The Importance of Being Eelco

Programming language designers and implementers are taught that: semantics are more worthwhile than syntax, that programs exist to embody proofs, rather than to get work done, and to value Dijkstra more than Van Wijngaarden. Eelco Visser believed that, while there is value in the items on the left, there is at least as much value in the items on the right. This short paper explores how Eelco Visser embodied these values, and how he encouraged our work on the Grace programming language, supported that work withio Spoofax, and provided a venue for discussion within the WG2.16 Programming Language Design working group.