John Backus: The Father of Programming Languages and a Catalyst for Modern Computing
John Backus: The Father of Programming Languages and Catalyst for Modern Computing One can hardly argue that John Backus was one of the most influential personalities in computer engineering. Among the numerous accomplishments that he has achieved, the most noteworthy was writing the first comprehensive user-friendly language for computers – FORTRAN – and laying the foundation for modern computing technology. At the dawn of the computer age, computing technology was painfully slow, complex, and often unreliable. Backus made it his mission to create a tool that would make computers easier to use and accessible to the masses. In 1956 Backus proposed a “thoroughgoing” development of the FORTRAN language. The language would be geared toward professionals in fields such as engineering, mathematics, chemistry, and physics, allowing them to write computer programs more rapidly and accurately than ever before. Initially, Backus's proposal was met with much resistance from the scientif...