Computer programming: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:52, 12 March 2018

Revision as of 04:59, 15 March 2018

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[[File:PunchCardDecks.agr.jpg|thumb|Data and instructions were once stored on external [[punched card]]s, which were kept in order and arranged in program decks.]]

In the 1880s [[Herman Hollerith]] invented the concept of storing ''data'' in machine-readable form.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/hollerith.html |title=Columbia University Computing History - Herman Hollerith |publisher=Columbia.edu |accessdate=2010-04-25}}</ref> Later a [[plugboard|control panel]] (plugboard)<!-- see text in plugboard article, "control panel" is the application specific term for plugboards used in unit record applications --> added to his 1906 Type I Tabulator allowed it to be programmed for different jobs, and by the late 1940s, [[unit record equipment]] such as the [[IBM 602]] and [[IBM 604]], were programmed by control panels in a similar way; as were the first [[electronic computer]]s. However, with the concept of the [[stored-program computer]]s introduced in 1949, both programs and data were stored and manipulated in the same way in [[computer memory]].

{{POV|date=December 2017}} {{refimprove section|date=December 2017}}[[Woman|Women]] had a crucial role in computer programming from the beginning, the first computer programmers were women [quotation needed]. Computer programming was considered low-skilled and was low-waged, many assumed the coding process was trivial and mechanical, work that could be given to women. Soon, female [[Programmer|coders]] became involved with the intellectual processes which was originally done by the male planners. In the 1960s, computer companies, like [[IBM]], began to make low-cost computers. While these [[computer]]s could be mass-produced, the [[software system]]s could not. Companies became in need of [[programmer]]s, who had to solve varied and complex problems. This began a new appreciation for programmers, increased demand for their services went hand in hand with the rise of their salaries. This boost of both the status and pay for computer programmers attracted a lot of men to computer programming.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ensmenger|first=Nathan|date=2015|title="Beards, Sandals, and Other Signs of Rugged Individualism": Masculine Culture within the Computing Professions|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/682955|journal=Osiris|volume=30|issue=1|pages=38–65|doi=10.1086/682955}}</ref>

[[Machine code]] was the language of early programs, written in the [[instruction set]] of the particular machine, often in [[binary numeral system|binary]] notation. [[Assembly language]]s were soon developed that let the programmer specify instruction in a text format, (e.g., ADD X, TOTAL), with abbreviations for each operation code and meaningful names for specifying addresses. However, because an assembly language is little more than a different notation for a machine language, any two machines with [[Comparison of instruction set architectures|different instruction sets]] also have different assembly languages.