
RIP: Robin Milner - fogus
http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/pipermail/types-list/2010/001478.html
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fadmmatt
For anyone that uses an ML (e.g. OCaml), Haskell or Scala, Milner was
responsible for the Hindley-Milner type system and inference algorithm that
sits at the foundation of these languages.

It ignited a wave of research into type theory that continues to this day, yet
in many ways, Hindley-Milner is still the most significant contribution to the
field.

I remember reading his original paper on polymorphic typing for my qualifiers
and being struck by the elegance and approachability of his writing.

Well worth a read.

~~~
j_baker
Any chance you could post some info about the paper? I've been itching to
learn more about how type inferencing (especially polymorphic type
inferencing) works.

EDIT: I don't know if it's the paper you were referring to, but I did find
this:
[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/pag/6.883/readings/p207-damas.pd...](http://groups.csail.mit.edu/pag/6.883/readings/p207-damas.pdf)

~~~
fadmmatt
Milner, Robin (1978), "A Theory of Type Polymorphism in Programming", Jcss 17:
348–375

I don't know if there's a free copy online anywhere.

The Damas-Milner paper is the sequel; it presents an alternate algorithm for
type inference.

Benjamin Pierce's "Orange Book" is one of the best references now.

~~~
baguasquirrel
[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=A+Theory+of+Type+Polymor...](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=A+Theory+of+Type+Polymorphism+in+Programming&hl=en&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2001&as_sdtp=on)

First link.

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gdp
It's almost impossible to over-state his contributions to computer science,
particularly within programming languages, theorem proving and concurrency
theory. I never met him, but I have followed and admired his work for some
time, and this is a real loss to the community.

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fogus
More information on his incredible contributions to computer science:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Milner>

~~~
jcl
One of the references in the Wikipedia article is this long interview covering
the major points of his life and work:

[http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/mfb21/interviews/m...](http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/mfb21/interviews/milner/)

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troystribling
I purchased 'Communicating and Mobil Systems: the Pi-Calculus' last week.
[http://www.amazon.com/Communicating-Mobile-Systems-Robin-
Mil...](http://www.amazon.com/Communicating-Mobile-Systems-Robin-
Milner/dp/0521658691/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269273606&sr=1-11). This
is the first computing theory book I have read. It's quite readable and very
well written.

~~~
morphir
Is it so that CS-books face an increase in value when the author have a passed
away? Kinda like with art, where the author/artist never sees the pleasure of
economical benefits during his/hers lifespan. But when death occurs -- that
will be the ultimate marketing effort as we can take the time and sum up a
person intellectual contributions....hmm..does this wanna make you work harder
or what?

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sriram_sun
From Wikipedia .. Doctoral advisor None, as Milner never did a PhD[1] Doctoral
students - about 19

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reginaldo
Robin Milner was indeed one of a kind. One of the Great Masters of Computing,
for sure. I'm currently taking a class on models for Concurrent Computing, and
the first subject is Milner's CCS:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_of_communicating_syste...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_of_communicating_systems)

The way he thinks about processes, communication and synchronization is just
beautiful. When I was able to "prove" that the implementation of a two-bit
buffer as a chain of two one-bit buffers actually behaves as specified, it was
as enlightening as when I first saw a higher order function in Scheme.

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dunk010
That is sad news.

I guess the annual lecture at Edinburgh will be a memorial lecture now
<http://www.lfcs.inf.ed.ac.uk/events/milner-lecture>.

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abless
How very, very sad! He gave us a lecture just two years ago...

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hackermom
Died from sorrow, not from old age.

