http://www.computer.org/annals From the analytical engine to the supercomputer, from Pascal to von Neumann, from punched cards to CD-ROMs -- the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing covers the breadth of computer history. Featuring scholarly articles by leading computer scientists and historians, as well as firsthand accounts by computer pioneers, the Annals is the primary publication for recording, analyzing, and debating the history of computing. The Annals also serves as a focal point for people interested in uncovering and preserving the records of this exciting field. The quarterly publication is an active center for the collection and dissemination of information on historical projects and organizations, oral history activities, and international conferences. en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 10:00:07 GMT http://csdl.computer.org/common/images/logos/annals.gif List of recently published journal articles http://www.computer.org/annals http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.55 IBM’s Database 2 (DB2) relational database management system (DBMS) shipped in the early 1980s and drove billons of dollars of revenue to IBM and other firms within a decade of its debut. The product spawned a wealth of add-on tools, shaped the future of mainframe computing, and provided independent software vendors with a strong, reliable, and scalable platform for mission-critical applications. Today, DB2 spans multiple operating systems and is widely deployed across a broad spectrum of industries. In this paper, we explore the beginnings of DB2 and trace its rise to prominence. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.55 http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.2 This paper examines the origins and early history of the field of computer engineering in the United States, from the mid-1940s to mid-1950s. The account is based on both primary and secondary sources, and draws theory from technology studies and the sociology of professions. The paper begins by discussing roles played by engineers and engineering during development of some of the first high-speed digital computers. It then describes the efforts of two electrical engineering institutes as they staked claims in computing, followed by a discussion of bifurcated versus integrated visions for the new field. The final sections turn to the emergence and establishment of computer engineering as a distinct field or specialty, primarily in the context of professional societies and private sector firms. One main goal of this paper is to show how the jurisdiction of engineering expanded to include computer hardware design. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.2 http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.1 In this paper, a methodological approach to the historiography of computing is proposed in terms of information hiding, i.e. the introduction of Levels of Abstraction (LoAs) between the human being and the computing machine. This approach applies the LoAs in terms of the epistemological levellism proposed within the Philosophy of Information (PI) to the transition from ancient to modern computing. In particular, the black box metaphor and Von Neumann's architectures are discussed. Also, a formalisation of the method of LoAs is proposed as a mathematical counterpart. Information itself is then treated as structure-preserving functions, so that a LoA can distinguish what kind of information gets hidden when human beings interact with computing machines. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.1 http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.53 The history of Informix is told from the founder’s point of view and his personal experience. He talks about Silicon Valley of the late 1970’s, the “fire in the valley” days, and the feeling that history was going to be made and that computer scientists would be playing a major role in these changes. The relational database revolution, the flourishing success of the PC packaged software industry, and the Unix server victories are the backdrop for this story. But like all stories about a young company, it is a story about people and what drives entrepreneurs to take oversized chances and accept the risks involved. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.53 http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.37 This is a personal account of the development of the programming language CPL in the early 1960s by a joint team from the University Mathematical Laboratory at Cambridge and the Institute of Computer Science in London. The project was to develop a language that would be suitable for all computer applications, whether scientific or otherwise, would efficiently exploit the immense power of the Ferranti Atlas, would be easy to use and, above all, would exhibit regularity in its form and facilities. The project failed to achieve these aspirations, but did lay important groundwork by establishing some of the basic principles that underlie today’s languages and directly led to the development of BCPL, B and ultimately C. http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2012.37 http://www.computer.org/portal/site/annals/ IEEE Annals of the History of Computing http://www.computer.org/portal/site/annals/