John Cocke

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John Cocke (born May 30, 1925 in Charlotte , North Carolina , † July 16, 2002 in Valhalla , New York ) was an American computer scientist who made major contributions to computer architecture and compiler optimization. He is considered the creator of the RISC architecture.

biography

John Cocke graduated from Duke University , where he received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1946 and his Ph.D. in 1956. in math. Cocke spent his entire career from 1956 to 1992 as a researcher at IBM . He was also visiting professor at MIT and at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University .

In 1970 he developed the Cocke-Younger-Kasami algorithm for solving the word problem independently of Daniel Younger, Tadao Kasami and others . In 1974 he created the BCJR algorithm for decoding block and convolutional codes with Lalit Bahl, Frederick Jelinek and Josef Raviv . In 1975 at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center he developed the RISC concept for the IBM 801 minicomputer by adapting its instruction set design to the comparatively simple instructions actually used by compilers, thereby enabling high performance at low cost. Cocke had already dealt intensively with compiler optimization, without which a RISC computer cannot be used meaningfully.

In 1972 he became an IBM Fellow and in 1979 a member of the National Academy of Engineering . In 1985 he received the Eckert-Mauchly Award , and in 1986 he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1987 he received the Turing Award , in 1988 an honorary doctorate from Duke University, and in 1991 the National Medal of Technology . In 1993 he was elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and in 1995 of the American Philosophical Society , in 1994 he received the National Medal of Science and the John von Neumann Medal , in 1999 the Seymour Cray Computer Engineering Award and in 2000 the Benjamin Franklin Medal .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: John Cocke. American Philosophical Society, accessed June 23, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Cocke, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlotte , North Carolina , USA
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 2002
Place of death Valhalla, New York , USA