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Friday, January 20, 2006

Manuscripts of Dr. EW Dijkstra

Dr. Edsger W. Dijkstra, who coined the word Structured Programming, doesn't need a special introduction, to all those people in the field of computing. Shortest Path algorithm, semaphores solution to the classic Dining Philosophers problem, notion of invariants, pre- and post-conditions for the correctness of programs, strong case against GO TO statement are some of his contributions to Computer Science. Dr. Dijkstra was also a principal contributor to the development of the ALGOL programming language.

Dr. Dijkstra was known for the habit of writing his opinions on programming/computing (computer science, in general) in a series of manuscripts called EWDs. Dr. Dijkstra had an unique style of writing, that I always enjoyed reading. His outstanding work helps us understand the evolution of computer science, up to some extent. The University of Texas at Austin (UTA) is kind enough to archive majority of Dr. Dijkstra's writings, and make them available in PDF format, at: In Pursuit of Simplicity: The Manuscripts of Edsger W. Dijkstra web page.

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