Computer
History Lecture Series 2000
Frances E. “Fran” Allen
Senior Technical Consultant,
IBM Research’s Solutions and Services
will speak on
"The Stretch-HARVEST
Compiler"
Wednesday,
November 8, 6:00 p.m.
Pake
Auditorium, Xerox PARC, Palo Alto
Reception to follow.
RSVP is
required.
Please RSVP by Tuesday, November 7, 2000
to Wendy Ann Francis, 650-604-5205 or at
francis@computerhistory.org
Abstract
of Talk
In response to government
requests, IBM Research designed a system for a very large data processing
application, known as the HARVEST system, including Stretch, which
was delivered to the National Security Agency in the early 1960s.
The combined Stretch-HARVEST Project created a milieu for developing
new technologies, new hardware architectures, and new software to
meet the challenges of both systems. One of the guiding principles
of the project was to make programming easier by the use of a compiler
to generate code automatically from statements in the user's language.
Allen was
a member of the ALPHA language design team which created a very
high level language featuring, among other things, the ability to
create new alphabets beyond the system defined alphabets (e.g. English,
decimal, integer, binary) and treat complex, heterogeneous data
in high-level statements. In addition to an overview of Stretch-HARVEST,
the talk will describe some of the lesser known aspects of the project
the people and institutions involved, the political climate, and
the shared knowledge, views, and value systems which were part of
this interesting project at an interesting time in the history of
computing.
Background
on the Speaker:
Fran Allen is regarded as a pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers.
Her achievements include seminal work in compilers, code optimization
and parallelization. She helped create one of the first automatic
debugging systems and, as a member of the Stretch-HARVEST project,
developed an advanced code-breaking language known as Alpha.
In the early
80’s, she founded the Parallel Translation Group (PTRAN) to study
compiling for parallel machines. This group was recognized as one
of the top research groups in the world dealing with parallelization
issues. Allen currently serves as senior technical consultant to
IBM Research’s Solutions and Services vice-president. In 1989, she
became the first woman to be named an IBM Fellow.
She was
also elected president of the IBM Academy of Technology in 1995.
Allen earned her BS in 1954 from the State University of New York
in Albany and her Masters three years later from the University
of Michigan. She received an honorary Doctorate in Science in 1991
from the University of Alberta.
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Directions:
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
3333 Coyote
Hill Rd.
Palo Alto,
CA 94304-1314
Tel: +1 650 812
4000
From
San Francisco Airport:
1. Take Freeway
101 north to Highway 380
2. Take Highway
380 to Highway 280
3. Take Freeway
280 south toward San Jose
4. Exit at Page
Mill Road and make a left turn, toward Palo Alto
5. Make a right
turn at Coyote Hill Road
6. Xerox PARC is
on the left, just past the crest of the hill
From
San Jose Airport:
1. Take Freeway
880 south toward Santa Cruz
2. Take Freeway
280 north toward San Francisco
3. Exit at Page
Mill Road and make a right turn, toward Palo Alto
4. Make a right
turn at Coyote Hill Road
5. Xerox PARC is
on the left, just past the crest of the hill.
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