grace hopper

1 definition found

grace hopper - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  Grace Hopper
  
     <person> US Navy Rear Admiral Grace Brewster Hopper
     (1906-12-09 to 1992-01-01), nee Grace Brewster Murray.
  
     Hopper is believed to have concieved the concept of the
     compiler with the A-0 in 1952.  She also developed the
     first commercial high-level language, which eventually
     evolved into COBOL.  She worked on the Mark I computer
     with Howard Aiken and with BINAC in 1949.
  
     She is credited with having coined the term "debug", and the
     adage "it is always easier to ask forgiveness than it is to
     get permission" (with various wordings), which has been the
     guiding principle in sysadmin decisions ever since.
  
     See also the entries debug and bug.
  
     Hopper is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  In 1994, the
     US Navy named a new ship, the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (http://hopper.navy.mil/)
     , after her.
  
     (1999-06-29)