The most important person in the history of computer technology

[FrodosPet]

No, it was not Charles Babbage, although he is very important.

It is not Herman Hollerith, or Thomas J. Watson, Vint Cerf, or even Bill Gates, as vital as all these men have been in the development of the modern computer.

Nope, THE most important person in the development of modern computer technology is a woman by the name of Grace Hopper.

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992), née Grace Brewster Murray, was an American computer scientist and United States Navy Rear Admiral. She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944, invented the first compiler for a computer programming language, and was one of those who popularized the idea of machine-independent programming languages which led to the development of COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages. She is credited with popularizing the term "debugging" for fixing computer glitches (in one instance, removing a moth from a computer). Owing to her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as "Amazing Grace".

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This diminutive lady, the mother of the Internet, was a giant in two traditionally male strongholds: technology and the military.

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In the 1970s, Hopper advocated for the Defense Department to replace large, centralized systems with networks of small, distributed computers. Any user on any computer node could access common databases located on the network. She developed the implementation of standards for testing computer systems and components, most significantly for early programming languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL. The Navy tests for conformance to these standards led to significant convergence among the programming language dialects of the major computer vendors. In the 1980s, these tests (and their official administration) were assumed by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), known today as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Would someone else (eventually) have come up with the ideas that she did? Probably, but who knows when. In any case, she was one of the first, and probably the most effective, inventors of modern programming languages and computer networking.

Perhaps some people may not be happy celebrating a military person, but personally I believe this woman was an honor to our species. As my niece gets older, Amazing Grace is one of the people I plan on using as an example that women can do anything, even if "the boys" try telling her she cannot.