[Info-vax] Dave Cutler, Prism, DEC, Microsoft, etc.

[John Reagan]

"Rich Alderson" <news at alderson.users.panix.com> wrote in message 
news:mddk4xvtqmg.fsf at panix5.panix.com...

>
> It depends on how one views the discipline.  In departments in which it is
> viewed as a mathematical discipline, there is little need for programming
> skills, or exposure to any user interface, whether command line or 
> graphical,
> to move forward in one's studies.  Analysis of algorithmic complexity, 
> proof
> of correctness, etc. are the bread and butter of the field.
>
> In departments in which it is viewed as an engineering discipline, 
> compiler
> construction and other issues of language implementation, design of 
> operating
> systems, and the like, are studied.
>
> Neither is the whole story, but the two kinds of CS departments rarely 
> mix,
> in my experience.
>

Then things must have changed.  When I was at Purdue (77-81), I did 
algorithm proof & complexity classes; OS design classes; compiler 
construction classes; database design classes; etc.  That was all from the 
CS dept.

That said, the compiler I built at Purdue was a toy compared to the real 
world compilers I found at DEC.  It parsed a subset of Pascal and generated 
a homebrew bytestream that was executed by a provided interpreter.  (it was 
on punched cards as well on a CDC6600 if that shows my age).

When folks came to the compiler group (including myself), there was still a 
long aprenticeship program before you got to invent real stuff.  Compilers 
aren't magic.  Lots of table lookups, hashtables, linked lists, trees, etc. 
You just need to know what order they go in. :)

John