According to
Essays on history of Computer Science and Technology in Ukraine" author Boris Malinovsky |
Ekaterina Yushchenko - the founder of Theoretical Programming in Ukraine
Ekaterina Yushchenko (Rvacheva) was born on December 8, 1919 - a century later then Lady Lovelace (Ada Augusta Byron). The beginning of her creative activity coincided with the years of revival and realization of Charles Babbage' brilliant idea.
There were some moments in her life, similar to the fate of the outstanding English lady, but mostly her fate was typical to soviet people.
In her childhood she was depleted of her father, but not because he left his family. The reason was that he was arrested in 1937 and imprisoned for 10 years. Her mother was imprisoned too, for the reason she tried to prove her husband's innocence.
As well as lady Lovelace she was lucky to write first programs for the first (in the continental Europe) computer, created 100 years later after Babbage's project, at the National Academy of Science of Ukraine under the guidance of other genius - Sergey Lebedev. Those programs were very similar to programs composed by lady Lovelace.
At last, both women are remarkable by the fact that they devoted all their life to their favorite occupation - digital computing machines and software for them. But here similarities of their fates come to an end.
Ekaterina Yushchenko was a corresponding member of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, an honored scientist, a prize-winner of the USSR Council Ministers' awards, V.M.Glushkov's prize winner, she twice won the State Ukrainian award.
For forty years of her work at the Institute of Cybernetics of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine she created the scientific school of theoretical programming, widely known in Ukraine, in the former USSR and abroad.
Olga Perevozhchikova, the pupil of Ekaterina Yushchenko, a professor and a doctor of mathematics, recollects the main stages of development of the school of theoretical programming.
History of scientific school of Initial stage theoretical programming in Ukraine.
From the modern point of view it's difficult to imagine the situation 40-years ago, when cybernetics which was considered to be a false bourgeois science, started from scratch.
Theoretical programming begins from studies on using the first soviet MESM computer, created by the laboratory team of the Institute of Electronics of Academy of Science of USSR under leadership of S.A. Lebedev. In 1954 the laboratory had moved to the Institute of Mathematics of Academy of Science of USSR. The candidates of physics and-mathematics sciences U.V.Blagoveshenskii, I.V.Porgebisski, V.S.Koroluk, A.A.Yushchenko, E.L.Yushchenko-Rvacheva joined the MESM development.
The restricted MESM inner memory (100 cells of RAM and 64 cells of one- sided; each cell containing 21 bit) and it's slow operation (100 operations/sec), instability of operation caused by great number of vacuum tubes (up to 6000), forced programmers to find out other ways of usage of inner language of the computer. Completing of one program was considered to be a solution of a unique problem. Programmers looked for economic solutions, using certain peculiarities of computer system of commands. There were launched some original competitions on improving computer software.
The first problem solved with the help of MESM was the problem of outer ballistics, posed by M.V.Keldish. Famous Moscow scientists A.A.Liapunov, M.R.Shura-Bura, U.D.Shmiglevski and a Kiev scientist U.A.Mitropolski took part in the development of methods of it's solutions.
The solutions of the following problems have composed the software of the first Soviet-made computer:
- completing of tables for statistic control (problem proposed by B.V.Gnedenko, solved by A.A.Yushchenko);
- dynamical problems of the elasticity theory (problem proposed by A.U.Ishlinski, Institute of Mathematics of Academy of Sciences of USSR, solved by A.A.Yushchenko);
- Choosing of optimal parameters of the shat cables (problem by G.I.Savin and A.U.Ishlinski, solved by A.A.Yushchenko);
- Defining the domain of stability of energetic systems, particularly, Kuibishevska GES (problem proposed by L.V.Zukernic, Institute of Electronics of Academy of Sciences of USSR, solved by V.S.Koroluk, E.L.Yushchenko);
- Calculation of heat tension (exertion) of building constructions (problem proposed by A.D. Kovalenko, Institute of Mechanics of Academy of Sciences of USSR, solved by E.L.Yushchenko);
- Processing of geodesic observations (problem proposed by N.I.Yakubezka, solved by E.L.Yushchenko) ;
Estimation of the amount of work connected with motorways design (problem by proposed A.K.Havkin, Kyiv Autotransport Institute, solved by E.L.Yushchenko, L.N.Ivanenko, A.M.Sibirko).
It turned out that more complicated tasks are very hard to solve writing simple computer programs. There appeared a problem of creation of "high level" programming language and corresponding translator for more suitable communication of a human being and a computer. Professor of Kyiv University L.I.Kaluzhnin made considerable contribution to understanding of this problem, as well as to the solution of non-arithmetic problems (analytic conversions of expressions, differentiation and integration of expressions, identification of graphical images, text processing, and later checking of syntactical correctness of programs). He taught a course of mathematical logic and proposed the formal method of graphical flowcharts of programs at 50-70 years.
There were defined the main ways of programming and problems of theoretical programming connected with the programming automation at the primary stage. The works of a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of USSR A.A.Liapunov influenced the formulation of the problem. The operational method of programming was proposed. The main result of these research was the creation of address programming in 1955 by V.S. Koroluk and E.L. Iushenko, which comprised two main principles of computer operation: addressing and program control. Creating a convenient system of terms for description of computer architecture and its system of commands, the authors introduced the Address language as the means of manipulation by second order addresses.
Creation of Address language was the first fundamental achievement of scientific school of theoretical programming, preceding the creation of the first languages of programming.
Supplements
Pointers in programs on the computer "MESM". Yuriy Yushchenko.
