Associative programming

Associative programming (AP) is a method of computer processing data stored in large information arrays, developed in the very beginning of the 1960s by A.I. Kitov , who, since 1961, has made reports and reports on APs at a number of conferences and seminars. In particular, the report “Associative Programming” was made by A. I. Kitov on November 16, 1962 at the MV Lomonosov Moscow State University at the famous programming seminar held under the guidance of A. A. Lyapunov. AP is a separate independent section of the general theory of programming. At its core, AP is a set of methods for solving logical information problems based on the software implementation of associative relations between various data stored in various computer storage devices (memory). By purpose, close to the AP are list data processing, a nodal way of organizing data, a method of chain addressing data, a method of control words. APs are used in the logical processing of information about various objects, the composition and quantity of which are constantly changing in the process of computer solving problems, and also when it is impossible to determine in advance the volumes of data of various types and to make an exact distribution of computer memory. The main means of AP are the use of communication addresses to build lists of various types that combine objects with common features; the use of list structures to represent hierarchical data organization systems; the use of so-called promoted lists for temporary storage of ordered data, as well as restoring them in the reverse order; organization of computer memory in the form of a chain list of cells in order to ensure flexibility and completeness of its use. At the same time, the need for its detailed preliminary distribution is excluded. The tasks solved with the help of AP are characterized by a significant amount of information and the constant use of procedures for searching or classifying objects according to their characteristics; inclusion and exclusion of objects of various groups (lists) of processed data. The practical use of the AP made it possible to significantly accelerate the search and processing of data in large arrays and provided a convenient and compact representation of complex algorithms for solving information and logic problems (for example, production planning and logistics, search for scientific and technical information, search for reference data about various machines, equipment, devices, etc. In the 1960s and 70s, associative programming was very effective in solving economic and managerial problems, as well as other tasks, belonging to the class of information-logical.

The theory of “associative programming” was used in the creation in the first half of the 1960s under the leadership of Professor Anatoly Ivanovich Kitov (at that time the head of the Main Computing Center of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry and the deputy director for scientific work of the Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment - NIIAA) an algorithmic programming language “ ALGEM ”(economic and mathematical algorithms) for mass Soviet computers“ Minsk-22 ”and“ Minsk-32 ”. ALGEM was introduced at over eight hundred enterprises of the Soviet Union.