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Cyhist Apr 15 1997 L
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Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 22:20:40 -0400
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "A. Padgett Peterson P.E. Information Security"
<PADGETT@HOBBES.ORL.MMC.COM>
Subject: CM> 4GLs
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
Ah yessss, the fog begins to clear. What became 4GLs was really an outgrouth of software libraries. B4 4GLs most coding was unique to each job and there was little commonality. This was partly because major programming tasks (at least for the DOD) were multi-year projects and by the time you got done with one, the platforms had changed.
Around 1980-84 things changed and for the first time we were using the same platform on multiple programs and it was discovered that the core for an F-16 flight control system was not that different from what an F-111 or even a SR-71 needed. The envelopes were different but once you had the software to translate the output from a Hamilton-Standard vibrating cylinder pressure tranducer to linear altitude or a Honeywell Ring-gyro-laser to heading, you really did not ever want to do *that* again so code got reused.
As a result functions started being treated as meta-commands and even though the basis might be JOVIAL or later ADA, an ELEVON call would always return a common value reguardless of platform.
These meta-commands gathered into meta-languages (expect C-ATLAS might be considered one of the progenitors) which were essentially platform- independant.
Do recall now reading the Codd (?) rules in Dr. Dobb's Journal and thinking "so that's what we have been doing" - just never had a name for it before.
But then you have to understand that to me "object oriented" means "batch file" so what do I know ?
Warmly,
Padgett
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "A. Padgett Peterson P.E. Information Security"
<PADGETT@HOBBES.ORL.MMC.COM>
Subject: CM> 4GLs
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
Ah yessss, the fog begins to clear. What became 4GLs was really an outgrouth of software libraries. B4 4GLs most coding was unique to each job and there was little commonality. This was partly because major programming tasks (at least for the DOD) were multi-year projects and by the time you got done with one, the platforms had changed.
Around 1980-84 things changed and for the first time we were using the same platform on multiple programs and it was discovered that the core for an F-16 flight control system was not that different from what an F-111 or even a SR-71 needed. The envelopes were different but once you had the software to translate the output from a Hamilton-Standard vibrating cylinder pressure tranducer to linear altitude or a Honeywell Ring-gyro-laser to heading, you really did not ever want to do *that* again so code got reused.
As a result functions started being treated as meta-commands and even though the basis might be JOVIAL or later ADA, an ELEVON call would always return a common value reguardless of platform.
These meta-commands gathered into meta-languages (expect C-ATLAS might be considered one of the progenitors) which were essentially platform- independant.
Do recall now reading the Codd (?) rules in Dr. Dobb's Journal and thinking "so that's what we have been doing" - just never had a name for it before.
But then you have to understand that to me "object oriented" means "batch file" so what do I know ?
Warmly,
Padgett
______________________________________________________________________
