Charles Bachman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles Bachman
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Charles Bachman at the 2012 ACM Turing Centenary Celebration
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| Born |
Charles William Bachman III
December 11, 1924 |
| Died | July 13, 2017 (aged 92) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania, Michigan State University |
| Known for | Integrated Data Store |
| Awards | Turing Award (1973) National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2012) ACM Fellow (2014) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | Dow Chemical General Electric Cullinet Bachman Information Systems |
Charles William Bachman III (born December 11, 1924 – died July 13, 2017) was an American computer scientist. He spent his whole career working in companies, not at universities. He is famous for helping to create early database management systems. These are like organized digital filing cabinets for information.
He also developed special ways to design computer systems. These methods include his well-known Bachman diagrams.
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About Charles Bachman
Charles Bachman was born in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1924. His father, Charles Bachman Jr., was a football coach. Charles went to high school in East Lansing, Michigan.
During World War II, he joined the United States Army. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the South West Pacific. He worked with anti-aircraft guns. There, he first used special computers to help aim the guns.
After the war, in 1946, he went to Michigan State University. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1948. In 1949, he married Connie Hadley. He then studied at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1950, he received a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He also studied business at the Wharton School.
Charles Bachman passed away on July 13, 2017. He was 92 years old and lived in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Charles Bachman's Work
Charles Bachman spent his career as a software engineer and manager. He worked in different companies.
- In 1950, he started at Dow Chemical. By 1957, he became Dow's first data processing manager. He helped develop new software for reports.
- In 1960, he joined General Electric (GE). By 1963, he created the Integrated Data Store (IDS). This was one of the first database management systems. It used a "navigational database" model. This model helps you find information by following links, like a map.
- At GE, he also helped a company called Weyerhaeuser Lumber. He created a system called WEYCOS in 1965. This system allowed many users to access the IDS database at the same time. It was an early "online transaction processing" system. This means it handled many tasks instantly, like buying tickets online.
- Later at GE, he developed "dataBasic." This product helped users of the BASIC computer language work with databases.
- In 1970, GE sold its computer business to Honeywell Information Systems. Charles and his family moved to Lexington, Massachusetts.
- In 1981, he joined Cullinane Information Systems, later called Cullinet. This company offered a version of IDS called IDMS. It worked with IBM mainframe computers.
Bachman Information Systems
In 1983, Charles Bachman started his own company. It was called Bachman Information Systems. His company made special software tools. These tools helped design and manage computer programs. They were called computer-aided software engineering (CASE) products.
A main product was the BACHMAN/Data Analyst. This tool helped people create and manage Bachman Diagrams. These diagrams are like blueprints for databases. The company helped businesses:
- Look at old database systems to understand how they worked.
- Design new ways to store and organize data.
- Build new databases.
- Make databases work faster and better.
In 1996, his company joined with Cadre Technology. They formed a new company called Cayenne Software. Charles Bachman was the president for a year. Then he retired in Tucson, Arizona.
Awards and Recognition
Charles Bachman received many important awards for his work:
- In 1973, he won the Turing Award. This is like the Nobel Prize for computer science. He won it for his "outstanding contributions to database technology."
- In 1977, he became a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. This was for his pioneering work in database systems.
- In 2012, he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. This award recognized his inventions in database management and software engineering.
- In 2014, he was named an ACM Fellow. This was for his work on the Integrated Data Store.
- In 2015, he became a Fellow of the Computer History Museum. This was for his early work in developing database systems.
See also
In Spanish: Charles Bachman para niños
- Bachman diagram
- Navigational database
