Yershov Andrey Petrovich

Andrey Petrovich Yershov

Andrey Petrovich Yershov (on April 19, 1931, Moscow  — on December 8, 1988, Moscow)  — the Soviet scientist, one of pioneers of theoretical and system programming, the founder of the Siberian school of information science, the academician of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Its works had a huge impact on formation and development of ADP equipment not only in the USSR, but also around the world.

Yershov  — one of pioneers of the Russian case linguistics. On its initiative the Machine fund of Russian at Institute of Russian of Academy of Sciences of the USSR began to be created.

Childhood and youth

There was it from family of hereditary intellectuals. The father was chemical engineer, mother  — the librarian. In its sort  — the typical family of the Russian democratic intelligentsia  — there were a medical officer, professor-chemist, the academician  — the specialist in the history of Byzantium, revolutionaries and party workers of the first years of the Soviet power.

Since  1943   A.P. Yershov's parents live in Siberia, in Kemerovo where in  1949 he also left secondary school. The same year it arrives on physics and technology faculty of the Moscow university, being going to become the physicist. However because of ridiculous bans which a Stalin era was complete did not allow to study as the physicist to it, and permitted to be transferred to mekhaniko-mathematical faculty of the same university. There he began to specialize in department of the calculus mathematics directed   by the academician S.L. Sobolev, and on last years under the influence of   A.A. Lyapunov was fond of programming. Still being a student, in  1953, he went to work in Institute of exact mechanics and ADP equipment  — the organization in which there was one of the first Soviet groups of programmers.

Scientific activity

Graduated from MSU in 1954. Prior to the beginning of the 50th there was no specialty "programmer". Yershov was lucky: he was one of the first programmers who had vocational education. From 1954 to  1957 he   is A.A. Lyapunov's graduate student at the Moscow university. It prepared the master's thesis devoted to a concept of an operator algorithm by  1958, however in connection with the alerted relation of mathematicians to new science he manages to protect it only in  1962. The doctoral dissertation by methods of creation of translators is defended by it in  1968. In  1970 he becomes corresponding member, and in  1984  — the academician of Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

After the termination of a postgraduate study of mekhaniko-mathematical faculty in 1957 headed department of theoretical programming of Computer center of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Yershov becomes the works manager and the author of one of the first programming programs for domestic computers  — a high-speed electronic computer and Arrow. In 1958 he published the first in the world literature monograph "Programming for a High-speed Electronic Computer" which at once was published abroad.

In the monograph   A.P. Yershov for the first time offered a number of the concepts, approaches and methods which entered classical baggage of languages and programming systems. Here and a concept of a cycle as fundamental construction of programming languages, both triad internal representation of expressions, and a method of function of arrangement for search of coinciding fragments (names), and an algorithm of optimum allocation of working cells (registers), and the initial ideas of the stream analysis, and so forth.

Due to the creation of the Siberian department of Academy of Sciences of the USSR at the request of the director of Institute of mathematics FROM Academy of Sciences of the USSR of the academician of S.L. Soboleva Yershov undertakes a duty of the organizer and actual head of department of programming of this institute. In 1961 Yershov moved to the Novosibirsk Campus with which all scientific and pedagogical activity of Andrey Petrovich was connected.

Further Yershov's department became one of bases    of the Computer center created in 1964 by I. Marchuk FROM Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Thanks to Yershov the Campus becomes one of the leading centers for programming. Yershov created the known Novosibirsk school of system and theoretical programming which researches consisted of works of his pupils and followers at different Novosibirsk institutes. Yershov, being only the head of department and department of Computer center, became the ideological head and the informal head of the big and actively working commonwealth of the Novosibirsk programmers.

Under its management and with its participation such programming languages as ALPHA, "Alfa-6" and translators from them were created. The world famous system of ALPHA became the first optimizing programming system for difficult languages.

