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Meet USN Rear Admiral Grace Hopper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper Inventor of the compiler, early advo

by s_q_b 11y ago

Meet USN Rear Admiral Grace Hopper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper Inventor of the compiler, early advocate of machine-independent computer languages, creator of COBOL, originator of the verb debugging.

nickpsecurity 11y ago
Another great example. I've given her plenty of praise as well. I've always credited her as inventing English-language programming and compilers. Are there any before her mid-1950's work? And that actually worked? ;) So, Hopper is the first, great programmer that women bring us. Helps lay the foundation for all HLL programming. Hamilton took it to the next step to true engineering practice. Kind of set the bar high. So, she's my main mascot. Hopper's is great, though. Should probably present them all as a group with their contributions to foundations.
opnitro 11y ago
Really sorry to rain on your parade, and it certainly doesn't take away from her other great accomplishments, but she really didn't originate the term[0]. It's a nice story though. [0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging#Origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging#Origin
- cbd1984 11y ago
  As she said, her famous "debugging" story is likely the first time the bug was caused by an actual arthropod. (A moth in a relay in a truly large piece of big iron.) I think it's interesting that this folk etymology has had such a long life; it's easy to debunk, and Admiral Hopper certainly doesn't need another feather in her cap, yet it persists.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    > and Admiral Hopper certainly doesn't need another feather in her cap, yet it persists That's how it works with humans - when you have a cap full of feathers, people keep adding more and more.
    - tsotha 11y ago
      So true. That's why the internet is full of bogus Thomas Jefferson quotes.
leoc 11y ago
Not really the creator of COBOL, it seems http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2015/9/191176-innovators-assemble/fulltext http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2015/9/191176-innovators-assem... [A¢M paywall]: > On page 117 Isaacson credits Hopper as "the technical lead in coordinating the creation of COBOL," a hugely important standard language for business programming that was defined jointly by several computer companies. Standards committee work is a difficult thing to dramatize, which is presumably why Isaacson gives COBOL no more than a passing mention, but as historian of technology Janet Abbate recently noted, his omission slights several women who, unlike Hopper, were on the technical committee in question. Among them is Jean Sammett, who made the largest single contribution to the design of COBOL. Sammet has stated that Hopper was "not the mother, creator, or developer of COBOL," an idea Hopper reportedly endorsed by calling herself the "grandmother of COBOL" rather than its creator. > [...] Sammet has not been forgotten, as a fellow of the Computer History Museum and a winner of the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award, but sits on the wrong side of a growing chasm separating the handful of women chosen for public veneration from those whose names are known only to specialists. > This is an example of what sociologist of science Robert K. Merton called the "Matthew Effect," the tendency for the most famous person involved in any collaborative project, however peripherally, to be remembered by the public as the key contributor. He named it after a passage in Matthew's Gospel, noting that "unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Over time the famous become more famous, while the moderately well known are forgotten.
- nickpsecurity 11y ago
  Well-written. I'll certainly look into this further.
- RogerL 11y ago
  There is essentially nothing about COBOL in Sammett's Wikipedia page. edit: that is not disagreement with your point, but pointing out there may be a deficiency in Wikipedia that needs correcting.

by s_q_b 11y ago

nickpsecurity 11y ago

Another great example. I've given her plenty of praise as well. I've always credited her as inventing English-language programming and compilers. Are there any before her mid-1950's work? And that actually worked? ;) So, Hopper is the first, great programmer that women bring us. Helps lay the foundation for all HLL programming. Hamilton took it to the next step to true engineering practice. Kind of set the bar high. So, she's my main mascot. Hopper's is great, though. Should probably present them all as a group with their contributions to foundations.

opnitro 11y ago

Really sorry to rain on your parade, and it certainly doesn't take away from her other great accomplishments, but she really didn't originate the term[0]. It's a nice story though. [0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging#Origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging#Origin

cbd1984 11y ago
As she said, her famous "debugging" story is likely the first time the bug was caused by an actual arthropod. (A moth in a relay in a truly large piece of big iron.) I think it's interesting that this folk etymology has had such a long life; it's easy to debunk, and Admiral Hopper certainly doesn't need another feather in her cap, yet it persists.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > and Admiral Hopper certainly doesn't need another feather in her cap, yet it persists That's how it works with humans - when you have a cap full of feathers, people keep adding more and more.
  - tsotha 11y ago
    So true. That's why the internet is full of bogus Thomas Jefferson quotes.

leoc 11y ago

Not really the creator of COBOL, it seems http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2015/9/191176-innovators-assemble/fulltext http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2015/9/191176-innovators-assem... [A¢M paywall]: > On page 117 Isaacson credits Hopper as "the technical lead in coordinating the creation of COBOL," a hugely important standard language for business programming that was defined jointly by several computer companies. Standards committee work is a difficult thing to dramatize, which is presumably why Isaacson gives COBOL no more than a passing mention, but as historian of technology Janet Abbate recently noted, his omission slights several women who, unlike Hopper, were on the technical committee in question. Among them is Jean Sammett, who made the largest single contribution to the design of COBOL. Sammet has stated that Hopper was "not the mother, creator, or developer of COBOL," an idea Hopper reportedly endorsed by calling herself the "grandmother of COBOL" rather than its creator. > [...] Sammet has not been forgotten, as a fellow of the Computer History Museum and a winner of the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award, but sits on the wrong side of a growing chasm separating the handful of women chosen for public veneration from those whose names are known only to specialists. > This is an example of what sociologist of science Robert K. Merton called the "Matthew Effect," the tendency for the most famous person involved in any collaborative project, however peripherally, to be remembered by the public as the key contributor. He named it after a passage in Matthew's Gospel, noting that "unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Over time the famous become more famous, while the moderately well known are forgotten.

nickpsecurity 11y ago
Well-written. I'll certainly look into this further.
RogerL 11y ago
There is essentially nothing about COBOL in Sammett's Wikipedia page. edit: that is not disagreement with your point, but pointing out there may be a deficiency in Wikipedia that needs correcting.