Course Work: Grace Hopper

1. What challenges did Grace Hopper face in order to achieve her success and how did she

overcome them?

One of the challenges Grace Hopper faced didn’t pass the examination in Latin at Vassar

College. Instead of losing faith, she entered Hartridge School in New Jersey and lived there

for a term. After a year, she successfully entered Vassar and earned an undergraduate degree

in Physics and Mathematics. Another challenge she met was during the Second World War.

This is when decided to help her country and joined the navy. The Navy denied her request to

join them due to her weight, age, and her profession as a Mathematics educator at Vassar

College. Instead of accepting the decision, Hopper managed to obtain a clearance for her

weight, a special government pass for her age, and a proper leave for her work as an

educator.

2. What were the two most important products that Grace Hopper created? Describe both

and their impact on the modern technology.

Hopper developed the first computer language compiler “A-0” for UNIVAC 1 (Universal

Automatic Computer). These compiler-related tools can translate math codes into binary

codes that can be read by machines, which makes the writing of programs for multiple

computers possible. It functions as a loader or linker than what compiler is nowadays. The

birth of A-0 started the history of compiler construction.

Subsequently, her team developed Flow-Matic. It is originally known as Business Language

Version 0 or B-0. This programming language is considered first to use English words.

Hopper recommended that data processing problems must be in English keywords for easier
understanding. Although Rand management considered her idea infeasible, her team worked

on a specification of the programming language and made a prototype of it.