A Father of Fortran Dies

Fortran was my second or third computer language. This dates me, a bit. Most of my colleagues have no idea what a "For" is, nor a "tran" (actually, I don't remember a tran, either. I'm pretty sure there was a "tron," at least in BASIC). If memory serves, Fortran stood for Formula Translation - and it was a wicked language, wonderfully linear, the first serious step away from raw machine code.

And now, the NY Times has reported on the death, at age 82, of John W. Backus, the man "who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran."

I am genuinely saddened. I hope he lived happily.