Pad of COBOL Coding Forms
date: label: date made
content: ca 1984
notes: label: Description
content: In the early days of writing COBOL programs, commands were written out on sheets like this one, with one line for each punch card that would be punched (or an indication that more than one line would be used). As the punch cards at the time had 80 columns, so does each line. After preliminary columns for setting the order of the statements, there is considerable space for the statement itself and then space for a system-generated identification number.
label: Description
content: Such program sheets were used by numerous COBOL programmers. These forms come from Margaret A. Connelly. Connelly took a night school course in COBOL at the University of Maryland in 1981, where she obtained both logic templates and learned about coding forms. In March of 1984 she began working at Genasys supporting a large COBOL system for the Department of Defense, where she also used the templates and coding forms that form this gift.
label: Description
content: Each form is marked in the bottom corner: AMPAD 23-401. Ampad (American Pad and Paper) was founded as a manufacturing company in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1888. It seill seems to have been in Holyoke in 1984, but has since undergone numberous business changes, mergers, and the like.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Women's History
setName: label: See more items in
content: : Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Margaret A. Connelly
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2024.0037.03
label: catalog number
content: 2024.0037.03
label: accession number
content: 2024.0037
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coding forms
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 cm x 34.4 cm x 21.7 cm; 13/32 in x 13 17/32 in x 8 17/32 in