[python-uk] [pyconuk] Minimalistic software transactional memory

[Michael Sparks]

On Thursday 20 December 2007 07:55:11 Richard Taylor wrote:
> You won't find much on MASCOT unfortunately:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_Approach_to_Software_Construction_Oper
>ation_and_Test

This was indeed enough for me to find lots :-)

Including:
   * The Official Handbook of Mascot : Version 3.1 : June 1987
       http://async.org.uk/Hugo.Simpson/MASCOT-3.1-Manual-June-1987.pdf

linked from:
   * http://async.org.uk/Hugo.Simpson/

Interestingly (to me :-), reading the documention, their starting point was
essentially very similar to mine -
   cf http://kamaelia.sourceforge.net/Introduction

Well,  I do like doing software archaeology... (I have a copy of Simula BEGIN 
for example, along with various occam books :-)

Something striking - the above manual is over 20 years old, and appears 
intensely relevant today. Secondly, that manual covers version 3.1. Version 1 
dates back to 1975 (according to Hugo Simpson's page) - predating Smalltalk 
(but 8 years after Simula had its first book published...).

It's really incredible just how much of their wheels we've reinvented :-)

I don't know whether to be really happy (reinvention of something previously 
successful implies its a good idea :-) or whether to cry :-)

(really happy really :-)


Michael
--
http://yeoldeclue.com/blog
http://kamaelia.sourceforge.net/Developers/