Oral history interview with Richard A. Zemlin

Zemlin, Richard A.
1988-05-16

View/Download File

oh152raz.pdf (40.12 KB)

Persistent link to this item

http://purl.umn.edu/107727
Statistics
View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

Oral history interview with Richard A. Zemlin

Authors

Published Date

1988-05-16

Publisher

Charles Babbage Institute

Type

Oral History

Abstract

Zemlin worked for several computer firms before joining Control Data (CDC) to develop software for the CDC 1604. He discusses the establishment of a software group and the simultaneous development of a service bureau in the San Francisco Bay area. He mentions the software group under Seymour Cray that developed the FORTRAN compiler for the 1604 and the group built up by Richard Gunderson. Software development at CDC was originally under the direction of George Hanson. Later Frank Mullaney oversaw software development before Clair Miller was hired to head software development specifically. Zemlin points out that early software was conceived of as applications. Zemlin considers CDC's attempts to limit their support to system software and compares the policies of CDC with those of International Business Machines. He discusses training a force of outside analysts that was developed to provide support for specific customers and subsequently became part of the marketing organization. Zemlin discusses a number of specific projects, including the development of the ALGOL compiler at Oak Ridge. He also discusses the development of two forms of documentation for CDC software: external specifications, and internal maintenance specifications.

Keywords

Description

Transcript, 28 pp.

Related to

Replaces

License

Collections

Oral history interviews

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Richard A. Zemlin, OH 152. Oral history interview by Bruce Bruemmer, 16 May 1988, Bloomington, Minnesota. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. http://purl.umn.edu/107727

Suggested citation

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.