Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 7/1/84; site wuphys.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!dual!qantel!ihnp4!mgnetp!we53!busch!wucs!wuphys!ljt
From: ljt@wuphys.UUCP (Lewis J.Thomas III)
Newsgroups: net.jokes
Subject: Re: Request for computer science bloope
Message-ID: <353@wuphys.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Aug-85 15:09:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: wuphys.353
Posted: Fri Aug  9 15:09:26 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Aug-85 01:31:08 EDT
References: <115@uw-june> <53100120@trsvax>
Reply-To: ljt@wuphys.UUCP (Lewis J.Thomas III)
Organization: Physics Dept., Washington Univ. in St. Louis
Lines: 30

In article <53100120@trsvax> wkb@trsvax writes:
>
>> I've been telling my 211 class some of the classic computer science bugs --
>> like the one about the typo in the FORTRAN DO loop that crashed a Venus
>> probe, or the one about the payroll programmer who shaved the roundoff from
>> salaries into his own account.  If any of you know any more classic, or
>> even any non-classic clever hacks or major stupidities involving computers
>> please tell me.  They liven up otherwise dreary lectures.
>>
>>					Michael

wkb replies:

	some stuff edited out here

>   After FORTRAN (short for FORmula TRANslation) became popular, the University
>of Waterloo decided to write their own version, calling it "WATFOR" presumably
>meaning "WATerloo FORmula translation".  When they came out with a revision of
>the compiler, it was naturally called WATFIV.

	more stuff edited out here

WATFIV really does stand for something sensible (I have forgotten what),
it is not just the next version of WATFOR.  If anyone out in netland has
a WATFIV manual, the history of the name is given there.

-- 
	"What we have here is a failure to communicate"

				ihnp4!wuphys!ljt