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 USSHopper , after her.

(1999-06-29)