You’ll Never Guess Where the IT Term “Debugging” Comes From
Pictured: Grace Murray Hopper and team working on Harvard’s Mark I computer
What Would You Say If... I told you that the the term "debugging" used to be literal. It was coined by Grace Murray Hopper back in the 1900s when she discovered actual moths in the computers she was working on. Although I'm not a fan of any bugs, I mean actual insects or computer bugs, this week I wanted to bring up some of the amazing things that Grace Murray Hopper was able to do!
At the University of Harvard Grace Hopper, alongside Howard Aiken, was able to invent translated written language into computer code, this was the start of of programming. Together they worked on and designed Harvard’s Mark I computer. It was a very large machine that took up the space of a room and weighed a whopping five-tons.
According to an article by Arlisha R. Norwood on the National Women's History Museum website, "Hopper was involved in the creation of the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC), the first all-electronic digital computer. She invented the first computer compiler, a program that translates written instructions into codes that computers read directly.
This work led her to co-develop the Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), one of the earliest standardized computer languages. COBOL enabled computers to respond to words in addition to numbers.
She predicted that computers would one day be small enough to fit on a desk and people who were not professional programmers would use them in their everyday life."
Fortunately for all of us, Hopper was right about computers becoming small enough to fit on a desk and she created such a long lasting impact on our everyday lives- she truly ran with technology so we could run even further and I'll never complain about having to carry a laptop again!!
TLDR:
At the University of Harvard Grace Hopper, alongside Howard Aiken, was able to invent translated written language into computer code, this was the start of of programming. Together they worked on and designed Harvard’s Mark I computer.
Hopper was involved in the creation of the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC), the first all-electronic digital computer which led her to co-develop the Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), one of the earliest standardized computer languages that enabled computers to respond to words in addition to numbers. She truly ran with technology so we could run even further.