System software history in the USSR and in the world

System software history in the USSR and in the world

Prokhorov S.P. (IHST RAS, Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

The article examines the formation and development of systems software in the USSR in comparison with Western approaches. The author analyzes the institutional preconditions for the formation of a domestic computing culture, the evolution of programming from mechanical computational procedures to a mathematically oriented discipline, and the role of academic centers in the development of formal methods, programming languages, and operating systems. Particular attention is paid to the period of the spread of the ES EVM and the parallel development of original architectures focused on scientific and defense applications. The final section is devoted to the differences between Russian and Western programming schools in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and an analysis of how modern artificial intelligence technologies are facilitating their convergence.

Keywords

systems programming; Soviet computing; computational mathematics; programming languages; operating systems; programming automation; artificial intelligence.

Edition

Proceedings of the Institute for System Programming, vol. 38, issue 4, part 2, 2026, pp. 293-302

ISSN 2220-6426 (Online), ISSN 2079-8156 (Print).

DOI: 10.15514/ISPRAS-2026-38(4)-33

For citation

System software history in the USSR and in the world. System software history in the USSR and in the world. Proceedings of the Institute for System Programming, vol. 38, issue 4, part 2, 2026, pp. 293-302 DOI: 10.15514/ISPRAS-2026-38(4)-33.

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