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> From: skulski{([at]})nowhere.xy>
> Actually, only one error. FORTRAN would skip all whitespace.
> The text "DO 20 I=1.100" would have been interpreted as
> "DO20I = 1.100" The compiler would concatenate "DO 20 I" and
> interpret it as a name of a variable.
>
> I have heard this story several times, the first time it
> would have been a lunar probe that crashed. I am not sure if
> the story is not apocryphal. Would be interesting to know the
> original source. I vaguely remember seeing this story in a
> well-known book on computer programming, forgot which.
>
According to:
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/5.66.html#subj2.1
it was the Viking Venus probe and the book is:
Bruce J. MacLennan, Principles of Programming_Languages
(second edition), CBS College Publishing, 1987, pp. 89-90.
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.cfbsoftware.com
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Received on Thu Mar 18 2004 - 03:06:38 UTC