Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

122 CRMtasks can be assigned to different processors to speed upthroughput. While costing millions of dollars apiece, theCray supercomputers made it possible to perform simulationsin atomic physics, aerodynamics, and other fieldsthat were far beyond the capabilities of earlier computers.However, the Cray Computer Corporation ran into financialproblems and was bought by Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 1996.Cray received many honors including the IEEE ComputerSociety Pioneer Award (1980) and the ACM/IEEEEckert-Mauchly Award (1989). Cray died on October 5,1996, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Further ReadingBell, Gordon. “A Seymour Cray Perspective.” Available online. URL:http://_research.microsoft.com/users/gbell/craytalk/. AccessedJuly 1, 2007.Breckenridge, Charles W. “A Tribute to Seymour Cray.” Availableonline. URL: http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/home/tef/cray/tribute.html. Accessed July 1, 2007.Murray, C. J. The Supermen: the Story of Seymour Cray and theTechnical Wizards behind the Supercomputer. New York: JohnWiley, 1997.Smithsonian Institute. National Museum of American History.“Seymour Cray Interview.” Available online. URL: http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/cray.htm.CRM See customer relationship management.CSS See cascading style sheets.Cunningham, Howard (Ward)(1949– )AmericanSoftware DeveloperToday the first place many Web users look for informationabout a topic is Wikipedia, the vast and ever growingonline collaborative encyclopedia. The type of software thatmakes Wikipedia (and thousands of other wikis) possiblewas invented by Howard G. Cunningham, better known asWard Cunningham.Born on May 26, 1949, Cunningham learned to programin high school. He then attended Purdue University, wherehe received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering andcomputer science and then a master’s in computer science.After graduation Cunningham worked as a researcher inmicrocomputer systems for Tektronix, where he encounteredan intriguing style of programming (see Smalltalk).In a later position at Wyatt Software, Cunningham becameinvolved with larger-scale software projects and began tothink about better ways to manage them.In the early 1980s Cunningham encountered a book thatlooked at architecture in terms of the combining of intuitivepatterns. Cunningham began to apply similar principles tothe design of software (see also design patterns). One resultwas the holding of the first conference on pattern languagesat the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994.Around that time, Cunningham was seeking a way forprogrammers to collaborate in working with design patterns.He had already encountered the power of linking(see hypertext) in HyperCard, developed by Apple for theMacintosh in the late 1980s. Because it was so easy to use,HyperCard encouraged many nonprofessional programmers(including teachers) to develop and share applications.Developing the WikiUsing HyperCard, Cunningham built an application thatallowed users to add free-form data to a database and linkit to other entries by clicking a button. Users who tried itwere fascinated by its potential. Cunningham then wantedto expand it so users could access it over networks. However,he was unable to develop a networked version of hisHyperCard application.One colleague suggested using the World Wide Web (seeBerners-Lee, Tim and World Wide Web). Cunninghamimplemented his free-form linking system as Web pages,and the result was something he at first thought of callingQuickWeb. He then remembered hearing the phrase wikiwiki or “quickly, quickly”) in Hawaii, and he decided to callhis system wikiwikiWeb. Today, it is just known as a wiki(see wikis and Wikipedia). This first wiki, called the PortlandPattern Repository, came online in 1995 and continuesto operate today.Collaborative Software DevelopmentCunningham worked for a few years on open-source projectsat Microsoft. The giant software maker is not generallywell regarded among open-source developers, though Cunninghamhas acknowledged its technical prowess. At anyrate, Cunningham decided to move on. He served as directorfor community development at the Eclipse Foundation,which oversees development of Eclipse, a versatile and verypopular open-source programming environment. In 2007Cunningham left Eclipse to become chief technology officer(CTO) of AboutUs, a company founded to further developwikis and collaborative communities.Cunningham continues to be an enthusiastic proponentof open source. He argues that the most important advantageof open source is not lower cost, but the way it putsaccess to powerful tools into the hands of thousands ofusers and encourages them to develop new features andcapabilities.Cunningham’s contributions to programming methodsare also extensive, including the use of design patterns for“quick and agile” development and what became known as“extreme programming.”Further ReadingCunningham, Ward. Home Page. Available online. URL: http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardCunningham. Accessed September9, 2007.Leuf, Bo, and Ward Cunningham. The Wiki Way: Quick Collaborationon the Web. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Addison-WesleyProfessional, 2001.Siddalingaiah, Madhu. “Ward Cunningham Interview: Eclipse,Collaboration and Software Trends.” Includes links to Cunningham’sEclipseCon 2006 presentation. SQL Summit.