6 Apr
2020
6 Apr
'20
8:46 a.m.
On 4/6/20 2:27 AM, Jim Manley via cctalk wrote:
Speaking of COBOL and Admiral Grace Hopper, I have one
of her actual
nanoseconds, a piece of insulated solid wire about 11.2 inches long, when
she was a Superintendent's guest lecturer. Since I was a Navy MSCS
student, she "signed" it with stripes and gaps in magic marker, as the ones
and zeroes in ASCII representing her name.
Parenthetically, it should be mentioned that the US Navy played an
important part in COBOL certification. One standard requirement for
vendors back in the day wss passing the "Navy Audit Tests" (CCVS).
In particular, I remember that one could tell where one was in the test
suite by the sounds that the tape drives made when writing short records
of various lengths. It was LOUD, even with the tape drive door closed.
The "audit tests" were as much a test of the COBOL compiler as of the
operating system.
--Chuck