Charles Bachman
Encyclopedia
Charles William "Charlie" Bachman (born December 11, 1924) is an American computer scientist
, who spent his entire career as an industrial researcher rather than in academia. He is particularly known for his work in the area of database
s.
in 1924, where his father, Charlie Bachman
, was the head football coach at Kansas State College
. He attended high school in East Lansing, Michigan
.
In World War II
he jointed the United States Army and spent March 1944 through February 1946 in the South West Pacific Theater
serving in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Corps in New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippine Islands. Here he was first exposed to and used fire control computers for aiming 90 mm guns.
After his discharge in 1946 he attended Michigan State College and graduated in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering
(Tau Beta Phi). He then attended the University of Pennsylvania
. In 1950, he graduated with a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and had also completed three-quarters of the requirements for an MBA from the university's Wharton School of Business.
In 1950 he started working at Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
. After ten years in 1960 he joined General Electric
, where he developed the Integrated Data Store
(IDS). In 1983 he would found Bachman Information Systems, where he developed Computer-Aided Software Engineering
(CASE) products.
He received the ACM Turing Award in 1973 for "his outstanding contributions to database technology". He was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society
in 1977 for his pioneering work in database systems. He is listed in the Database Hall of Fame.
, he rose to the position of Data Processing manager before leaving in 1960 to join General Electric
, where he developed the Integrated Data Store
(IDS), one of the first database management systems. Working in conjunction with Weyerhaeuser Lumber
, he developed the first multiprogramming access to the IDS database. Later at GE he developed the "dataBasic" product that offered database support to the Basic language
timesharing users. Later in his career, he joined a smaller firm, Cullinane Information Systems (later Cullinet
), which offered a version of IDS that was called IDMS
and supported the IBM mainframes.
products. The centerpiece of these products was the BACHMAN/Data Analyst, which provided graphic support to the creation and maintenance of Bachman Diagrams. It was featured in IBM's Reengineering Cycle marketing program, combining:
, University of Minnesota. This collection contains detailed archival material describing database software development. Includes documentation on Dow Chemical (1951–1960), General Electric (1960–1970), Honeywell Information Systems (1970–1981), Cullinane Database Systems/Cullinet (1972–1986), Bachman Information Systems, Inc. (1982–1996) as well as several professional organizations.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, who spent his entire career as an industrial researcher rather than in academia. He is particularly known for his work in the area of database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
s.
Biography
Charles Bachman was born in Manhattan, KansasManhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
in 1924, where his father, Charlie Bachman
Charlie Bachman
Charles William "Charlie" Bachman, Jr. was an American college football player and head coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played college football...
, was the head football coach at Kansas State College
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
. He attended high school in East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
.
In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he jointed the United States Army and spent March 1944 through February 1946 in the South West Pacific Theater
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
serving in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Corps in New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippine Islands. Here he was first exposed to and used fire control computers for aiming 90 mm guns.
After his discharge in 1946 he attended Michigan State College and graduated in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
(Tau Beta Phi). He then attended the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. In 1950, he graduated with a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and had also completed three-quarters of the requirements for an MBA from the university's Wharton School of Business.
In 1950 he started working at Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
Midland, Michigan
Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. After ten years in 1960 he joined General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, where he developed the Integrated Data Store
Integrated Data Store
Integrated Data Store is a network database largely used by industry for its performance.IDS was designed by Charles Bachman at General Electric in the 1960s. It was not known to be easy to use or implement applications with, because it was designed to maximize performance using the hardware...
(IDS). In 1983 he would found Bachman Information Systems, where he developed Computer-Aided Software Engineering
Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
(CASE) products.
He received the ACM Turing Award in 1973 for "his outstanding contributions to database technology". He was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society
British Computer Society
The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
in 1977 for his pioneering work in database systems. He is listed in the Database Hall of Fame.
Work
Bachman spent his entire career as a practicing software engineer rather than in academia. Initially starting work in 1950 at Dow Chemical in Midland, MichiganMidland, Michigan
Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, he rose to the position of Data Processing manager before leaving in 1960 to join General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, where he developed the Integrated Data Store
Integrated Data Store
Integrated Data Store is a network database largely used by industry for its performance.IDS was designed by Charles Bachman at General Electric in the 1960s. It was not known to be easy to use or implement applications with, because it was designed to maximize performance using the hardware...
