Haigh, Thomas (Author)
Priestley, Mark (Author)
Rope, Crispin (Author)
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
Volume: 36, no. 2
Issue: 2
Pages: 41-59
In 1947 John von Neumann had the idea of converting ENIAC to the new style of programming first described in his celebrated "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC." By April 1948, Nick Metropolis, building on plans developed by Adele Goldstine and others, had implemented the conversion, making ENIAC the first computer to execute programs written in the new style, which we call the "modern code paradigm." Treating this as a case of user-driven innovation, the authors document the conversion process and compare capabilities of the reconstructed machine to those of the first modern computers. This article is the second in a three-part series. The first article, "Reconsidering the Stored Program Concept" (published in IEEE Annals, vol. 36, no. 1, 2014; http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.56), examined the history of the aforesaid idea and proposed a set of more specific alternatives. The third, "Los Alamos Bets on ENIAC: Nuclear Monte Carlo Simulations, 1947-1948" (to appear in IEEE Annals, vol. 36, no. 3, 2014; http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.56), will examine in detail the first program run on the machine after its conversion to the new programming method.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Ensmenger, Nathan;
(2010)
The Computer Boys Take Over: Computers, Programmers, and the Politics of Technical Expertise
(/isis/citation/CBB001031317/)
Article
Nofre, David;
Priestley, Mark;
Alberts, Gerard;
(2014)
When Technology Became Language: The Origins of the Linguistic Conception of Computer Programming, 1950--1960
(/isis/citation/CBB001421225/)
Article
Shelburne, B. J.;
(2012)
The ENIAC's 1949 Determination of π
(/isis/citation/CBB001211136/)
Book
Rojas, Raúl;
Hashagen, Ulf;
(2000)
The first computers: History and architectures
(/isis/citation/CBB000110584/)
Article
Mote, C. D.;
(Winter 2020)
Ruth Davis, Tech Pioneer
(/isis/citation/CBB315440638/)
Thesis
Joy Marie Lisi Rankin;
(2015)
Personal Computing Before Personal Computers: The Origins of America's Digital Culture
(/isis/citation/CBB900832288/)
Book
Mahoney, Michael S.;
Haigh, Thomas;
(2011)
Histories of Computing
(/isis/citation/CBB001251885/)
Book
Daylight, Edgar G.;
Naur, Peter;
De Grave, Kurt;
(2011)
Pluralism in Software Engineering: Turing Award Winner Peter Naur Explains
(/isis/citation/CBB001214446/)
Book
Daylight, Edgar G.;
Grave, Kurt De;
(2012)
The Dawn of Software Engineering: From Turing to Dijkstra
(/isis/citation/CBB001214448/)
Article
Baber, Robert L.;
(1997)
Comparison of Electrical “Engineering” of Heaviside's Times and Software “Engineering” of Our Times
(/isis/citation/CBB000111225/)
Book
Crispin Rope;
Mark Priestly;
Thomas Haigh;
(2016)
ENIAC in Action: Making and Remaking the Modern Computer
(/isis/citation/CBB552843294/)
Article
Alberts, Gerard;
(2015)
Algol Culture and Programming Styles
(/isis/citation/CBB001550712/)
Book
Petrick, Elizabeth;
(2015)
Making Computers Accessible: Disability Rights and Digital Technology
(/isis/citation/CBB001422605/)
Article
Nofre, David;
(2010)
Unraveling Algol: US, Europe, and the Creation of a Programming Language
(/isis/citation/CBB001231738/)
Article
Rawlings, Nicholas;
(2014)
The History of NOMAD: A Fourth Generation Language
(/isis/citation/CBB001214438/)
Article
Toomey, Warren;
(2010)
First Edition Unix: Its Creation and Restoration
(/isis/citation/CBB001231732/)
Article
Mendelsohn, Andrew;
(2013)
The Oracle Story: 1984--2001
(/isis/citation/CBB001212984/)
Article
S. Robertson;
(2019)
A Brief History of Search Results Ranking
(/isis/citation/CBB189020916/)
Article
Asaro, Peter;
(2008)
Computer als Modelle des Geistes. Über Simulation und das Gehirn als Modell des Designs von Computern
(/isis/citation/CBB001032251/)
Article
Haigh, Thomas;
(2014)
Los Alamos Bets on ENIAC: Nuclear Monte Carlo Simulations, 1947--1948
(/isis/citation/CBB001451241/)
Be the first to comment!