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John Backus
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John Backus

IBM engineer who led the creation of Fortran, the first widely used high-level language

3 December 1924 – 17 March 2007 United States Verified by our editors
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Lived
82 yrs
1924 – 2007
Works listed
2
Programming language, Turing lecture
Honours
3
Most recent 1993
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John Backus was an American computer scientist who led the IBM team that created Fortran in 1957, the first widely used high-level programming language. He also devised Backus–Naur form for describing language grammars and received the Turing Award in 1977.

Biography

Early life

Backus had a restless youth: he was expelled from school, dropped out of chemistry at the University of Virginia and was drafted into the army. After a brain surgery that led to an interest in medicine, he discovered mathematics and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University in 1950.

Fortran

Joining IBM in 1950, Backus found programming in machine code slow and error-prone. In 1953 he proposed a language in which scientists could write formulas, and his small team delivered the Fortran compiler in 1957. It produced code nearly as fast as hand-written programs, convincing the industry that high-level languages were practical. Fortran is still used for scientific computing.

Backus–Naur form

For the ALGOL 58 and 60 reports he introduced a precise notation for the grammar of programming languages; with Peter Naur’s refinements it became known as Backus–Naur form (BNF) and is still used to define languages.

Functional programming

In his 1977 Turing lecture, “Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style?”, Backus argued for functional programming, influencing later research. He retired from IBM in 1991 and died in Oregon in 2007.

Timeline

  1. 1924

    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

  2. 1950

    Joins IBM

  3. 1953

    Proposes the Fortran project

  4. 1957

    First Fortran compiler delivered

  5. 1959

    Introduces BNF for ALGOL

  6. 1975

    National Medal of Science

  7. 1977

    Turing Award

  8. 1993

    Charles Stark Draper Prize

  9. 2007

    Died, aged 82

Notable works

  • 1957

    Fortran Programming language

  • 1977

    Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style? Turing lecture

Awards and honours

  • National Medal of Science

    1975

  • Turing Award

    1977

  • Charles Stark Draper Prize

    1993

Did you know?

  1. 1

    He said he became a programmer partly because he was lazy and wanted an easier way.

  2. 2

    The original Fortran compiler took 18 person-years to write.

  3. 3

    Fortran stands for “Formula Translation”.

Connections

Related people

Also born on 3 December

Frequently asked

Who is John Backus?

John Backus was an American computer scientist who led the IBM team that created Fortran in 1957, the first widely used high-level programming language. He also devised Backus–Naur form for describing language grammars and received the Turing Award in 1977.

When did John Backus die?

John Backus died on 17 March 2007 at the age of 82.

Where is John Backus from?

John Backus was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

What is John Backus known for?

John Backus is best known for Fortran; Backus–Naur form; Turing Award 1977.

What awards has John Backus received?

Notable honours include National Medal of Science (1975), Turing Award (1977), Charles Stark Draper Prize (1993).

References

  1. John Backus — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  2. John Backus — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  3. John Backus — Hindi Wikipedia. Wikipedia (Hindi). Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  4. John Backus (Q92746) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.

Includes material from the Wikipedia article “John Backus”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more

External links

Wikipedia
Filed under FortranIBMProgramming languagesTuring Award Computer ScientistProgrammer

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“John Backus.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/john-backus

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