Mike Cowlishaw

Michael Frederic Cowlishaw is a well-known expert in computer science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and has worked as a visiting professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick. Throughout his career, he has made important contributions to technology and engineering.

Cowlishaw retired as an IBM Fellow, which is a high honor given to top researchers at IBM. He was also recognized as a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the British Computer Society. His work has helped shape modern computing.

He began his education at Monkton Combe School and later studied at the University of Birmingham. His background and experiences have made him a respected figure in the world of technology and engineering.

Career at IBM

Mike Cowlishaw began his career at IBM in 1974 as an electronic engineer, but he became well-known as a programmer and writer. He designed and created the Rexx programming language in 1984 and worked on many important tools and technologies used at IBM.

He also helped develop standards in computing, working with groups like ISO, BSI, ANSI, IETF, W3C, ECMA, and IEEE. Mike retired from IBM in March 2010.

Decimal arithmetic

Mike Cowlishaw also worked on improving how computers handle decimal numbers. He suggested changes to Java’s handling of large decimal numbers, which were later included in Java 5.0. In 2002, he created a new way to store decimal numbers called densely packed decimal encoding. His ideas influenced the IEEE 754 standard and were used in many software systems and processors, including IBM’s POWER6 and System z10.

Other activities

Mike Cowlishaw has done many interesting things besides his work in computing. He created an emulator for an old computer called the Acorn System 1 and gathered information about it. He also enjoys exploring caves in places like the UK, New England, Spain, and Mexico. Mike is a lifelong member of the National Speleological Society and has written articles about batteries and caving ropes. He even designed special lights for caving using LED technology. Today, he works on programming projects called MapGazer and PanGazer.

Publications (primary author)

Mike Cowlishaw has written many books and articles about computer languages and systems. Some of his well-known works include books about the NetRexx and REXX languages, which help programmers write better code. He has also published important papers on decimal floating-point numbers and computer arithmetic, sharing his ideas at big computer science meetings. His work spans several decades and includes contributions to computer journals and conferences around the world.