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Solving the date crisis

Solving the date crisis same is true. These symbolisms have evolved over hundreds of years. But current data processing is rooted not only in punch-card records but in the few symbols inherited from the typewriter keyboard. Only two of the elementary algebraic functions exist, but no multiplication or division sign. Why? Because on type-written paper a lower-case œx  could be read as œmultiply  and œ/  as œdivide.  As the typewriter went electric and became a terminal, two additions had to be made: œzero  and œone  could no longer be upper-case œO  and lower-case œl.  Otherwise, data processing is still operating in the pre-computer age defined by this old keyboard (and by œcomputer  I mean the modern, stored-program computer originally conceived by John von Neumann). Without intrinsic numeric and array processing as in APL and a few other languages, which require symbolism as their foundation, computer science can hardly be said to exist in the normal, operating world of business, government and everyday work. The consequent limited viewpoint engenders such gross errors and will cause others. And repairing this particular error at a cost of millions will do nothing to enhance current programs; on http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Communications of the ACM Association for Computing Machinery

Solving the date crisis

Communications of the ACM , Volume 40 (5) – May 1, 1997

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Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by ACM Inc.
ISSN
0001-0782
DOI
10.1145/253769.253809
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

same is true. These symbolisms have evolved over hundreds of years. But current data processing is rooted not only in punch-card records but in the few symbols inherited from the typewriter keyboard. Only two of the elementary algebraic functions exist, but no multiplication or division sign. Why? Because on type-written paper a lower-case œx  could be read as œmultiply  and œ/  as œdivide.  As the typewriter went electric and became a terminal, two additions had to be made: œzero  and œone  could no longer be upper-case œO  and lower-case œl.  Otherwise, data processing is still operating in the pre-computer age defined by this old keyboard (and by œcomputer  I mean the modern, stored-program computer originally conceived by John von Neumann). Without intrinsic numeric and array processing as in APL and a few other languages, which require symbolism as their foundation, computer science can hardly be said to exist in the normal, operating world of business, government and everyday work. The consequent limited viewpoint engenders such gross errors and will cause others. And repairing this particular error at a cost of millions will do nothing to enhance current programs; on

Journal

Communications of the ACMAssociation for Computing Machinery

Published: May 1, 1997

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