Lieu: Salle 2, Espace Baïetto, MESHS, 2 Rue des Canonniers, 59000 Lille.

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer la prochaîne séance du séminaire “Histoire et Philosophie de l’informatique et du calcul”, *mercredi 7 février à 14h*, à la MESHS, Salle 2 de l’Espace Baëtto, 2 rue du Canonniers, Lille.

Nous accueillerions: Cliff Jones et Samuel Goyet. 

Cliff Jones, A brief history of formal methods

Formal methods for the design of software use mathematical notation for specifications and provide precise ways of reasoning that designs satisfy such specifications. My 2003 paper in Annals of Computer History describes the surprisingly long history of work on program verification (and some of that material has been revised); I am currently working with a colleague on a similar history of work on formalising the semantics of programming languages. In the talk, I’ll bring these related strands together.

Samuel Goyet, Of Bits and Blocks : a historic and semiotic approach of web Application Programming Interface (APIs)

Modern web programming relies heavily on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs),those developping tools allowing developers and web users to have access to datas or blocks of pre-written code, which they can use to write their own application or web page. In this context, APIs became not only a programming tool, but also a publishing tool : they allow the construction of « widgets » or pre-written forms (maps, slideshows, embedded videos, etc.). They are therefore part of the editorial process of modern web pages, while being rooted in programming. This communcation aims at understanding that specific place of APIs in the editorial process. What is the conception of text embedded in web APIs ? How does programming and its logic affects the semiotic aspect of web pages ? Where do APIs come from, and how does that tell us something about the conception of writing these tools convey ?

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