The '''IBM 1401 Symbolic Programming System''' (SPS) was an [[assembly language#Assembler|assemblerassembly language]] that was developed by IBM field engineers as an alternative to the use of [[machine code]] for the [[IBM 1401]] computer, the first of the [[IBM 1400 series]]. One source indicates that "This programming system was announced by IBM with the machine."<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/1401.html 1401 History]</ref>. As the 1400 series matured it [http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/ibm-1401.html acquired additional memory options] (from the initial 4000, increasing to 16000 characters) and SPS was replaced by the "[[Autocoder]]" language in most installations.
Both Autocoder and SPS were [[assembly language]]s using [[mnemonic]]s as a substitute for programming directly in [[machine code|machine language]]. An [http://web.archive.org/web/20010613101033/http://1401.org/op-codes/] of the 1401 mnemonic operation codes is preserved at [http://1401.org/ 1401.org].
