Claudio Ciborra
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199275267
- eISBN:
- 9780191714399
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275267.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in organizations and the management of their impact has been the traditional domain of computer specialists and management consultants. The ...
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The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in organizations and the management of their impact has been the traditional domain of computer specialists and management consultants. The former have offered multiple ways to represent, model, and build applications that streamline and accelerate data flows, while the latter have been busy linking the deployment of ICTs with strategy and the redesign of business processes. This book takes quite a different approach altogether. It uses a string of metaphors, such as Bricolage, Krisis, Gestell, etc., to place a concern for human existence and our working lives at the centre of the study of ICTs and their diffusion in business organizations, and looks at our practices, improvisations, and moods. It draws upon the author's own extensive research and consulting experience to throw a fresh light on some key questions: why are systems ambiguous? Why do they not give us more time to do things? Is there strategic value in tinkering even in high-tech settings? What is the value of age-old practices in dealing with new technologies? What is the role of moods and affections in influencing action and cognition? The book presents an alternative to the current approaches in management, software-engineering, and strategy.Less
The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in organizations and the management of their impact has been the traditional domain of computer specialists and management consultants. The former have offered multiple ways to represent, model, and build applications that streamline and accelerate data flows, while the latter have been busy linking the deployment of ICTs with strategy and the redesign of business processes. This book takes quite a different approach altogether. It uses a string of metaphors, such as Bricolage, Krisis, Gestell, etc., to place a concern for human existence and our working lives at the centre of the study of ICTs and their diffusion in business organizations, and looks at our practices, improvisations, and moods. It draws upon the author's own extensive research and consulting experience to throw a fresh light on some key questions: why are systems ambiguous? Why do they not give us more time to do things? Is there strategic value in tinkering even in high-tech settings? What is the value of age-old practices in dealing with new technologies? What is the role of moods and affections in influencing action and cognition? The book presents an alternative to the current approaches in management, software-engineering, and strategy.
Robin Fincham, James Fleck, Rob Procter, Harry Scarbrough, Margaret Tierney, and Robin Williams
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289043
- eISBN:
- 9780191684678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289043.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology, Knowledge Management
This chapter explores the main process of information technology (IT) innovation, namely, the area of knowledge that has become recognized as software engineering. Throughout its history, software ...
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This chapter explores the main process of information technology (IT) innovation, namely, the area of knowledge that has become recognized as software engineering. Throughout its history, software has been beset by problems that have their roots in the difficulties of managing expertise. This chapter traces the emergence of software engineering, outlining its principles and procedures and providing a survey of the techniques (the methodological instrumentalities) employed in financial services. The limitations of these practices and the extent of their adoption are discussed, along with the ways in which organizations have tackled the problem of making software expertise more accountable and responsive to business needs. There was evidently a consensus that improved corporate involvement in IT decision-making, systems design, and project management was the key to making the IT function more responsive to business needs. The methodologies in use, however, typically attempted to address this issue by simply formalizing user involvement as a stage at the beginning of the traditional software life cycle.Less
This chapter explores the main process of information technology (IT) innovation, namely, the area of knowledge that has become recognized as software engineering. Throughout its history, software has been beset by problems that have their roots in the difficulties of managing expertise. This chapter traces the emergence of software engineering, outlining its principles and procedures and providing a survey of the techniques (the methodological instrumentalities) employed in financial services. The limitations of these practices and the extent of their adoption are discussed, along with the ways in which organizations have tackled the problem of making software expertise more accountable and responsive to business needs. There was evidently a consensus that improved corporate involvement in IT decision-making, systems design, and project management was the key to making the IT function more responsive to business needs. The methodologies in use, however, typically attempted to address this issue by simply formalizing user involvement as a stage at the beginning of the traditional software life cycle.
Nathan Ensmenger
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262050937
- eISBN:
- 9780262289351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262050937.003.0008
- Subject:
- Information Science, Information Science
This chapter examines the history of the emergence of software engineering during the period from 1968 to 1972. It explains that the term software engineering was first used by hardware engineer J. ...
