re; Still kicking -- snobol

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

For those who might not know,I was one of the three creators of  
SNOBOL, Snobol 2 and Snobol3.

Dave



Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Frankston <bob2-39 () bobf frankston com>
> Date: January 24, 2010 10:18:38 AM EST
> To: dave () farber net, 'ip' <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Cc: 'Gerry Faulhaber' <gerry-faulhaber () mchsi com>
> Subject: RE: [IP] Re:    Still kicking -- snobol

> I remember the challenges of using SNOBOL 3 (not that fancy SNOBOL  
> 4) on NYU’s IBM 7094 under FMS (Fortran Monitor System) back then (w 
> hen I was in High School). You had to put a think pile of cards, a f 
> ew inches of them, in front of your ten line (line = card) program.  
> None of this fancy library-on-disk stuff. And if you wanted your own 
>  copy you had to go to the 1401 to copy the binary deck because the  
> 519 wasn’t really up to the task of copying a binary deck – too  
> much power on too many magnets to reliably copy the deck.
>
>
>
> But it was worth it and exciting – SNOBOL felt liberating compared w 
> ith Fortran. It was all part of the Precambrian age of computing whe 
> n every idea was untried. And the 7094 was a huge computer with 32K  
> words, sort of like 128K bytes without much support for strings or t 
> he other stuff of which SNOBOL was built.
>
>
>
> It’s interesting to reflect back on how different the concept of com 
> puting was that – a card deck that did something and produced the re 
> sult. No permanent stories or connected computing (though I’ve been  
> online since 1966). FMS wasn’t even an operating system – just a  
> way to batch up programs – typically in Fortran though assembler and 
>  COBOL were alternatives.
>
>
>
> Knowing the hardware underneath, dealing with registers in  
> assembler, plug boards for the 519 and other peripherals gave us a  
> grounded sense of computing. For some, perhaps, it limited the  
> thinking of what is possible but it also left us with a sense that  
> these are just machines even as the public image of “giant  
> brains” flourished.
>
>
>
> I wonder what it’s like to grow up learning to see computing first v 
> ia the web or via high level languages using very powerful developme 
> nt tools that had the basic mechanism.
>
>
>
> Perhaps that is what makes explaining my view to others – it’s  
> very different when we built these systems pragmatic but imperfect s 
> olutions to problems. Today too many people see these imperfect comp 
> romises as the only possibilities and revere them rather than questi 
> on them.
>
>
>
> Good thing it wasn’t so long ago otherwise I’d feel old.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 09:35
> To: ip
> Subject: [IP] Re: Still kicking -- snobol
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
> From: "Gerry Faulhaber" <gerry-faulhaber () mchsi com>
>
> Date: January 23, 2010 11:46:32 PM EST
>
> To: <dave () farber net>
>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Still kicking -- snobol
>
>
>
> Yikes!  I was writing SNOBOL code back in 1964 at Holmdel, before I  
> was an economist and even before I was a traffic engineer.  I was  
> one of your pioneer users, and all of 25 yrs old, working for Erna  
> Hoover.  This sure brings back memories.
>
>
>
> Gerry
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Farber" <dave () farber net>
>
> To: "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
>
> Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 10:51 PM
>
> Subject: [IP] Still kicking -- snobol
>
>
>
>
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
>
> >
>
> > From: "Kevin G. Barkes" <kgbarkes () gmail com>
>
> > Date: January 23, 2010 7:58:40 PM EST
>
> > To: <dave () farber net>
>
> > Subject: Still kicking
>
> >
>
> > For those us fossils still using SPITBOL (or SNOBOL4) in production
>
> > environments, it's fun to see the youngsters discovering it for  
> the first
>
> > time.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > http://tinyurl.com/y93qq8l
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Regards,
>
> >
>
> > KGB
>
> >
>
> > -----
>
> > Kevin G. Barkes
>
> > Email: kgbarkes () yahoo com
>
> > KGB Report:
>
> > http://www.kgbreport.com
>
> > Commentwear by KGB:
>
> > http://www.commentwear.com
>
> > National Temperature Index:
>
> > http://nationaltemperatureindex.com
>
> > DCL Dialogue on line:
>
> > http://www.dcldialogue.com
>
> > Random Quotations Generator:
>
> > http://www.goodquotations.com
>
> > Over 13,000 searchable quotations.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > -------------------------------------------
>
> > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
>
> > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
>
> > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
>
> Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
>
> RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
>
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com