Waterloo is known worldwide as an enterprising institution, and one of its earliest successes in spinoff businesses was WatCom, the Waterloo Compiler company. In its heyday, the WatCom compiler suite was one of the most popular, if not the most popular, in the world, and its influence on the languages it implemented lives on even today. While WatCom itself is now largely defunct, Waterloo retains its name is a powerhouse for programming language implementation, as well as basic research. In this partially nostalgic and partially modern talk, Gregor Richards will relate the history of programming languages both at Waterloo and at large during the first 50 years of Waterloo Computer Science, tell the tale of WatCom and the downfall of compiler businesses in general, discuss current research, and speculate on the futurepaths of programming.
Speaker: Gregor Richards
Time: 3:00 - 3:35
Location: STC 1012