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This chapter examines the history of the emergence of software engineering during the period from 1968 to 1972. It explains that the term software engineering was first used by hardware engineer J. Presper Eckert in reference to the growing conflict between computer programmers and their corporate employers. It discusses the highlights of the first-ever North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Conference on Software Engineering intended to address the impending crisis in software production.Less
This chapter examines the history of the emergence of software engineering during the period from 1968 to 1972. It explains that the term software engineering was first used by hardware engineer J. Presper Eckert in reference to the growing conflict between computer programmers and their corporate employers. It discusses the highlights of the first-ever North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Conference on Software Engineering intended to address the impending crisis in software production.
Giuseppe Primiero
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198835646
- eISBN:
- 9780191873232
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198835646.003.0012
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Computational Mathematics / Optimization, Logic / Computer Science / Mathematical Philosophy
This Chapter reconsiders the engineering foundation of computing, overviews the related debate, and formulates a notion of physical computational validity.
This Chapter reconsiders the engineering foundation of computing, overviews the related debate, and formulates a notion of physical computational validity.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
This chapter examines the notion of graduate skills. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and ...
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This chapter examines the notion of graduate skills. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and that is perceived to be needed and used in an increasingly complex economy. Higher education is understood as the developer of these advanced skills. The chapter shows that in all four occupations a mixture of soft and hard skills is required to perform the roles. Most skills in graduate work are not associated with higher education and within the job setting, there is limited space to use the hard skills graduates have developed during higher education.Less
This chapter examines the notion of graduate skills. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and that is perceived to be needed and used in an increasingly complex economy. Higher education is understood as the developer of these advanced skills. The chapter shows that in all four occupations a mixture of soft and hard skills is required to perform the roles. Most skills in graduate work are not associated with higher education and within the job setting, there is limited space to use the hard skills graduates have developed during higher education.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
This chapter examines the notion of graduate careers. By examining the career of graduate workers in the four occupations, it argues that university education does not tend to be the direct driving ...
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This chapter examines the notion of graduate careers. By examining the career of graduate workers in the four occupations, it argues that university education does not tend to be the direct driving force within the careers of graduates. There is nothing intrinsic about the graduate labour force that warrants set career paths. Characterizations such as the ‘boundaryless career’ can be associated with some graduate workers but it would be hard to associate the concept with graduate work or graduate occupations that graduates perform. Boundaries still shape graduate careers. There also exists great heterogeneity between and within occupations in terms of security and predictability.Less
This chapter examines the notion of graduate careers. By examining the career of graduate workers in the four occupations, it argues that university education does not tend to be the direct driving force within the careers of graduates. There is nothing intrinsic about the graduate labour force that warrants set career paths. Characterizations such as the ‘boundaryless career’ can be associated with some graduate workers but it would be hard to associate the concept with graduate work or graduate occupations that graduates perform. Boundaries still shape graduate careers. There also exists great heterogeneity between and within occupations in terms of security and predictability.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
This chapter assesses whether higher education within the four occupations performs as assumed according to the dominant discourse on graduate labour. The chapter aims to elucidate what the meaning ...
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This chapter assesses whether higher education within the four occupations performs as assumed according to the dominant discourse on graduate labour. The chapter aims to elucidate what the meaning and value of graduate education and university qualifications are within the four graduate occupations under investigation. The chapter examines how we can describe the meaning that higher education has within these occupations, whether the university degree functions as a credential, and to what extent higher education drives career progression. It shows that the significance of higher education differs between the occupations and tends to be overstated. Within a mass system of higher education, university credentials lose much of their value to employers and employees alike, certainly several years after graduation.Less
This chapter assesses whether higher education within the four occupations performs as assumed according to the dominant discourse on graduate labour. The chapter aims to elucidate what the meaning and value of graduate education and university qualifications are within the four graduate occupations under investigation. The chapter examines how we can describe the meaning that higher education has within these occupations, whether the university degree functions as a credential, and to what extent higher education drives career progression. It shows that the significance of higher education differs between the occupations and tends to be overstated. Within a mass system of higher education, university credentials lose much of their value to employers and employees alike, certainly several years after graduation.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
This chapter examines the notion of graduate occupations and examines how occupational boundaries are structured within the four occupations. Various existing analytical approaches link graduate ...
