The card punch machines I used would punch each character as you typed it, rather than buffer and punch card at the end of the line. So, you had to type *perfectly*. A single mistake meant throw out the card. Or save it for bookmarks and grocery lists.
I like to ask the new people I work with "Why does ISPF maintain sequence numbers in source?" (or JCL, sysin members, etc.). Not one answers "so you can put your punched card deck back in order when you drop it". (They also don't know why old programs, and JCL, is all upper case.) -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 3:18 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Kinda fun https://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2023/11/in-bad-old-days-we-had-punchcards-how.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
