If you would research the history of the internet, you’d be forgiven for believing that building it was a man’s affair. But the contrary is true. Therefore it is time to highlight the women who built the Internet.
This edition is about a woman without whom may not have had a language to program computers, let alone programs to translate human language into code. Plus, without her, we would not be debugging.
Meet Grace Hopper
Grace Hopper
Grace Murray Hopper was a truly amazing woman. In fact, the US Navy called her “Amazing Grace” when she was a Rear Admiral. And with good reasons: she was a true computer science pioneer and a trailblazing woman in tech.
Born in 1906, Grace Hopper was fascinated by machines and how things worked from a young age. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in mathematics and physics. After that, she earned a Ph. D. in Mathematics at Yale University, a remarkable feat for a woman at that time.
Her contribution to the Internet
One of Hopper’s most significant contributions to computer science was developing the first compiler. In the early 1950s, while working at Remington Rand, she created the A-0 System. This revolutionary tool translated human-readable code into machine code.
This innovation made programming more accessible and efficient, laying the groundwork for the development of modern programming languages.
Hopper once said, “The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way.'” Her creation of the compiler is an excellent example of this belief.
It challenged the status quo and opened up new possibilities in computing.
COBOL
Grace Hopper’s influence didn’t stop with the compiler. In 1959, she played a crucial role in the development of COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language). COBOL’s user-friendly nature allowed businesses to automate processes efficiently.
COBOL remains in use today. That’s a testament to Hopper’s forward-thinking approach. Her work in creating COBOL exemplified her commitment to making technology accessible and practical for all.
Debugging
An interesting anecdote about Grace Hopper is about how she coined the term “debugging.”
While working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University in 1947, Hopper and her team ran into a problem: the computer was malfunctioning.
When they investigated it, they found a moth inside the machine. This was causing an electrical fault. Hopper carefully removed the moth and taped it into the logbook, jokingly noting that they were “debugging” the system.
With that, she gave birth to a term that has become fundamental in the world of computing and the Internet.
More Women Who Built The Internet?
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And, on my podcast Women Disrupting Tech, I interview modern-day Grace Hoppers, who are changing the face of tech and inspiring you to follow in their footsteps.
Women Disrupting Tech | The Podcast 