In  1968   A.P. Yershov offered the idea of the machine-oriented language based on expansibility and configurability on object language. This language was developed by it together with   A.F. Rar, and then implemented for a number of domestic computers by  G.G.  Stepanov. Language included mechanisms of the formal description of object language and parameters of machine architecture and was based on macroes of free structure. A compact set of basic macroes defined including lists and the words (machine words) of syllabic structure that gave the chance to build effective data structures in work. Macroes were mechanisms of expansion. Experience of application of language showed good opportunities of its setup on different including very specific, machine architecture. The fruitfulness of the idea of the compact and expanded core is shown by present popularity of such language as the Fort.

In the seventies Yershov develops the scheme of broadcasting, standard, general for many languages, suitable for creation of fragments of the optimized translators. This scheme covered many problems of automation of programming: the analysis of properties of programs, the systems of conversion of programs, development of input languages, development of the optimizing translators. For the solution of this problem special language that on it it was possible to describe all arising problems was required. Such universal programming processor and its internal language of the description was created and received the name "Beta".

In the mid-eighties Andrey Petrovich developed these ideas and suggested to create the open, i.e. developed language in which it is possible to describe future program, the constructions forming it and objects of data domain of a task. This language received the name "Lexicon".

On a joint of linguistics and programming

The noticeable line of works of Yershov are the works devoted to communication with a computer in a natural language. Work "About one type of contact of the person with machine" was initial approach to a konstruktivization of these problems. For the first time in domestic and, apparently, to the world literature Yershov tried to formulate a number of precisely assigned tasks of implementation of such communication. Reflections about it, integrated with researches of linguists   (I.A. Melchuk) and system programmers   (A.S. Narinyani), led to emergence of the RITA project. The RITA project in such type as it was described, was not implemented, but it is possible to trace accurately as a number of the essential ideas of this project passed in afterwards the implemented linguistic processors and the systems of artificial intelligence: selection of intermediate level of a semantic representation, a ratio of linguistic and program components of a dialogue system, existence of the interface blocks for other (classical) program systems, plurality of values of the interpreting functions (that after   A.S. Narinyani was generalized in a concept of not predetermined sets)  , etc.

In the subsequent Yershov carries out a further konstruktivization of problems of communication in a natural language, selecting very important subset of language of business prose from a natural language. He gives the general definition to business prose as the language carrier of relations of production of the person and notes that it is actually selected in special linguistic category. A number of properties of business prose  — the internal formalizovannost, clearness of functions of the message  — says about relevance not only need, but also an opportunity to teach the machine completely (Yershov emphasizes it) to understand and perceive this language. Further Yershov considers some essential lines of global model of complete perception of language in relation to business prose.

Here in the researches and reasonings Yershov goes beyond actually programming and formulates a fundamental problem of creation of machine fund of Russian. Noting communication of this problem with the solution of a problem of communication with a computer in a natural language, he emphasizes very important scientific, common cultural and applied importance of this problem. To refining of external setting of this problem it returns in the works after this task was comprehended and picked up by linguists. It is interesting to note that Yershov's pionerstvo directed by such problem is emphasized and purely externally that quotes from its article are taken out as design elements on a cover of the collection of articles on this matter.

International recognition

Andrey Petrovich was the organizer and the participant of many international conferences, scientific groups, the main editorial boards of the Soviet and foreign scientific magazines, the active figure of the International federation on information processing (IFIP) practically since the moment of its creation in  1962.   A.P. Yershov's works on information science, including on theoretical and system programming, gained the international recognition: he was a member of the American association on ADP equipment (1965), the honorary member of the British society on ADP equipment (1974).

Andrey Petrovich Yershov's works had a greater influence on young Donald Cnut, afterwards his friend. The American scientist, honorary professor of Stanford University, the ideologist of programming, remembered: "It began still when I was a student of a last year. Then the book by Andrey "Programming for a high-speed electronic computer" only appeared, and we, group of students, could convince the teacher of Russian to include it in a rate as one of two collections of texts for studying of scientific lexicon".

