John Backus

5.9k citations

18 papers · 3.0k indexed · 2 hit papers · h-index 14

Impact in

Hardware and Architecture top 0.5%
- Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques
- Embedded Systems Design Techniques
Software top 2%

Papers in ⓘ

Hardware and Architecture 5
- Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques 5
Computational Theory and Mathematics 10
- Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms 7
- Formal Methods in Verification 2
- Numerical Methods and Algorithms 2

Co-authors: J. H. Wegstein (4 shared papers)Heinz Rutishauser (4 shared papers)Bernard Vauquois (4 shared papers)M. Woodger (4 shared papers)Chaim Katz (4 shared papers)A. van Wijngaarden (4 shared papers)John McCarthy (4 shared papers)Friedrich L. Bauer (4 shared papers)
Journals: Communications of the ACM (3 papers)Numerische Mathematik (2 papers)ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1 paper)Journal of the ACM (1 paper)The Computer Journal (1 paper)
Partner nations: United States Russia Brazil

In The Last Decade

John Backus

18 papers receiving 2.4k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories log scale

Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style? 1978 · 1.5k citations

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if any of the following hold:

it has ≥500 total citations;
it reaches ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (the threshold is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it);
it reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

1978 Communications of the ACM
1963 Communications of the ACM

Peers

Countries citing papers authored by John Backus

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of John Backus's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by John Backus with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites John Backus more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by John Backus

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by John Backus. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by John Backus. The network helps show where John Backus may publish in the future.

Co-authors

The 16 scholars most cited alongside John Backus, linked wherever they have co-authored with each other. Click a name or a connecting line to browse the papers they share.

Border = papers with John Backus Line = papers co-authored together John Backus links everyone, so they are left out of the graph.

All Works

Sort: Min cites: Since: Top N: Style:

18 of 18 papers shown

#	Work
1	Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style? Communications of the ACM ·John Backus Hit paper breakdown →	1978	1517
2	Revised report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60 Communications of the ACM ·John Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, J. Green, Chaim Katz, John McCarthy, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, K. Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, J. H. Wegstein, A. van Wijngaarden, M. Woodger Hit paper breakdown →	1963	562
3	Report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60 Communications of the ACM ·John Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, J. Green, Chaim Katz, John McCarthy, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, K. Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, J. H. Wegstein, A. van Wijngaarden, M. Woodger	1960	266
4	The syntax and semantics of the proposed international algebraic language of the Zurich ACM-GAMM Conference. IFIP Congress ·John Backus	1959	186
5	The FORTRAN automatic coding system John Backus, Hermann Stern, I. Ziller, Robert A Hughes, R. Nutt, R. J. Beeber, S. Best, Robert P. Goldberg, L. M. Haibt, H. L. Herrick, R. A. Nelson, Dean Sayre, Peter Sheridan	1957	100
6	Revised report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60 The Computer Journal ·John Backus	1963	87
7	Revised report on the algorithmic languageAlgol 60 Numerische Mathematik ·John Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, J. Green, Chaim Katz, John McCarthy, Peter Naur, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, K. Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, J. H. Wegstein, A. van Wijngaarden, M. Woodger, W. L. van der Poel	1962	63
8	Report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60 Numerische Mathematik ·John Backus, Friedrich L. Bauer, J. Green, Chaim Katz, John McCarthy, Peter Naur, Alan J. Perlis, Heinz Rutishauser, K. Samelson, Bernard Vauquois, J. H. Wegstein, A. van Wijngaarden, M. Woodger	1960	56
9	The history of FORTRAN I, II, and III ACM SIGPLAN Notices ·John Backus	1978	36
10	Programming language semantics and closed applicative languages John Backus	1973	34
11	The History of FORTRAN I, II and III IEEE Annals of the History of Computing ·John Backus	1979	23
12	The IBM 701 Speedcoding System Journal of the ACM ·John Backus	1954	18
13	Software I: Function-level computing: A new programming method, linked to radically different architectures, may greatly simplify software development IEEE Spectrum ·John Backus	1982	16
14	An introduction to the programming language FL Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc. eBooks ·John Backus, John H. Williams, Edward L. Wimmers	1990	15
15	Function level programs as mathematical objects John Backus	1981	10
16	Fortran IEEE Transactions on Electronic Computers ·John Backus, W. P. Heising	1964	8
17	The history of Fortran I, II, and III IEEE Annals of the History of Computing ·John Backus	1998	7
18	The Fortran Automatic Coding System for the IBM 704 EDPM John Backus, R. J. Beeber, S. Best, Robert P. Goldberg, H. L. Herrick, Robert A Hughes, L. B. Mitchell, R. A. Nelson, R. Nutt, Dean Sayre, Peter Sheridan, Hermann Stern, L. Ziller	1956	5

About John Backus

John Backus is a scholar working on Hardware and Architecture, Computational Theory and Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, Software and Information Systems and Management, having authored 18 papers that have together received 3.0k indexed citations. Recurring topics across this work include Logic, programming, and type systems (7 papers), Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms (7 papers), Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques (5 papers), Algorithms and Data Compression (4 papers), Distributed and Parallel Computing Systems (2 papers), graph theory and CDMA systems (2 papers), Formal Methods in Verification (2 papers) and Numerical Methods and Algorithms (2 papers). The work is most often cited by research in Hardware and Architecture (825 citations), Software (298 citations), Computational Theory and Mathematics (961 citations), Artificial Intelligence (1.7k citations) and Computer Networks and Communications (655 citations). John Backus has collaborated with scholars based in United States, Russia and Brazil. Frequent co-authors include J. H. Wegstein, Heinz Rutishauser, Bernard Vauquois, M. Woodger, Chaim Katz, A. van Wijngaarden, John McCarthy, Friedrich L. Bauer, Alan J. Perlis and K. Samelson. Their work appears in journals such as Communications of the ACM, Numerische Mathematik, ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Journal of the ACM and The Computer Journal.

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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