[Synesthesis]

Can anyone comment on the relevance of this in modern CS or related fields? As a non CS major, whenever I see material from Von Neumann, I can't help but be amazed at it. Yet I get the impression that while many people appreciate his work (he presents very compelling concepts in my opinion), it didn't have the impact on CS or other fields you would expect. Am I right or wrong? Where are these ideas of Von Neumann applied today?

[nickpsecurity]

I'd have to read and understand the paper to be sure. However, high-level and logic synthesis tools do a job that sounds pretty similar. The Synthagate HLS tool converts [1] an algorithm into automata that are simplified, combined, used to generate data paths, used to generate control paths, integrated, and synthesized into hardware. They have a book [2] on the method that I'm trying to get HW experts to peer review in interest of imitating (or not) the techniques. Further, there's plenty of academics working with neural nets, error correction, and probabilistic systems on FPGA's. So, old as it is, elements of his writings might aid modern researchers or just be an interesting look on prior ideas.

[1] http://synthezza.com/logic-synthesis-in-synthagate-4/

[2] http://synthezza.com/download/AboutUs/Book2011.zip

[snorkel]

Yes, the ideas are applied to CS in very practical way. For example, in order to have a fault-tolerant web service you have to assume every component and server in your stack can fail at any time so you have to design automated failover into each layer ... You assume the parts are unreliable but the whole system is designed to be reliable despite its parts being unreliable.

[tiagobraw]

Well, he did created the Von Newmann Architecture [1] and various other concepts that are still used in modern computers. So, I would say that his work is very influential in CS.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture