I assume it's "open the door" of the drive there.
Her first compiled programing language was called "A-0". Then came "B-0"
with the "B" standing for "business" because she wanted people in
business, who didn't think in code, to be able to use computers. Here
are some quotes I've been gathering for a blog post:
"very few [people involved in data processing] were symbol oriented;
very few of them were mathematically trained." (16, Wexelblat)
"Pursuing her belief that computer programs could be written in English,
Admiral hopper moved forward with the development for Univac of the B-O
compiler, later known as FLOW-MATIC. It was designed to translate a
language that could be used for typical business tasks like automatic
billing and payroll calculation. Using FLOW-MATIC, Admiral Hopper and
her staff were able to make the UNIVAC I and II "understand" twenty
statements in English. When she recommended that an entire programming
language be developed using English words, however, she "was told very
quickly that [she] couldn't do this because computers didn't understand
English." It was three years before her idea was finally accepted; she
published her first compiler paper in 1952."
http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/hopper-story.html
Univacs sold with FLOW-MATIC installed. Hopper inspired, but may not
have worked directly on COBOL. However COBOL would not have existed if
she hadn't figure out that you could write code in a "language" and
compile it for the computer.
another +1 for removing the male/female symbols.
kc
On 12/6/12 3:24 PM, Doran, Michael D wrote:
I have come up with an unofficial Code4lib 2013 conference poster. It was inspired by
the recent discussions exploring ways to be more gender inclusive in our community, to
"open up the door".
Although often unacknowledged, women have been coders since the beginning. The photo is
from the Computer History Museum website, which states "In 1952, mathematician Grace
Hopper completed what is considered to be the first compiler, a program that allows a
computer user to use English-like words instead of numbers." [1] Props there! The
photo was actually taken in 1961 and shows Ms. Hopper in front of UNIVAC magnetic tape
drives and holding a COBOL programming manual [2].
[cid:image002.jpg@01CDD3D6.93CD2690]
Bonus points for knowing additional reasons why "open up the door" is apropos.
-- Michael
[1] http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?year=1952
[2] http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102635875
Also see terms of use: http://www.computerhistory.org/terms/
# Michael Doran, Systems Librarian
# University of Texas at Arlington
# 817-272-5326 office
# 817-688-1926 mobile
# do...@uta.edu
# http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/
--
Karen Coyle
kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
