The revolution of computer science has been one of the man’s greatest journeys. Today, computer technology is one of the critical resources in the industrial production, communication as well as health care. Most of the functions of the computer experienced today would not be possible without the contributions of Grace Hopper. Born in New York in 1906 and a graduate of Mathematics from Vasar 1928, the inventions of Grace Hopper later in life became essential in solving the challenges of computing 1 . Throughout her life, Hopper had huge interest in computer science and when she became a consultant to Digital Equipment Corporation after service in the navy, she concentrated on research in computer technology.
In her academic, military and corporate lives, Hopper expressed numerous talents and technical knowhow in mathematical computing and great ideas in improving the computers of the day. Her initial work about the machine was a document of 500 pages which she published in explanation of the manual operations for sequence controlled calculator 2 . After the cease fire of the Second World War, Hopper concentrated on creating Mark II version of the machine she had already created. When she became a research fellow at the Eckert- Mauchly Company, she was committed to both the military service and her scientific research in way that she gained admiration by her predecessors. This thrust her further into academia and study to become one of the renowned software developers of her time. As an individual with great vision and conviction to bring change in her field, Hopper envisaged the increased use of the computer programs for a wider audience. Hopper’s main targets were to invent a compiler that was both programmer-friendly and application-friendly. At Eckert-Mauchly Company, UNIVAC-1 became Hoppers first product, which as a digital electronic machine of its own kind Through her dedication in establishing a form of writing code with minimal errors and tedium she relieved many programmers off the manual repetitive sequencing of codes as experience at the time. 3
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Driving the developments by Hopper were her perseverance and consistency in the field. The quest to have better computers that integrated programs with mathematical computations enabled the inventor to create Mark I, which was faced with much criticism at the time. However, in her own assessment, Hopper acknowledged her invention as an attractive gadget that was better off than what had existed before. Her zeal and determination made her become the first female scientist to program Mark I, which opened more doors for her to develop Mark II and Mark III machines.
One of the greatest inventions by Grace Hopper was the compiler. This program, was able to the English language into a form that that a computer could understand. The invention came at a time when there was a great challenge in executing commands to a computer via use of any language. The main driver of this invention of the creator’s zeal in harmonizing mathematics and programming. Hoppers invention preceded later developments such as the subroutines, formula translation and also helped in development of programming languages through code optimization. Use of symbols in Mathematica and Maple would also have not been possible without the invention by Grace Hopper.
The function of the compliers was to translate mathematical code in to a language that the machines could read and execute commands on. This was a ground breaking invention in computing as it enabled programmers to be able to write codes in multiple computers. Hopper’s first compiler known as the A-O had numerous challenges of compatibility with the computers of that time. Such a drawback in implementing the program led to further research into compiler and a years later, Hopper and the teams she led developed Flow-Matic, the first ever programming language to use English-based commands 4 . This was a huge improvement from the former languages such as the FORTRAN that had been released. FORTRAN utilized mathematical symbols that were difficult to install into computer software and could not be used in multiple computers to generate code. Since Flow-Matic made use of the common English words, it was easier to write codes for a wide number of programs, expressing the extensive applicability brought about by Hopper’s development.
As an individual with great vision and conviction to bring change in her field, Hopper envisaged the increased use of the computer programs for a wider audience. Hopper’s main targets were to invent a compiler that was both programmer-friendly and application-friendly. At Eckert-Mauchly Company, UNIVAC-1 became Hoppers first product, which as a digital electronic machine of its own kind Through her dedication in establishing a form of writing code with minimal errors and tedium she relieved many programmers off the manual repetitive sequencing of codes as experience at the time 5 .
