{{Short description|Dutch computer scientist (1943–2013)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019|cs1-dates=y}} {{Infobox scientist | image = Kees Koster und Stefan Jänichen 2000.jpg | alt = Kees Koster and Stefan Jaenichen in 2000 | caption = Koster (''left'') in 2000 | birth_name = Cornelis Hermanus Antonius Koster | birth_date = {{birth date |1943|07|13 |df=y}} | birth_place = Haarlem, Netherlands | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|03|21|1943|07|13|df=y}} | fields = Computer science | workplaces = Mathematisch Centrum<br/>Technische Universität Berlin<br/>Radboud University Nijmegen | alma_mater = University of Amsterdam | known_for = ALGOL 68 }} '''Cornelis Hermanus Antonius''' "'''Kees'''" '''Koster''' (13 July 1943 – 21 March 2013)<ref name="AuthFile"/> was a Dutch computer scientist who was a professor in the Department of Informatics at the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands.<ref name="Faculty"/>
== Biography == Koster was born on 13 July 1943, in Haarlem, and after World War II, his family moved to Jakarta. At age 11 he returned to the Netherlands on his own. After his study at the University of Amsterdam he worked at the Mathematisch Centrum (MC) in Amsterdam under Adriaan van Wijngaarden.<ref name="bio" /> There, he was one of the editors of the original ''Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68'',<ref name="Wijngaarden_1976" /> being responsible for the design of ALGOL 68's transput.
Koster became involved with developing international standards in programming and informatics, as a member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) IFIP Working Group 2.1 on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ifipwg21wiki.cs.kuleuven.be/IFIP21/Profile |title=Profile of IFIP Working Group 2.1 |last=Jeuring |first=Johan |last2=Meertens |first2=Lambert |author2-link=Lambert Meertens |last3=Guttmann |first3=Walter |date=2016-08-17 |website=Foswiki |access-date=2020-09-25}}</ref> which specified, maintains, and supports the programming languages ALGOL 60 and 68.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ifipwg21wiki.cs.kuleuven.be/IFIP21/ScopeEtc |title=ScopeEtc: IFIP21: Foswiki |last=Swierstra |first=Doaitse |last2=Gibbons |first2=Jeremy |author2-link=Jeremy Gibbons |last3=Meertens |first3=Lambert |author3-link=Lambert Meertens |date=2011-03-02 |website=Foswiki |access-date=2020-09-25}}</ref>
Koster is the creator of the original Compiler Description Language (CDL), and of affix grammars, which are a variant of Van Wijngaarden grammars. In a sense, CDL is a deterministic executable affix grammar, while Prolog is a non-deterministic executable affix grammar; a link acknowledged by the implementors of the original Prolog interpreter.
In 1972, Koster moved to Berlin to initiate an informatics course at Technische Universität Berlin. In 1977, he became the first Professor of Informatics at the Radboud University Nijmegen. He died on 21 March 2013, aged 69, in a motorcycle accident.<ref name="bio" />
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="AuthFile">{{cite LCAuth|id=n77003445}}</ref> <ref name="Faculty">{{cite web |url=http://www.ru.nl/icis/news/memoriam-kees-koster/ |title=In memoriam Kees Koster - Faculty of Science - Institute for Computing and Information Sciences |publisher=Ru.nl |access-date=2013-04-03}}</ref> <ref name="bio">{{cite journal |author-first=Peter |author-last=de Waard |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/kees-koster-1943-2013~b8658f9f/ |title=Kees Koster 1943-2013] |journal=De Volkskrant |date=2003-04-16 |language=nl}}</ref> <ref name="Wijngaarden_1976">{{cite book |editor-first1=Adriaan |editor-last1=van Wijngaarden |editor-link1=Adriaan van Wijngaarden |editor-first2=Barry James |editor-last2=Mailloux |editor-link2=Barry James Mailloux |editor-first3=John Edward Lancelot |editor-last3=Peck |editor-link3=John Edward Lancelot Peck |editor-first4=Cornelis Hermanus Antonius |editor-last4=Koster |editor-link4=Cornelis Hermanus Antonius Koster |editor-first5=Michel |editor-last5=Sintzoff |editor-link5=:fr:Michel Sintzoff |editor-first6=Charles Hodgson |editor-last6=Lindsey |editor-link6=Charles Hodgson Lindsey |editor-first7=Lambert Guillaume Louis Théodore |editor-last7=Meertens |editor-link7=Lambert Guillaume Louis Théodore Meertens |editor-first8=Richard G. |editor-last8=Fisker |title=Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |date=1976 |isbn=978-0-387-07592-1 |oclc=1991170 |url=http://web.eah-jena.de/~kleine/history/languages/algol68-revisedreport.pdf |access-date=2019-05-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419223929/http://web.eah-jena.de/~kleine/history/languages/algol68-revisedreport.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-19}}</ref> }}
==External links== * [https://www.cs.ru.nl/~kees/ Cornelis H.A. Koster research interests]
{{ALGOL programming}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Cornelis H. A.}} Category:1943 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Dutch computer scientists Category:Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen Category:Academic staff of Technische Universität Berlin Category:University of Amsterdam alumni Category:Scientists from Haarlem Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths