John Backus

John Backus (born the December 3rd 1924 and dead the March 17th 2007 with Ashland in Oregon), is a pioneer of the Informatique. It is mainly known for its two outstanding achievements:

  1. Between 1954 and 1957, within IBM, him and its team invent the language FORTRAN.

  2. In 1959 it invents a notation making it possible to describe the syntax of a computer programming language of high-level. This notation (shortened BNF) is called initially the normal form of Backus (in English Backus Normal Form ), then Forme of Backus-Naur (in English Backus-Naur Form ) after Peter Naur made its modifications there.

John Backus receives many prices rewarding his career. When it receives the Prix Turing in 1977, for which it must write an article on the subject of its choice, it surprises the data-processing community by entitling its article: “Edge programming Be liberated from the von Neumann style? : functional style and its will off algebra programs” (the programming can it has be released from the model von Neumann? : a functional model and its algebra of the programs) in which he purely denounces with virulence the inefficiency of the programming imperative and introduced a functional language baptized FP, for Functional Programming.

John Backus took his retirement in 1991. John Backus was made doctor Honoris causa of the Université Henri Poincaré of Nancy, on December 14th, 1989.

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