(IDS), one of the first database management systems. Working in conjunction with Weyerhaeuser Lumber
Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector owner of softwood timberland; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber...
, he developed the first multiprogramming access to the IDS database. Later at GE he developed the "dataBasic" product that offered database support to the Basic language
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
timesharing users. Later in his career, he joined a smaller firm, Cullinane Information Systems (later Cullinet
Cullinet
Cullinet was a software company whose products included the database management system IDMS and the integrated software package Goldengate. In 1989, the company was bought by Computer Associates...
), which offered a version of IDS that was called IDMS
IDMS
IDMS is primarily a network database management system for mainframes. It was first developed at B.F. Goodrich and later marketed by Cullinane Database Systems...
and supported the IBM mainframes.
Bachman Information Systems
In 1983, he founded Bachman Information Systems that developed a line of Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE)Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
products. The centerpiece of these products was the BACHMAN/Data Analyst, which provided graphic support to the creation and maintenance of Bachman Diagrams. It was featured in IBM's Reengineering Cycle marketing program, combining:
- the reverse engineeringReverse engineeringReverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
of obsolete mainframe databases, - data modeling,
- forward engineering to new physical databases, and
- optimization of physical database designs for performance and DBMS specifics.
Bachman papers
Bachman papers from 1951 to 2007 are available at the Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage Institute
The Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. This collection contains detailed archival material describing database software development. Includes documentation on Dow Chemical (1951–1960), General Electric (1960–1970), Honeywell Information Systems (1970–1981), Cullinane Database Systems/Cullinet (1972–1986), Bachman Information Systems, Inc. (1982–1996) as well as several professional organizations.
Publications
Bachman published dozens of publications and papers, a selection:- 1962. "Precedence Diagrams: The Key to Production Planning, Scheduling and Control." In: ProCo Features. Supplement No 24, August 24. .
- 1965. "Integrated Data Store." in: DPMA Quarterly, January 1965.
- 1969. "Software for Random Access Processing." in: Datamation April 1965.
- 1969. "Data Structure Diagrams." in: DataBase: A Quarterly Newsletter of SIGBDP. vol. 1, no. 2, Summer 1969.
- 1972. "Architecture Definition Technique: Its Objectives, Theory, Process, Facilities, and Practice." co-authored with J. Bouvard. in: Data Description, Access and Control: Proceedings of the 1972 ACM-SIGFIDET Workshop, November 29-December 1, 1972.
- 1972. "The Evolution of Storage Structures." In: Communications of the ACM vol. 15, no. 7, July 1972.
- 1972-73. "Set Concept for Data Structure." In: Encyclopedia of Computer Science, 1972-1973.
- 1973. "The Programmer as Navigator." 1973 ACM Turing AwardTuring AwardThe Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
lecture. In: Communications of the ACM vol. 16, no. 11, November 1973. (pdf) - 1974. "Implementation Techniques for Data Structure Sets." In: Data Base Management Systems, 1974.
- 1977. "Why Restrict the Modeling Capability of Codasyl Data Structure Sets?" In: National Computer Conference vol. 46, 1977.
- 1978. "Commentary on the CODASYL Systems Committee's Interim Report on Distributed Database Technology." National Computer Conference vol. 47, 1978.
- 1978. "DDP Will Be Infinitely Affected, So Managers Beware!" in: DM, March 1978.
- 1980. "The Impact of Structured Data Throughout Computer-Based Information Systems." In: Information Processing 80, 1980.
- 1980. "The Role Data Model Approach to Data Structures." In; International Conference on Data Bases, March 24, 1980.
- 1982. "Toward a More Complete Reference Model of Computer-Based Information Systems." Co-authored with Ronald G. Ross. In: Computers and Standards 1, 1982.
- 1983. "The Structuring Capabilities of the Molecular Data Model." In; Entity-Relationship Approach to Software Engineering. C. G. Davis, S. Jajodia, and R. T. Yeh. eds. June 1983.
- 1987. "A Case for Adaptable Programming." In: Logic vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 1987.
- 1989. "A Personal Chronicle: Creating Better Information Systems, with Some Guiding Principles." In: IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering vol. 1, no. 1, March 1989.
External links
- Charles W. Bachman Papers, 1951-2007 at Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. - Charles W. (Charlie) Bachman at www.computerhistory.org.