[K12OSN] OT: history

David H. Barr dhbarr at gozelle.com
Thu Feb 14 22:11:46 UTC 2008


On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 3:58 PM, Peter Hartmann
<peter at hartmanncomputer.com> wrote:
> How did they compile the first complier?  (cue: chicken-or-the-egg
>  jokes)  I'm curious.

Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Murray Hopper and her team developed the first
compiler, in assembly language, to convert symbolic math code into
machine code.  It was called A-O, ~1949.  (
http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/hopper-story.html )  AFAICT
NELIAC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NELIAC ) was the first
bootstrappable compiler ~10 years later.

-dhbarr.




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