5 ms·

Many terms commonly used in computer programming originated with Mark I

84 points by kurren 10y ago

nonbel 10y ago
Can anyone tell what these say: http://sites.harvard.edu/~chsi/markone/images/BugDrawings.jpg http://sites.harvard.edu/~chsi/markone/images/BugDrawings.jp... I can only half-read it. I was trained in cursive, but have not used it in years.
- chaosphere2112 10y ago
  Top left: Table ____ Bottom left: NRW Bug: He who sends ____ (wrong?) data Top right: Kitchie Boo Boo Bug: He who ____ around errors in relays Bottom right: He who brings good data
- emeraldd 10y ago
  Wow that's iffy hand writing ... * Upper Left is illegible -- Iskee worm(?) * Top Right - Kitchee Boo Boo Bug, He who pors(?) around errors(?) in(?) relays * Bottom Left - NRL Bug He who sends worms(?) data .... * Bottom Right - He who brings good data ... edit: Missing newline
- macintux 10y ago
  I can half-read it, probably the same half you did. Bottom half I feel confident in: "NRL Bug He who sends wrong data" "he who brings good data" Top half: "Luke worm" – probably not right, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "Kitchen Boo Boo Bug He who you/for aimed(??) ??? relays"
- wefarrell 10y ago
  July 27 - table worm July 28 - NRL (Naval research laboratory) bug. He who sends wrong data July 26 - Kitchie Boo Boo Bug. He who goes around loosening relays :) He who brings good data. I found the result by googling the ones I could read, which led me to this book: https://books.google.com/books?id=M3AwCYjYGKQC&pg=PA43&dq=%22he+who+brings+good+data%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt_6va4urRAhWC0YMKHYx_BRUQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22he%20who%20brings%20good%20data%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=M3AwCYjYGKQC&pg=PA43&dq=%2...
tmsldd 10y ago
Amazing to see how computer science imported these terms.. since it moved from classical mechanics to electromagnetism, electronics and now to quantum mechanics.. how the future will look like ? patterns, probabilities, uncertainty, learning, self-organization... much likely all those terms are going to disappear from the jargon .. a "bug" will have no meaning
eridius 10y ago
This article lists 4 terms that it says originated with Mark I. But 3 of those terms were used in the Mark I because they already meant the correct thing. The only term to get effectively a new definition when applied to computers is "bug". So it seems kind of weird to say that e.g. "loop" originated with the Mark I when the definition of the word didn't change. In fact this kind of brings to mind patents. "ordinary thing, done by a computer" is not particularly significant, neither in terminology nor patentable ideas.
- wnoise 10y ago
  Even "bug" was in usage for malfunctioning electronics before computers.
- empath75 10y ago
  'Loop' as a metaphor for a programming technique is perhaps less obvious than you think.
- xapata 10y ago
  That's one of those things that sounds right only in hindsight. Without the paper tape metaphor, the control flow for repetition might have been called "repeat" or "iterate". The word "loop" is nice and short, but it's an odd thing to say without the physical clue. The word didn't come up in my mathematical proofs class. Instead of "patch" we probably would have said "fix" (we still sometimes do).
  - eridius 10y ago
    The control flow for repetition is in fact called "repeat" in some languages. I don't think the word "loop" stuck around because the metaphor of paper tapes is particularly compelling (especially since we stopped using those a long time ago), I think it stuck around because it's a good short word that means the right thing. And, for example, it's pretty awkward to say something like "a for repeat", but "a for loop" is nice and simple. We probably would have ended up on this word even without paper tapes.
    - 10y ago

84 points by kurren 10y ago

Can anyone tell what these say: http://sites.harvard.edu/~chsi/markone/images/BugDrawings.jpg http://sites.harvard.edu/~chsi/markone/images/BugDrawings.jp... I can only half-read it. I was trained in cursive, but have not used it in years.

chaosphere2112 10y ago
Top left: Table ____ Bottom left: NRW Bug: He who sends ____ (wrong?) data Top right: Kitchie Boo Boo Bug: He who ____ around errors in relays Bottom right: He who brings good data
emeraldd 10y ago
Wow that's iffy hand writing ... * Upper Left is illegible -- Iskee worm(?) * Top Right - Kitchee Boo Boo Bug, He who pors(?) around errors(?) in(?) relays * Bottom Left - NRL Bug He who sends worms(?) data .... * Bottom Right - He who brings good data ... edit: Missing newline
macintux 10y ago
I can half-read it, probably the same half you did. Bottom half I feel confident in: "NRL Bug He who sends wrong data" "he who brings good data" Top half: "Luke worm" – probably not right, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "Kitchen Boo Boo Bug He who you/for aimed(??) ??? relays"
wefarrell 10y ago
July 27 - table worm July 28 - NRL (Naval research laboratory) bug. He who sends wrong data July 26 - Kitchie Boo Boo Bug. He who goes around loosening relays :) He who brings good data. I found the result by googling the ones I could read, which led me to this book: https://books.google.com/books?id=M3AwCYjYGKQC&pg=PA43&dq=%22he+who+brings+good+data%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt_6va4urRAhWC0YMKHYx_BRUQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22he%20who%20brings%20good%20data%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=M3AwCYjYGKQC&pg=PA43&dq=%2...

tmsldd 10y ago

Amazing to see how computer science imported these terms.. since it moved from classical mechanics to electromagnetism, electronics and now to quantum mechanics.. how the future will look like ? patterns, probabilities, uncertainty, learning, self-organization... much likely all those terms are going to disappear from the jargon .. a "bug" will have no meaning

eridius 10y ago

This article lists 4 terms that it says originated with Mark I. But 3 of those terms were used in the Mark I because they already meant the correct thing. The only term to get effectively a new definition when applied to computers is "bug". So it seems kind of weird to say that e.g. "loop" originated with the Mark I when the definition of the word didn't change. In fact this kind of brings to mind patents. "ordinary thing, done by a computer" is not particularly significant, neither in terminology nor patentable ideas.

wnoise 10y ago
Even "bug" was in usage for malfunctioning electronics before computers.
empath75 10y ago
'Loop' as a metaphor for a programming technique is perhaps less obvious than you think.
xapata 10y ago
That's one of those things that sounds right only in hindsight. Without the paper tape metaphor, the control flow for repetition might have been called "repeat" or "iterate". The word "loop" is nice and short, but it's an odd thing to say without the physical clue. The word didn't come up in my mathematical proofs class. Instead of "patch" we probably would have said "fix" (we still sometimes do).
- eridius 10y ago
  The control flow for repetition is in fact called "repeat" in some languages. I don't think the word "loop" stuck around because the metaphor of paper tapes is particularly compelling (especially since we stopped using those a long time ago), I think it stuck around because it's a good short word that means the right thing. And, for example, it's pretty awkward to say something like "a for repeat", but "a for loop" is nice and simple. We probably would have ended up on this word even without paper tapes.
  - 10y ago