Before 1949, programs were based on mnemonics that were then transferred into the binary coding recognizable by machines. The invention of the A-O allowed for the translation of the symbolic mathematical representations into a code that was easy for the programmer to write and for the machine to read. Through this specification of all call number was possible into specially designated magnetic tapes. To generate code one only needed to specify the call numbers and through the computer’s memory, the machine would locate such numbers on the tape and perform the additions by itself. Hopper was able to determine that the major impediment to the development of use of computers in design of programs for non-scientific purposes was lack of programmers who would unlock and solve the challenges of user-friendliness. According to her own speculation, development better programming languages would open up the use of computers to individuals who were neither mathematicians nor computer scientists 6 . The possibility of this idea was only made a reality through Hopper’s development of the compiler and other subsequent inventions of the programming languages such as C, C++ and the D programming language.
The D programming language harbors specially structured features that level the barriers of transitioning. For a compiler TDPL does not create a restriction to a VM, since the program itself does not use a VM. Compatibility with the operating system is also a streamline, just as the other conventional language programs like C and C++. Us of algebra by the program means that syntax correction is a one-way in-built process. This makes the language an important feature in the generation of byte code, minimizing error generation. Important to mention is the ability of the use of the program together with the C++ calling conventions.
The reasons why a programmer would choose to use TDPL are numerous. First, the program offers convenience since it eliminates redundancy in generation of large codes. At the same time, static inferences provide a way in which can maintain feature of both dynamism and statics. The program manages the memory of the machine thus enabling a compiler to create overly large codes without the fear of creating disk problems 7 . Arrays in the program are linear thus making is simple to generate codes. Apart from convenience, TDPL offers classic polymorphism in manner that displays its power. This is also evident from the integrated capacity that allows for various functions at the same time, including programming, as well as contrast programming. Sharing of the information through the program occurs in a controlled interface that allows for changes according to the user preferences. The mutable and non-mutable data files are therefore separable.
The design of TDPL is one that allows for efficiency in programming. The presence of a feature of that allows for formulation of the “obvious” code not only ensures efficiency but also helps in generation of safe codes. In cases where the integrity of the code is under compromise in terms of its function, D creates an option of use of native pointers that execute correction of the malfunction while conserving the memory without the need to change to C language. This allows a wide range of the applicability of D coding in unit testing, creation of compilations, and formulation of detailed interfaces
The areas of use of TDPL range from industry, systems programming, to academia. In the industry, D serves to offer codebases that are clean, easy to retrieve and inexpensive to maintain. The use of D offers an avenue for generation of pure functions that increase productivity in the industrial set-ups. The domains of its applicability include gaming due to the feature of binary compatibility. For instance, the generation of x-box games that are also compatible with Windows 10 are a major application of the D programming. In the same manner, the future of gaming seems brighter than before with the incorporation of TDPL in the production of 3D games with the example of Dash.
Grace Hopper was a participant in many of the first scientific meetings to design the specifications of a universal business language. Through this Hopper became one of the technicians who formed the CODASYL Committee, in which some of her trainees were also members. The formulation of these specifications were largely guided by the design of Flow-Matic, one of the languages that Hopper had designed herself. The result of this consultation was COBOL, a language that widely affected coding for business purposes. As one of the members of the executive committee admitted, it would never have been possible to design COBOL from scratch without the prototype of Flow-Matic.
After its development of Flow-Matic and COBOL, Grace Hopper devoted herself to advertising the inventions to the corporate leaders by stating their usability in the corporate market. One of such marketing strategies made her participate in the public exhibition of the products via Sperry Corporation 8 . Even to make it better, Hopper utilized her time after navy retirement in standardizing COBOL through which she also convinced the government agency to deploy the technology in its military operations 9 . Additionally, Hopper formed a team that reviewed COBOL and made user manuals, and encouraged the use of the language even in the top management to use them 10 . Under the inspection of Hopper, the navy adopted the use of compilers and she supervised their standardization. She also presided over the development of the programs and protocol that are necessary in the validation process of the COBOL compilers.
In conclusion, the concepts brought about by Grace Hopper have had far reaching effects in revolutionizing the world of computing. The compilers and language programming that she developed has had much applications in coding today. The concept of validation is also widely applied in the many programming language available today, including set of the international standards for programming languages. Such an example is the D programming language.
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