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This chapter examines the notion of graduate occupations and examines how occupational boundaries are structured within the four occupations. Various existing analytical approaches link graduate occupations to skills use or requirements, high autonomy, or the prevalence of degree holders. These classifications cannot deal very well with the fact that what counts as graduate labour in a graduatizing and competitive labour market is symbolically negotiated (and therefore socially constructed). On top of this, substantive differences in skill requirements and job tasks make the use of existing classifications for distinguishing the graduate and non-graduate occupations challenging. The chapter also shows that many graduate occupations may lack the organizational power, occupational identity, or knowledge base for professionalization to develop.Less
This chapter examines the notion of graduate occupations and examines how occupational boundaries are structured within the four occupations. Various existing analytical approaches link graduate occupations to skills use or requirements, high autonomy, or the prevalence of degree holders. These classifications cannot deal very well with the fact that what counts as graduate labour in a graduatizing and competitive labour market is symbolically negotiated (and therefore socially constructed). On top of this, substantive differences in skill requirements and job tasks make the use of existing classifications for distinguishing the graduate and non-graduate occupations challenging. The chapter also shows that many graduate occupations may lack the organizational power, occupational identity, or knowledge base for professionalization to develop.
Conrad Bessant, Darren Oakley, and Ian Shadforth
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199658558
- eISBN:
- 9780191779466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199658558.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Biomathematics / Statistics and Data Analysis / Complexity Studies, Biochemistry / Molecular Biology
This chapter provides a practical introduction to key software engineering practices that can be used to facilitate the efficient production of readable, flexible, and reliable program code even in ...
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This chapter provides a practical introduction to key software engineering practices that can be used to facilitate the efficient production of readable, flexible, and reliable program code even in complex multi-developer projects. These practices include unit testing, version control, in-code documentation, and user-centred design. The chapter also provides information on getting started with three languages that are popular in bioinformatics — Python, Ruby, and Java — and compares the capabilities of these languages with each other and with Perl.Less
This chapter provides a practical introduction to key software engineering practices that can be used to facilitate the efficient production of readable, flexible, and reliable program code even in complex multi-developer projects. These practices include unit testing, version control, in-code documentation, and user-centred design. The chapter also provides information on getting started with three languages that are popular in bioinformatics — Python, Ruby, and Java — and compares the capabilities of these languages with each other and with Perl.
Adrian Mackenzie
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262062749
- eISBN:
- 9780262273343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262062749.003.0021
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter begins with the brief discussion of a characteristic called the “otherness” side of software and broadly discusses the internationalization or i18n of the software industry across the ...
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This chapter begins with the brief discussion of a characteristic called the “otherness” side of software and broadly discusses the internationalization or i18n of the software industry across the globe. It states that through internationalization, the designing process of software can be localized to different regions and languages across the globe in a cost-effective manner and without software engineering changes. The chapter also examines how the contributions of software platforms like Microsoft, Ubuntu, Java, and others changed the architecture, development, and design phases of the software. The conclusion notes that security issues and other problem areas affect the universality of software.Less
This chapter begins with the brief discussion of a characteristic called the “otherness” side of software and broadly discusses the internationalization or i18n of the software industry across the globe. It states that through internationalization, the designing process of software can be localized to different regions and languages across the globe in a cost-effective manner and without software engineering changes. The chapter also examines how the contributions of software platforms like Microsoft, Ubuntu, Java, and others changed the architecture, development, and design phases of the software. The conclusion notes that security issues and other problem areas affect the universality of software.
Charles M. Schweik and Robert C. English
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262017251
- eISBN:
- 9780262301206
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262017251.003.0001
- Subject:
- Information Science, Information Science
This book explores how openness and the Internet promote innovation and the creation of economic value, citing the growth of the Web, Wikipedia, YouTube, and the open-source software (OSS) ...
