Published in 1970 by the Computation Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences and edited by Wlad Turski, this volume gathers contributions from a conference on the efficient production of large computer programs. The meeting, held that August, brought together researchers from Eastern and Western Europe.

The contributions address a central concern of early software engineering: how large programs can be developed efficiently and reliably, without becoming needlessly complex. Tony Hoare was among those present, and the volume is recorded as the source of his remark that “inside every large program there is a small program trying to get out”.

The observation, sometimes referred to as Hoare’s Law, reflects a recurring theme in the field: that large programs are often more complicated than they need to be, and that a simpler, smaller solution may lie hidden within them.