Abstract
This paper explores how documentation shaped the development and widespread adoption of the FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslating System) programming language. Drawing on documentality and genre theory, it examines how a variety of documents, such as reports, manuals, textbooks, and standards, collectively supported the emergence of FORTRAN as a sociotechnical system. Through a diachronic genre analysis, this study investigates what types of documents were created, when they first appeared, why they were produced, and how they responded to the needs of the FORTRAN community. The findings show documentation played a constitutive role in recruiting programmers and stabilizing the language. By focusing on how multiple documents function as a genre set, this paper considers how documentation structured knowledge, shaped participation, and coordinated work over time.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1428-1431 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2025 |
Keywords
- FORTRAN
- agency
- documentality
- genre theory
- history of computing
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