Gerrit Blaauw

Quotes

• “The term architecture is used here to describe the attributes of a system as seen by the programmer, i.e., the conceptual structure and functional behavior, as distinct from the organization of the data flow and controls, the logical design, and the physical implementation. i. Additional details concerning the architecture,”
• “[The architecture specification covers] all functions of the machine that are observable by the program.”
• “The architecture of a system can be defined as the functional appearance of the system to the user.”
• “The purpose of the Committee was to study and report upon the desirability and characteristics of another computer system based on Stretch technology but having a lower cost and broader market than the 7000 Sigma system. The Committee was instructed to keep an open mind in initially examining various machine possibilities both from the engineering and marketing points of view...”
• “In computer design three levels can be distinguished: architecture, implementation and realisation; for the first of them, the following working definition is given: The architecture of a system can be defined as the functional appearance of the system to the user, its phenomenology.”
• “The result of the implementation, the logical design, is traditionally shown as a series of block diagrams. These blocks represent in effect a series of statements, Actually, a direct presentation of these statements is more suitable and, although less familiar, more easily understood. The Harvard Mark IV was to large degree designed and described by such statements, as has been the case with several subsequent developments.”

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Key dates

Born

17 July 1924

Died

21 March 2018

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Wikidata facts

Instance of

human

Given name

Gerrit

Gender

male

Citizenship

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Place of birth

The Hague

Place of death

Utrecht

Occupation

physicist

Educated at

Harvard University

Employer

University of Twente

Award

Computer Pioneer Award

Doctoral advisor

Howard H. Aiken

Image

Gerrit A. Blaauw circa 1950.tif

via Wikidata · CC0