Ralph Griswold
Encyclopedia
Ralph E. Griswold was a computer scientist
known for his research into high-level programming language
s and symbolic computation
. His language credits include the string processing
language SNOBOL
, SL5, and Icon
.
He attended Stanford University
, receiving a bachelor's degree in physics, then an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering
. Griswold went to Bell Labs
in 1962, where he studied ideas for non-numerical computation. SNOBOL was the outcome; it was a radically different language in its time and still is. He became the head of the Labs' Programming Research and Development department in 1967.
In 1971, he was hired by the University of Arizona
to be its first professor of computer science, subsequently organized the department, and was its head until 1981. While at Arizona, Griswold developed Icon
. The earlier Ratfor
implementation of Icon was discarded and the language rewritten from scratch in C and UNIX.
In 1990 Griswold was appointed Regents' Professor, and he retired in 1995. "As one of the founders of the Bell Labs software culture which spawned UNIX, C, and many other essential contributions to modern software, Ralph Griswold brought to his academic research not only brilliance, but also experience and a value system that demanded that research ideas be tested by fire and proven useful and usable by real users, not just good-looking diagrams in academic papers."
After his retirement, his interests turned to the mathematical aspects of weaving
.
Griswold died on October 4, 2006, from cancer
.
Griswold's son, Bill Griswold
, is also a computer scientist.
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....
known for his research into high-level programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
s and symbolic computation
Symbolic computation
Symbolic computation or algebraic computation, relates to the use of machines, such as computers, to manipulate mathematical equations and expressions in symbolic form, as opposed to manipulating the approximations of specific numerical quantities represented by those symbols...
. His language credits include the string processing
String (computer science)
In formal languages, which are used in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a string is a finite sequence of symbols that are chosen from a set or alphabet....
language SNOBOL
SNOBOL
SNOBOL is a generic name for the computer programming languages developed between 1962 and 1967 at AT&T Bell Laboratories by David J. Farber, Ralph E. Griswold and Ivan P. Polonsky, culminating in SNOBOL4...
, SL5, and Icon
Icon programming language
Icon is a very high-level programming language featuring goal directed execution and many facilities for managing strings and textual patterns. It is related to SNOBOL and SL5, string processing languages...
.
He attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, receiving a bachelor's degree in physics, then an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
. Griswold went to Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in 1962, where he studied ideas for non-numerical computation. SNOBOL was the outcome; it was a radically different language in its time and still is. He became the head of the Labs' Programming Research and Development department in 1967.
In 1971, he was hired by the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
to be its first professor of computer science, subsequently organized the department, and was its head until 1981. While at Arizona, Griswold developed Icon
Icon programming language
Icon is a very high-level programming language featuring goal directed execution and many facilities for managing strings and textual patterns. It is related to SNOBOL and SL5, string processing languages...
. The earlier Ratfor
Ratfor
Ratfor is a programming language implemented as a preprocessor for Fortran 66. It provided modern control structures, unavailable in Fortran 66, to replace GOTOs and statement numbers.- Features :...
implementation of Icon was discarded and the language rewritten from scratch in C and UNIX.
In 1990 Griswold was appointed Regents' Professor, and he retired in 1995. "As one of the founders of the Bell Labs software culture which spawned UNIX, C, and many other essential contributions to modern software, Ralph Griswold brought to his academic research not only brilliance, but also experience and a value system that demanded that research ideas be tested by fire and proven useful and usable by real users, not just good-looking diagrams in academic papers."
After his retirement, his interests turned to the mathematical aspects of weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
.
Griswold died on October 4, 2006, from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
Griswold's son, Bill Griswold
Bill Griswold
William G. Griswold is a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. His research is in software engineering; he is best known for his works on aspect-oriented programming using AspectJ and on finding invariants of programs to support software...
, is also a computer scientist.
External links
- Ralph Griswold home page at Arizona
- Obituary by Peter Salus
- Ralph Griswold oral histories at the 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. - Oral history interview with Stephen Wampler, 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. Wampler discusses his work on the development of the Icon programming languageIcon programming languageIcon is a very high-level programming language featuring goal directed execution and many facilities for managing strings and textual patterns. It is related to SNOBOL and SL5, string processing languages...
in the late 1970s at the University of Arizona under Ralph Griswold. - Oral history interview with Robert Goldberg, 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. Goldberg discusses his interaction with Ralph Griswold when working on the Icon programming languageIcon programming languageIcon is a very high-level programming language featuring goal directed execution and many facilities for managing strings and textual patterns. It is related to SNOBOL and SL5, string processing languages...
. - Charles Hall Collection on the SNOBOL Programming Language at the 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. - Memorial