Quine (computing) - History

History

The idea of self-reproducing programs first appeared in Paul Bratley and Jean Millo's article "Computer Recreations: Self-Reproducing Automata" in 1972. Bratley first became interested in self-reproducing programs after seeing the first known such program written in Atlas Autocode at Edinburgh in the 1960s by the University of Edinburgh lecturer and researcher Hamish Dewar. This program appears below:

%BEGIN !THIS IS A SELF-REPRODUCING PROGRAM %ROUTINESPEC R R PRINT SYMBOL(39) R PRINT SYMBOL(39) NEWLINE %CAPTION %END~ %CAPTION %ENDOFPROGRAM~ %ROUTINE R %PRINTTEXT ' %BEGIN !THIS IS A SELF-REPRODUCING PROGRAM %ROUTINESPEC R R PRINT SYMBOL(39) R PRINT SYMBOL(39) NEWLINE %CAPTION %END~ %CAPTION %ENDOFPROGRAM~ %ROUTINE R %PRINTTEXT ' %END %ENDOFPROGRAM

The name "quine" was coined by Douglas Hofstadter, in his popular science book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, in the honor of philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine (1908–2000), who made an extensive study of indirect self-reference, and in particular for the following paradox-producing expression, known as Quine's paradox:

"Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.

Read more about this topic:  Quine (computing)

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “There is a history in all men’s lives,
    Figuring the natures of the times deceased,
    The which observed, a man may prophesy,
    With a near aim, of the main chance of things
    As yet not come to life.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
    —Aristide Briand (1862–1932)

    “All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior.”
    —Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)