090, USA URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe/ - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------