'CPL Reference Manual. Notes'

Title

'CPL Reference Manual. Notes'

Shelfmark

MS. Eng. misc. b. 269/C.149

Summary

Large loose-leaf notebook containing correspondence and notes exchanged between Strachey at M.I.T. and Park at Cambridge (acting on behalf of the CPL authors) regarding revision and editing of the Reference Manual. Over the course of 7 months (the correspondence dates from 28 September 1965 to 16 March 1966) Strachey sent lengthy comments and notes on the draft (MS. Eng. misc. b. 269/C.148 above) which were then discussed by the authors in England and their decision communicated back to Strachey for further revision and editing. Thus a very full record is preserved of the hundreds of decisions (both major and minor) taken by the authors in designing the new language.

The notebook also contains some correspondence exchanged between Strachey and Buxton, mostly concerned with the technical details of publication but also discussing the possibility that M.I.T. might adopt CPL as its chief teaching language for undergraduate courses.

The notes appear in every form, manuscript, typescript, photocopied, stencilled. Most of Strachey's notes bear later manuscript annotations recording answers and decisions by the Cambridge and London groups.

The notebook also demonstrates the difficulty in communicating over a long distance on the numerous points in question and the problems raised by the logistics of typing, proofreading, time lags, etc.

Date

1965-1966

Language

English

Physical extent

1 file