Hamming Window to the Digital World

Inspired by the awarding of the 30th jubilee IEEE medal 'for exceptional contributions to information sciences and systems,' this article is dedicated to the memory of Richard W. Hamming, mathematician and computer scientist. If Shannon's mathematical theory of communication, including coding, entropy, and channel capacity, can be assumed as cornerstone of the digital world, error-detecting and error-correcting codes, at the same time, pave the way to its redundancy and reliability. The role of the interaction between human and computer in the world of contemporary communication is considered, together with an emphasis on Hamming's fundamental contributions from information theory to computer technology. Hamming code, Hamming distance, Hamming metric, Hamming window, Hamming numbers, and sphere packing are now standard terms that reflect him as a leader in the development of coding theory. His ideas in coding theory continue to have practical use in computer design. © 2017 IEEE.