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This book explores how openness and the Internet promote innovation and the creation of economic value, citing the growth of the Web, Wikipedia, YouTube, and the open-source software (OSS) application Apache as examples. It examines why and how teams of software developers and users, collaborating over the Internet, can build and maintain software as a form of commons, and, more precisely, discusses the factors that lead some OSS commons to succeed and others to fail. To address these issues, the book draws on literature about software engineering and information systems, along with distributed work and virtual teams, political science and economics—including collective action, social movements, and commons governance and management. It also uses a framework called Institutional Analysis and Development to analyze the technological characteristics of the software, the community aspects of the people involved, and the institutional rules and processes that govern OSS projects. Moreover, the book presents a case study of Open-Source Geospatial Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in a number of projects on OSS geographic information systems.Less
This book explores how openness and the Internet promote innovation and the creation of economic value, citing the growth of the Web, Wikipedia, YouTube, and the open-source software (OSS) application Apache as examples. It examines why and how teams of software developers and users, collaborating over the Internet, can build and maintain software as a form of commons, and, more precisely, discusses the factors that lead some OSS commons to succeed and others to fail. To address these issues, the book draws on literature about software engineering and information systems, along with distributed work and virtual teams, political science and economics—including collective action, social movements, and commons governance and management. It also uses a framework called Institutional Analysis and Development to analyze the technological characteristics of the software, the community aspects of the people involved, and the institutional rules and processes that govern OSS projects. Moreover, the book presents a case study of Open-Source Geospatial Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in a number of projects on OSS geographic information systems.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
This chapter examines the recruitment and selection process in four graduate occupations (scientists, software engineers, financial analysts, and press officers). How do graduate workers access jobs? ...
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This chapter examines the recruitment and selection process in four graduate occupations (scientists, software engineers, financial analysts, and press officers). How do graduate workers access jobs? Who is eligible to enter graduate roles and why? What does it take to be recruited and selected in both entry-level and more senior roles? This chapter shows that recruiting and selecting suitable candidates is a deeply contextualized, situational, and occupation-dependent process. The hard skills and knowledge skills often identified to distinguish graduates from non-graduates do not have a privileged status in it. The chapter shows that despite the differences between occupations, sectors, and positions there are indeed few general principles that define the recruitment and selection process for graduate workers.Less
This chapter examines the recruitment and selection process in four graduate occupations (scientists, software engineers, financial analysts, and press officers). How do graduate workers access jobs? Who is eligible to enter graduate roles and why? What does it take to be recruited and selected in both entry-level and more senior roles? This chapter shows that recruiting and selecting suitable candidates is a deeply contextualized, situational, and occupation-dependent process. The hard skills and knowledge skills often identified to distinguish graduates from non-graduates do not have a privileged status in it. The chapter shows that despite the differences between occupations, sectors, and positions there are indeed few general principles that define the recruitment and selection process for graduate workers.
Charles M. Schweik and Robert C. English
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262017251
- eISBN:
- 9780262301206
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262017251.001.0001
- Subject:
- Information Science, Information Science
The use of open-source software (OSS)—readable software source code that can be copied, modified, and distributed freely—has expanded dramatically in recent years. The number of OSS projects hosted ...
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The use of open-source software (OSS)—readable software source code that can be copied, modified, and distributed freely—has expanded dramatically in recent years. The number of OSS projects hosted on SourceForge.net (the largest hosting Web site for OSS), for example, grew from just over 100,000 in 2006 to more than 250,000 at the beginning of 2011. But why are some projects successful—that is, able to produce usable software and sustain ongoing development over time—while others are abandoned? This book, the product of a large-scale empirical study to look at social, technical, and institutional aspects of OSS, examines factors that lead to success in OSS projects and work toward a better understanding of Internet-based collaboration. Drawing on literature from many disciplines and using a theoretical framework developed for the study of environmental commons, it examines stages of OSS development, presenting multivariate statistical models of success and abandonment. The authors argue that analyzing the conditions of OSS successes may also inform Internet collaborations in fields beyond software engineering, particularly those which aim to solve complex technical, social, and political problems.Less
The use of open-source software (OSS)—readable software source code that can be copied, modified, and distributed freely—has expanded dramatically in recent years. The number of OSS projects hosted on SourceForge.net (the largest hosting Web site for OSS), for example, grew from just over 100,000 in 2006 to more than 250,000 at the beginning of 2011. But why are some projects successful—that is, able to produce usable software and sustain ongoing development over time—while others are abandoned? This book, the product of a large-scale empirical study to look at social, technical, and institutional aspects of OSS, examines factors that lead to success in OSS projects and work toward a better understanding of Internet-based collaboration. Drawing on literature from many disciplines and using a theoretical framework developed for the study of environmental commons, it examines stages of OSS development, presenting multivariate statistical models of success and abandonment. The authors argue that analyzing the conditions of OSS successes may also inform Internet collaborations in fields beyond software engineering, particularly those which aim to solve complex technical, social, and political problems.
