Common computer terms
Digging through some very old papers, I found a really old glossary of computer terms from the days of mainframe computing (the copy is have is data February 1977). Punched cards might be a thing of the past, but the spirit of those old programmers still lives on.
| Computer | Device for transforming boring clerical operations into boring manual operations. | |
| Program | A sequence of instructions telling a computer how to loop and halt unexpectedly. | |
| System | A collection of mutually incompatible programs. | |
| Compiler | A program which translates errors into machine code. | |
| Parameter | A device for introducing an element of uncertainty into a logical procedure. | |
| Debugging | The process of replacing one error by another. | |
| Working Program | Program from which all minor errors have been removed. | |
| Enhancement | A means of introducing errors into a working program. | |
| One-off program | Name given to standard utility before second run. | |
| Validation program | A means for ensuring that incorrect values are punched in the right format. | |
| Sort | Program which enables you to hold randomly-accessed files serially. | |
| Operator | Person employed to slow down a computer to a manageable speed. | |
| Security Dump | Something you do not have time to do because of all the disc crashes. | |
| Flowchart | Pictorial representation of logic errors. | |
| Implementation | Name given to the process of re-writing system in a hurry. | |
| Turnround | The delay between submitting cards to the computer and receiving back their remains. | |
| Test data | A means of ensuring that errors will occur in the correct sequence when the program is run live. |
