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. |