3 ms·

Grace Hopper implemented the first and coined the term. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History

• ncmncm 4y ago
  Except, that wasn't at all what we call a compiler; she just used the name compiler for something that clearly was not. Admittedly, she was first to use the name, but word coinage is not a thing we recognize as a fundamental achievement. Hal didn't call his thing a "compiler", but it clearly was one, by the modern definition. (Its output was subroutine calls, but that is a matter for optimization. When your compiler has to fit in 1K machine words, you make compromises.)
  • zeckalpha 4y ago
    I would encourage to update the Wikipedia page accordingly.
  • jecel 4y ago
    In English "to compile" is defined as "produce (something, especially a list, report, or book) by assembling information collected from other sources." which seems like a good description of what A0 to A2 did. It is a pity that when people started to build translators they didn't use that name but instead kept the now obsolete term "compiler".
    • ncmncm 4y ago
      Look up "etymological fallacy". Words don't have a "true meaning" independent of how they are used.