Oral history interview with Ralph E. Griswold and Madge T. Griswold

Abstract

Ralph and Madge Griswold recall the development of the Icon programming language. Ralph Griswold begins the interview with a description of the evolution of Icon from SNOBOL4 during his work at Bell Laboratories in the early 1960s. In this context he describes the difficulties of developing software in a corporate environment. Most of the interview concentrates on the development of Icon after Griswold took a faculty position at the University of Arizona. The Griswolds describe the creation of the Icon Project, the project's support from the National Science Foundation, the importance of the project in graduate education in computer science and the contributions of graduate students to the language's development. Also discussed is the dissemination of information regarding Icon through the Icon Analyst and the project's interaction with the commercial software industry through two small software firms, Catspaw and The Bright Forest Company.