Eniac program  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2022, 11:01:34 am
content: Programming ENIAC 1943...1945..1955Plug boards and jumper cables..https://lnkd.in/eNFREQuCa first use was by John VonNeumann for atomic and thermonuclear bomb physics SimulationFrom an optimist in the nuclear ageJon

author: radiogeek381
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2022, 05:34:39 pm
content: Great Post! (And it is nice to see a posting in Vintage Computers that is about a machine that predates the PC.)A nit, I think:I suspect von Neuman did not develop the first application. There is strong evidence that he was introduced to Eckert and Mauchly in the fall of 1944, a year before the first "real" code ran on the machine. But, according to Scott McCartney's book "ENIAC" (page 103) the first modeling code was written by Nicholas Metropolis and Stanley Frankel late in 1945. McCartney's account looks credible, especially in light of the personalities involved. By the fall of 1945, von Neumann was likely too involved with the discussions around the EDVAC follow-on to spend much time on coding up an application for ENIAC.Goldstine's account "The Computer, from Pascal to von Neumann" in chapter 10 supports McCartney's account. Goldstine was there at the time, and in fact likely managed the relationship between the U Penn team and Metropolis. The book is -- for the most part -- a tribute to von Neumann, attributing much to von Neumann in a frequently worshipful tone. (I found the book very unpleasant reading.) This all suggests that Goldstine's account is reliable, as he would have credited von Neumann profusely if JvN had any part in the problem preparation.In cross-checking I find that McCartney's account and Goldstine's account were independent. Goldstine relied on his personal correspondence from the time, while McCartney interviewed participants and drew on a recorded interview of Metropolis that was done in 1987. McCartney's book is quite well researched, and a good read.matt

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2022, 07:11:55 pm
content: Hi Matt: Museums...CHM:USA Sil Valleyhttps://computerhistory.org/TNMOC near BP in UK:https://www.tnmoc.org/Mechanical computers of Charles Babbage, circa 1880s....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_enginehttps://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/engines/#:~:text=Charles%20Babbage%20(1791-1871),the%20method%20of%20finite%20differences.Babbage Analytical Engine (design but never built, had CPU, storage, bus ...a complet computer programmable in gears and cams!)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_EngineEnjoy!JonJean-Paul (EE 1968, the Internet Dinosaur)

author: Sherlock Holmes
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 05:11:26 pm
content: My first real programmer job was at a computer center that was owned by a consortium of London burroughs, they all chipped in and shared the costs of a big IBM mainframe installation, manned 24/7. Anyway, some of the older guys there (I was 25) spoke fondly of the initial setup of the consortium, that was not based on IBM but on LEO. They even showed me old printouts of "LEO Code", I wish to God I had kept some of that stuff, true history.LEO 1was the world's first commercial business computer system, made and sold by - wait for it - a cake/tea house chain!Before my time, must have seemed like science fiction back then.

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2022, 07:24:02 pm
content: There's a great two-part video from the mid-1990s here:00:00 - Opening and Copyright01:16 - Introduction with Gordon Bell02:16 - Overview of computing in the 1930's04:10 - George Stibitz and the BTL Mark 110:15 - The beginning of World War II11:30 - Konrad Zuse and the Z3 (including an appearance by Zuse himself, which I'd never seen)20:51 - John V Atanasoff and the ABC29:10 - Howard Aiken, Grace Hopper, and the IBM Harvard Mark I42:07 - Herb Grosch and the SSEC50:35 - Closing with Gordon Bell00:00 - Opening and Copyright01:22 - Introduction with Gordon Bell02:16 - Eckert, Mauchly, and ENIAC13:59 - Moving on From ENIAC and the creation of EDVAC25:39 - Maurice Wilkes and EDSAC31:43 - Lyons Corporation, LEO, and the beginning of commercial computing37:51 - Parallel computing, the IAS machine, and its offspring50:35 - UNIVAC and the birth of popular computing53:02 - Closing with Gordon BellPlenty of ENIAC content, but the section on the bakery's LEO installation blew my mind. That thing wasexpensive-- how could it possibly have been justified as a business expense? Especially at that point in time, when the effects of WWII were still being felt?

author: radiogeek381
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2022, 01:03:34 am
content: According to Simon Lavington's "Early British Computers" (Digital Press (speaking of historic names) 1980) The LEO design was derived from EDSAC experience and discussions with Maurice Wilkes.The purpose mentioned in the book was "automating office procedures such as payroll processing..."This makes sense, and fits with a chronicle from Raymond Thompson (included in the book) indicating that a payroll program was run in January of 1953.BEGIN CONJECTURE:It is possible, and perhaps even likely, that the machine was also used in inventory management or in reconciling accounts and invoices. This latter task was a huge part of the target market for mid 1950's IBM machines. For many companies inventory and invoices needed to be reconciled by the end of each work day. The process involved something like "index cards" with what we would now see as database transactions (add X to account Y, debit Z from account W). Lyons managed tea shops all over the UK. Given that some of the inventory was subject to spoilage, maintaining inventory and monitoring demand in each shop must have been as difficult as it was valuable.This notion is supported, perhaps, by the last entry in the chronicle for November 1954 (page 73 in the book)QuotePerhaps they were talking exclusively about payroll, but I think it goes beyond that. (Though historical speculation is ...)Now that I've dug a little deeper this pagehttps://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/digital/leo/storysuggests that at least one application involved the valuation of bakery production.END CONJECTURE;In any case, Lyons was big business. LEO eventually merged with English Electric, and its market extended well beyond the Lyons company.

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2022, 01:58:22 am
content: You should watch part 2 of the video above. It goes into a lot of detail about LEO's role in the bakery... all except how they managed to pay for it.

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2022, 03:40:18 am
content: Programmed by patch boards, by staff of women.For a really vintage computer see the 1880s Babbage Engine, reconstructed in 1991 by Dr Doron Swade at NMSI in LondonEnjoyJon

author: radiogeek381
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 04:03:22 pm
content: : KE5FXThe video is on my list.As to how Lyons could justify the cost: From my reading/research/browsing/google it appearsLyons was the Mac Donald's of its day. It had 200 + shops all over the UK. They sold more than tea -- they sold tea-time. Baked goods, confections, ... and they served in the shop. One history claims that they were the largest caterer in UK and the continent. Their flagship restaurant could serve thousands of customers per day. (One resource quotes 500k but that is plainly rediculous, as the shop was 5 stories high and would require 200 tables per floor and a turn-around time of one minute per customer continuously over an 8 hour day. Not gonna happen.)The post-war shortages in fuel, vehicles, and raw materials would have made inventory management a matter of survival. Combined with rising demand and the growth of the business they likely compared the cost of development with the cost of spoilage, losses, and opportuinity lost when a shop ran out.The US saw a similar move to automation, but here it was driven by the post-war demand and the impossibility of scaling to meet the need. The demand was sufficient (The US had lots of "big" companies) that it supported a market where IBM and the BUNCH ate the NRE. Lyons was a little ahead of the demand, and the UK could not support much commercial development on spec. The Manchester machines were along this line, and Lyons was likely to build on the government supported NRE.