Morgan G. Ames
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262027458
- eISBN:
- 9780262325509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027458.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Ames describes the appeal of the XO laptop, created by the One Laptop per Child program, in Paraguay in terms of the concept of the charismatic object, which exerts power not because of what it is ...
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Ames describes the appeal of the XO laptop, created by the One Laptop per Child program, in Paraguay in terms of the concept of the charismatic object, which exerts power not because of what it is but because of what it promises to do. Tracing the everyday challenges related to the use of the XO laptop in the classroom and the networks of NGOs, teachers, and government officials involved in the program, Ames explains why the Paraguayan program has been more successful than most and retains its appeal despite those challenges.Less
Ames describes the appeal of the XO laptop, created by the One Laptop per Child program, in Paraguay in terms of the concept of the charismatic object, which exerts power not because of what it is but because of what it promises to do. Tracing the everyday challenges related to the use of the XO laptop in the classroom and the networks of NGOs, teachers, and government officials involved in the program, Ames explains why the Paraguayan program has been more successful than most and retains its appeal despite those challenges.
Gerbrand Tholen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198744481
- eISBN:
- 9780191805714
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198744481.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management
The expansion of higher education (HE) has been one of the most important changes to affect Western labour markets. More than a third of all British workers are now degree holders. The graduate ...
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The expansion of higher education (HE) has been one of the most important changes to affect Western labour markets. More than a third of all British workers are now degree holders. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and required in an increasingly complex economy. HE is presumed to be the developer of these advanced skills. Yet with the graduatization of the workforce come growing concerns about as well as misunderstanding of what jobs graduates occupy, how they utilize their skills, and education’s role within graduate work and the competition for jobs. The book examines some of the assumptions placed on graduate work, graduate jobs, graduate skills, and graduate careers. It provides valuable insights into how we can understand the meaning of graduate work within a rapidly changing economic, technological, and organizational context. Based on in-depth qualitative case studies on software developers, financial analysts, laboratory scientists, and press officers, the book shows that the graduate labour market is more heterogeneous than often is understood. What counts as graduate work remains contested and under constant reinterpretation and renegotiation. Also, access to work, job performance, and career advancement are not necessarily driven by university qualifications and skills associated with HE. The book begins to explore how, and to what extent, those workers with university degrees are defined by their educational experiences, status, and qualifications, mounting a powerful critique against the idealization of graduate work.Less
The expansion of higher education (HE) has been one of the most important changes to affect Western labour markets. More than a third of all British workers are now degree holders. The graduate labour market is often understood as that part of the labour market characterized by high skills and high knowledge intensity and required in an increasingly complex economy. HE is presumed to be the developer of these advanced skills. Yet with the graduatization of the workforce come growing concerns about as well as misunderstanding of what jobs graduates occupy, how they utilize their skills, and education’s role within graduate work and the competition for jobs. The book examines some of the assumptions placed on graduate work, graduate jobs, graduate skills, and graduate careers. It provides valuable insights into how we can understand the meaning of graduate work within a rapidly changing economic, technological, and organizational context. Based on in-depth qualitative case studies on software developers, financial analysts, laboratory scientists, and press officers, the book shows that the graduate labour market is more heterogeneous than often is understood. What counts as graduate work remains contested and under constant reinterpretation and renegotiation. Also, access to work, job performance, and career advancement are not necessarily driven by university qualifications and skills associated with HE. The book begins to explore how, and to what extent, those workers with university degrees are defined by their educational experiences, status, and qualifications, mounting a powerful critique against the idealization of graduate work.
Michael Mateas
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262062749
- eISBN:
- 9780262273343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262062749.003.0039
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter revisits the important role of various programming languages in the field of software engineering. Its main theme revolves around weird or esoteric programming languages, used for ...
