Reflections on Programming Systems: Historical and Philosophical Aspects: 133 (Philosophical Studies Series, 133)

Reflections on Programming Systems: Historical and Philosophical Aspects: 133 (Philosophical Studies Series, 133)

by Giuseppe Primiero (Editor), Giuseppe Primiero (Editor), Liesbeth De Mol (Editor)

Synopsis

This book presents a historical and philosophical analysis of programming systems, intended as large computational systems like, for instance, operating systems, programmed to control processes. The introduction to the volume emphasizes the contemporary need of providing a foundational analysis of such systems, rooted in a broader historical and philosophical discussion.

The different chapters are grouped around three major themes. The first concerns the early history of large systems developed against the background of issues related to the growing semantic gap between hardware and code. The second revisits the fundamental issue of complexity of large systems, dealt with by the use of formal methods and the development of `grand designs' like Unix. Finally, a third part considers several issues related to programming systems in the real world, including chapters on aesthetical, ethical and political issues.

This book will interest researchers from a diversity of backgrounds. It will appeal to historians, philosophers, as well as logicians and computer scientists who want to engage with topics relevant to the history and philosophy of programming and more specifically the role of programming systems in the foundations of computing.


$172.99

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 294
Edition: 1st ed. 2018
Publisher: Springer
Published: 17 Jan 2019

ISBN 10: 3319972251
ISBN 13: 9783319972251

Author Bio

Dr. Giuseppe Primiero is Senior Lecturer in Computing Science at the Department of Computer Science, Middlesex University London. He is President of the DHST-DLMPST Commission on the History and Philosophy of Computing, Member at Large of the Leadership Committee of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy and since 2016 Secretary General for the Association Computability in Europe. His research areas include logic, philosophy of information and computation.

Liesbeth De Mol is a CNRS researcher based in France. She is the founding president of the DHST/DLMPST Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing, coundil and steering committee member of the Association for Computability in Europe and principal investigator of the ANR research project PROGRAMme on the history and philosophy of computer programs (2018-2022). Her research focuses on the histoircal and epistemological connections between logic, programming and computing.