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Born in 1906, computer scientist Grace Hopper invented the first compiler for computer programming language & was among the first programmers of the Harvard Mk1 computer.

Hopper popularized the idea of machine-independent programming languages & paved the way to develop COBOL (an early high-level programming language). She originated the term "bug" to describe computer glitches & became a celebrated Rear Admiral in the US Navy.
https://news.yale.edu/2017/02/10/grace-murray-hopper-1906-1992-legacy-innovation-and-service #HistoryRemix #science #history

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

TIL Dykstra did not in fact condemn COBOL, the correct quote was that the teaching of BASIC should be a criminal offence.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

I’ve watched several of her interviews & was always amazed by her down home manner. Years ago I taught computer basics to beginners, always trying to emulate her open style. Also: There is a Naval ship named after Admiral Hopper. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hopper
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

I rather love this video of her from a lecture she gave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5XMoLgZZ38
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

yes yes yes, and I have always taught my computer students about that first bug, showing them the picture 😊
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

The Grace Hopper bug thing is a myth: https://www.howtogeek.com/726020/what-is-a-computer-bug-and-where-did-the-term-come-from/
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

I alway said, give the women a shot at running the world. Men have screwed it up so bad, maybe women can bring earth back into orbit.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

The bug was a REAL bug! 👀 https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/worlds-first-computer-bug/
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

As someone who has spent much of his life writing IBM assembler in various guises, I feel a shout out to Kathleen Booth is in order.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

COBOL never gets enough love for how good it was for certain applications. Some of Canada’s biggest banking systems were coded in COBOL for decades and were ridiculously reliable at a time when computer software was known for how often it crashed and how hard it could sometimes be to debug.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

She was a great believer in RTFM. She would walk junior over to the manuals, and several of those people taught me.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

a family member went to a lecture of hers

She handed out "nanoseconds" -- pieces of a particular wire gauge that were 12.5 inches long. Signals would traverse them in one nanosecond

Really a great visual aid for many reasons, both then and now

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

"Amazing Grace", indeed!

“If you ask me what accomplishment I’m most proud of, the answer would be all the young people I’ve trained over the years; that’s more important than writing the first compiler.”

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

my first job was for the company that created the Ada programming language named after the OG programmer Ada Lovelace.
in reply to Simon W 🙄 🆙 ⚛️

@enmodo

https://mastodon.social/@Sheril/109697348787690371


In pop culture, computing & programming are often depicted with “tech bros.” But the first computer programmer was a brilliant woman.

Augusta “Ada” Lovelace was born in 1815. Her notes include an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine & she envisioned that computers could go beyond calculations. Lovelace described “how individuals & society relate to technology as a collaborative tool.”

Lovelace passed away in 1852 at just 36. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/ada-lovelace-the-first-tech-visionary #HistoryRemix #history #science


in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Programming computers only became a carreer for men after the women who did it first, had made it easy to do.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Rear-Admiral Grace Hopper was the woman who found that first-ever (literal) bug in the relays of a computer, @elbienmaspreciado.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

@jonpsp

It's probable that she didn't invent the term bug as we know it today, rather popularised it's use. There is good evidence that the term bug predated modern computers as we know them and was used in the engineering community for a problem.

Ada Lovelace probably identified the first software bug though she didn't call it that...

Irrespective, plenty of who said what and when, both women were major contributors to computing and are often overlooked.

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

@YusufToropov I was fortunate enough to hear her speak at my tiny liberal arts alma mater. She was brilliant, yet her explanations were easily understood. A true pioneer.

Oh and an incredible wit.

in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

She has long been my hero. I even saw her do a presentation once back in the dark ages of the 1980s.
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

@objectinspace
Image description: Grace Hopper is standing in a room full of really big computers, they are as big as her and look like cupboards. One can see 4.5 of them, there are likely more. In her right hand she is holding a book or paper that says "COBOL", the right arm is hanging down. Her left hand is on one of the computers, she is looking to it. There are tapes in the computers, one can see the tapes behind glass. The photo is black and white. She is wearing a dress.

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