IFIP Working Group 2.3 on Programming Methodology is a working group of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Its main aim is to increase programmers’ ability to compose programs. To this end, WG2.3 provides an international forum for discussion and cross-fertilization of ideas between researchers in programming methodology and neighboring fields. Generally, members report on work in progress and expect suggestions and advice. Discussions are often broadened by inviting "observers" to meetings as full participants, some of whom eventually become members.
Scope This scope of work in WG2.3 was introduced by Edsger W. Dijkstra in meeting 0 (Oslo, Norway, July 1969).
Identification of sources of difficulties encountered in present-day programming; The interdependence between the formulation of problems and the formulation of programs, and the mapping of relations existing in the world of problems into the relations among programs and their components; Intellectual disciplines and problem-solving techniques that can aid programmers in the composition of programs; The problem of achieving program reliability; The consequences of requirements for program adaptability; The problem of provability of program correctness and its influence on the structure of programs and on the process of their composition; Guidelines of partitioning large programming tasks and defining the interfaces between the parts; Software for mechanized assistance to program composition.
History In December 1968, IFIP Working Group 2.1 adopted the proposal by Aad van Wijngaarden as a successor to Algol 60 (ultimately leading to ALGOL 68). A group of members of WG2.1 opposed it and produced a minority report. The group also felt that rather than just programming languages, a forum was needed to discuss the general problem of programming. Another impetus for the creation of a group was the findings of the first of the NATO Software Engineering Conferences, held in 1968, which spoke of the "software crisis" then seen as gripping the computing world. The parent committee TC2 of IFIP approved the formation of a new Working Group, WG2.3, for this purpose. Mike Woodger agreed to chair it. An organizing meeting was held in Oslo, 20–22 July 1969, with Ole-Johan Dahl, Edsger W. Dijkstra, Douglas McIlroy, Brian Randell, Gerhard Seegmueller, Wlad Turski, Mike Woodger, and Manfred Paul (chair of WG2.1) attending. Doug Ross was also a founding member. Brian Randell suggested the title Programming Methodology. The founding members were predominately academic, and a deliberate attempt was made to bring in members from industry and commerce as well as from Asia and the USSR. WG2.3 generally meets once or twice a year for five days at a time. Until 1976, all meetings were held in Europe, but after that meetings often alternated between Europe and North America. Several meetings have been held in Australia. The first meeting was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1970. It was attended by Ole-Johan Dahl, Edsger W. Dijkstra, Per Brinch Hansen, Tony Hoare, M. M. Lehman, J. Madey, Doug McIlroy, George Radin, Brian Randell, John Reynolds, Doug Ross, Christopher Strachey, and Warren Teitelman. For more on the history of WG2.3, read Mike Woodger's A history of IFIP WG2.3. In its initial years, WG2.3 did not produce reports of any kind of its meetings. Meetings centered on the presentation and discussion of research underway, which meant that members could receive their colleagues' constructive criticism at a much earlier stage that usual. As such, WG2.3 became a productive assembly at which researchers such as Dijkstra could work out many of the ideas that they subsequently brought forth in published papers. Ideas from the members of WG2.3 made their way into at least one well-reviewed book written in the mid-1970s. In the late 1970s, it was felt that WG2.3 should make more public the nature of its work and what had been accomplished. Accordingly, the book Programming Methodology: A Collection of Articles by Members of IFIP WG2.3 was published. In 2003, a second book Programming Methodology of articles was published. Some essays contained new material while others aimed to review or evaluate an area or to outline problems for further investigation.
Members on Wikipedia, former and current WG 2.3 has, and has had, many members. Some are the subject of Wikipedia articles.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
