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September 18, 2009

Happy Birthday to COBOL

9780262013109-f30 COBOL, one of the most widely used programming languages, is also one of the safest and most trusted. There are said to be 200 times as many COBOL transactions performed each day as Google searches.

COBOL would not exist without the efforts of the "grandmother of COBOL", Admiral Grace Hopper. And 50 years ago today, she gave the name "COBOL" to this nascent computer language. Happy birthday to COBOL!

Grace Hopper, one of the first programmers, is credited with inventing the compiler, discovering the first software "bug", and is known for inventing spirited aphorisms such as "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission". More about the life of Grace Hopper can be found in Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age, officially published today to honor the 50th anniversary of COBOL.

September 18, 2009 in Current Affairs |

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