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UNIVAC MATH-MATIC
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Software & Languages
Sperry Rand released a commercial compiler for its UNIVAC. Developed by Grace
Hopper as a refinement of her earlier innovation, the A-0 compiler, the new
version was called MATH-MATIC. Earlier work on the A-0 and A-2 compilers led
to the development of the first English-language business data processing
compiler, B-0 (FLOW-MATIC), also completed in 1957. FLOW-MATIC served as a
model on which to build with input from other sources.
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Digital Equipment Corp.
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Companies
A group of engineers led by Ken Olsen left MIT's Lincoln Laboratory founded a
company based on the new transistor technology. In August, they formally
created Digital Equipment Corp. It initially set up shop in a largely vacant
woolen mill in Maynard, Mass., where all aspects of product development -- from
management to manufacturing -- took place.
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CDC 1604
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Companies
In Minneapolis, the original Engineering Research Associates group led by Bill
Norris left Sperry Rand to form a new company, Control Data Corp., which soon
released its model 1604 computer.
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IBM 704 FORTRAN
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Software & Languages
A new language, FORTRAN (short for FORmula TRANslator), enabled a computer to
perform a repetitive task from a single set of instructions by using loops.
The first commercial FORTRAN program ran at Westinghouse, producing a missing
comma diagnostic. A successful attempt followed.
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