Since April, 1987 Andrey Petrovich was the chairman of Scientific council of Academy of Sciences of the USSR on a complex problem Cybernetics. Actively participated in creation of the trade magazine "Mikroprotsessornye Sredstva I Sistemy".

For a substantial contribution to the theory of the mixed calculations   A.P. Yershov was conferred an award of a name of the academician   A.N. Krylov. The name   of A.P. Yershov is carried by Institute of the systems of information science, an award for young scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, the audience and a student's grant in NSU, is stored in institute its memorial library.

Implementation of the national program of informatization of education was business of its last years to which Yershov directed many efforts and attention. Shortly before death it prepared the manuscript of working version of the concept of informatization of national education which was published later. (there was a creation of the school encyclopedia on information science).

Andrey Petrovich Yershov died after a serious illness in Moscow  on December 8, 1988.

At the head of programmer community of the USSR

The school of the academician   A.P. Yershov is characterized by existence and preserving of traditions and relationship in the scientific environment which allowed it to support professional contacts with the immediate and distant scientific environment. It is about the developed system of scientific seminars, participation in the organization and holding scientific conferences of programmer community in the USSR and abroad, the international sci-tech cooperation.   A.P. Yershov took the central positions in scientific life of programmer community not only the Novosibirsk Campus, but also whole country. As the recognized expert it worked in committees and the commissions of GKNT and Academy of Sciences of the USSR on preparation of pognozny reports for drawing up the state and industry programs of scientific and technical development regarding software of a computer, the HR and educational policy in the field of training of programmers. Many scientific conferences, seminars, symposiums of programmers took place with direct participation   of A.P. Yershov and under his management as chairman of the organizing committee as member of the national organizing committee of the international conferences which were taking place in the USSR, the member of program committee of the international conferences which were taking place abroad. The scope of conferences reflected a broad spectrum of scientific interests   of A.P. Yershov, corresponded to requirements of programmer community for exchange of scientific ideas, results of their specific embodiment, directed by problems. Scientific conferences of relevant subject which were organized   by A.P. Yershov, as a rule, took place in the USSR with the assistance of the leading foreign scientists, their materials were published, including in English in such famous periodical as Lecture Notes in Computer Science of Springer-Verlag (LNCS) publishing house. In  1978 — 1986   A.P. Yershov headed the Commission on a system matematicheskomuobespecheniye of Coordinating committee on ADP equipment of Academy of Sciences of the USSR (COSMO KKVT AN SSSR). The task of coordination of scientific research in the field of system programming, by the conducted scientific personnel of Academy of Sciences of the USSR and academies of Sciences of federal republics for the purpose of assistance to expansion of basic researches in the field of the software of computing means and to rise in their level was set for COSMO. In 10 years the commission held 15 meetings in all leading scientific centers of the USSR, all meetings (except for summer  of 1985) passed under the chairmanship of   A.P. Yershov. As a part of the Commission such famous scientists, specialists in the field of system programming as corresponding members of Academy of Sciences of the USSR   S.S. Lavrov (Leningrad),   L.N. Korolev (Moscow), the corresponding member of AN of ESSR E.H worked. Tyugu,   doctor of science M.R. Schur Drill,   B.A. Babayan,   V.V. Lipayev (Moscow),   Ya.M. Barzdin (Riga),   I.V. Velbitsky,   A.A. Letichevsky (Kiev),   V.P. Shirikov (Dubna),   V.L. Katkov (Minsk),   V.E. Kotov (Novosibirsk).   A.P. Yershov was the recognized expert in the USSR in development of software of a computer, participated in drawing up appropriate sections in programs of scientific research of Academy of Sciences of the USSR, state programs of scientific and technical progress of the USSR. The Commission on system software of Academy of Sciences of the USSR run by it became the organization where the opinion on issues of development of ADP equipment, theoretical and system programming formed excellent from official.

Links

• Scientific works
• Memorial library   of A.P. Yershov
• Archive of the academician   A.P. Yershov