Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was an American computer scientist and admiral in the United States Navy. In 1944, she was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer and invented the first compiler for a computer programming. The Harvard Mark I computer was a general purpose electromechanical computer that was used in the war effort during the last part of World War II. She received the Naval Ordnance Development Award for her pioneering applications programming success on the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III computers.
Admiral Hopper conceptualized how a wider audience could benefit from the computer if there were tools that were both programmer and application-friendly. In pursuit of her vision she risked her career in 1949 to join the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation to provide businesses with computers. Pursuing her belief that computer programs could be written in English, Admiral hopper moved forward with the development of the Business Oriented compiler for the UNIVAC computer, later known as FLOW-MATIC. Using FLOW-MATIC, Admiral Hopper and her staff were able to make the UNIVAC understand twenty statements in English. This compiler was a precursor for the Common Business Oriented Language, or COBOL, a widely adapted language that would be used around the world.
About COBAL
COBAL (Common Business Oriented Language) is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It was created as part of a US Department of Defense effort to create a portable programming language for data processing. COBOL has an English-like syntax, which was designed to be self-documenting and highly readable. However, it is verbose and uses over 300 reserved words. In contrast with modern, succinct syntax like y = x;, COBOL has a more English-like syntax (in this case, MOVE x TO y). COBOL code is split into four divisions (identification, environment, data and procedure) containing a rigid hierarchy of sections, paragraphs and sentences.
Today the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women In Computing Conference is a technical conference that encourages women to become part of the world of computing, while the Association for Computing Machinery offers a Grace Murray Hopper Award.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopperhttp://www.biography.com/people/grace-hopper-21406809
http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/hopper-story.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL#Syntax
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