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Grace Hopper Essay

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Many individuals have altered the way modern day programmers look at computers. Grace Hopper was a military leader, a mathematician, and a computer programmer. Like many other computer programmers, Hopper's work was not given the credit it deserved until the later years of her life. Hopper joined the United States Navy (USN) during World War II. During the time which Hopper was serving the USN she was assigned to program the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC). ASCC was an electromechanical computer which was used in later years of World War II. The ASCC had the ability to compute and print mathematical tables. Charles Babbage had build the analytical engine with the intent of computing and printing mathematical tables. However, …show more content…

A compiler is a device used to transform a set of typed codes into a different computer language. In addition to this, Hopper was instrumental in popularizing the idea of programming languages that would be machine-independent. This led to the evolution of the modern day programming language, Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL). In addition to being influential in computer programming, Hopper was devoted to the USN. Hopper is often regarded as “Amazing Grace” for her achievements in the USN. At age 34, Hopper attempted to enlist in the USN but was denied due to her weight to height ratio being too low. Her job as a professor at Vassar College teaching mathematics was also deemed unfit for her to join the USN. Like many other women deemed unfit for the USN, Hopper volunteered to serve for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. In November of 2016, Hopper was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her accomplishments in computer science by former President of the United States, Barack Obama. In my opinion, Hopper should have a language named after as well as Ada Lovelace. Lovelace was known as the World's First Programmer but Hopper was also essential in bringing computer programming closer to the modern day standard. I believe that the nickname “Amazing Grace” is the most well fit for Hopper due to her outstanding accomplishments in the world of computer science as well as in the

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