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This chapter revisits the important role of various programming languages in the field of software engineering. Its main theme revolves around weird or esoteric programming languages, used for testing the boundaries of the programming languages. The chapter mentions that weird languages are not meant for any real-world applications, and also explores the dimensions of analysis on which the languages are based. It exploits INTERCAL, a parody and an example of weird programming languages, along with COBOL and FORTRAN. The chapter states that the motto of these parody language designs is to comment on the features and many different aspects of the traditional programming languages.Less
This chapter revisits the important role of various programming languages in the field of software engineering. Its main theme revolves around weird or esoteric programming languages, used for testing the boundaries of the programming languages. The chapter mentions that weird languages are not meant for any real-world applications, and also explores the dimensions of analysis on which the languages are based. It exploits INTERCAL, a parody and an example of weird programming languages, along with COBOL and FORTRAN. The chapter states that the motto of these parody language designs is to comment on the features and many different aspects of the traditional programming languages.
Peter J. Bentley
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780199693795
- eISBN:
- 9780191918421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199693795.003.0008
- Subject:
- Computer Science, History of Computer Science
Your ideas, money, memories, and entertainment are dreams in the minds of computers. But the thoughts of each computer are not simple, they are layered like our own ...
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Your ideas, money, memories, and entertainment are dreams in the minds of computers. But the thoughts of each computer are not simple, they are layered like our own minds. Their lowest, most primitive layers are the instincts of the machine. Middle layers perform more general functions of its silicon mind. Higher layers think about overall concepts. Unlike us, the computer has languages for every layer. We can teach it new ideas by changing any one or all of its layers of thought. We can tell it to consider vast and convoluted concepts. But if we make a single mistake in our instructions, the mind of our digital slave may crash in a virtual epileptic fit. When our silicon students are so pedantic, how can we engineer their thoughts to make them reliable and trustworthy assistants? And if their thoughts become more complicated than anything we can imagine, how can we guarantee they will do what we want them to? . . . Light poured in through the large windows of the lecture room. The sound of scratching pens from nearly thirty distinguished engineers and scientists accompanied every word spoken by John Mauchly. One fellow by the name of Gard from the Wright Field’s Armament Laboratory seemed to be especially diligent, writing hundreds of pages of notes. It was Monday morning, a warm mid-summer day of 1946, some three years after his stimulating tea-time discussions with Turing. Claude Shannon was three weeks into the eight-week course at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, in the University of Pennsylvania. It had been an honour to be one of the select few invited to hear lectures on designing electronic digital computers. This was the first ever course to be taught on computer science, and Shannon was finding many of the ideas highly stimulating. He’d recently learned a new word from Mauchly: ‘program’ used as a verb. To program an electronic computer was an interesting concept. He was also hearing about some of the politics: apparently two of the lecturers, Mauchly and his colleague Eckert, had resigned from the university just four months ago because of some form of disagreement.
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Your ideas, money, memories, and entertainment are dreams in the minds of computers. But the thoughts of each computer are not simple, they are layered like our own minds. Their lowest, most primitive layers are the instincts of the machine. Middle layers perform more general functions of its silicon mind. Higher layers think about overall concepts. Unlike us, the computer has languages for every layer. We can teach it new ideas by changing any one or all of its layers of thought. We can tell it to consider vast and convoluted concepts. But if we make a single mistake in our instructions, the mind of our digital slave may crash in a virtual epileptic fit. When our silicon students are so pedantic, how can we engineer their thoughts to make them reliable and trustworthy assistants? And if their thoughts become more complicated than anything we can imagine, how can we guarantee they will do what we want them to? . . . Light poured in through the large windows of the lecture room. The sound of scratching pens from nearly thirty distinguished engineers and scientists accompanied every word spoken by John Mauchly. One fellow by the name of Gard from the Wright Field’s Armament Laboratory seemed to be especially diligent, writing hundreds of pages of notes. It was Monday morning, a warm mid-summer day of 1946, some three years after his stimulating tea-time discussions with Turing. Claude Shannon was three weeks into the eight-week course at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, in the University of Pennsylvania. It had been an honour to be one of the select few invited to hear lectures on designing electronic digital computers. This was the first ever course to be taught on computer science, and Shannon was finding many of the ideas highly stimulating. He’d recently learned a new word from Mauchly: ‘program’ used as a verb. To program an electronic computer was an interesting concept. He was also hearing about some of the politics: apparently two of the lecturers, Mauchly and his colleague Eckert, had resigned from the university just four months ago because of some form of disagreement.
