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compiler-construction

Which came first, the A-0 system or Short Code?

I have read in many places that the A-0 system compiler came first, but I found a book "A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century" and it stated that William Schmitt implemented short code in 1949. I had always heard that Grace Hopper was the first person to write a compiler, but this was in 1952. So which came first?

Solution

  • It seems like Short Code came first, but it was closer to an interpreter than a compiler. The A-0 System was introduced about a year later and is closer to a modern compiler than Short Code.