On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:44:14 -0700 Joe Zeff <joe at zeff.us> wrote: > On 10/29/2013 01:27 PM, john Culleton wrote: > > My work as a programmer began in 1968 on an IBM 360/40, using > > COBOL. RPG was the language of choice on the 1401, the 360-20 > > and later on the AS400. It was designed to be easily > > understood by those who started out on IBM EAM (Electronic > > Accounting Machines.) > > Back when I learned it, I was told that it was designed to > make a (real) computer emulate a card collator/sorter, and > that it was intended to allow people who'd worked on them to > continue to work using those new-fangled[1] computers.
Yes, that was one of the several punch card machines it emulated. In an EAM shop you had a sorter, collator, a printer and so on. I forget the model numbers. Each function had a machine. The the programming of several machines was done by putting patch cords into a frame which had several rows and columns of sockets. -- John Culleton Wexford Press Free list of books for self-publishers: http://wexfordpress.net/shortlist.html PDF e-book: "Create Book Covers with Scribus" available at http://www.booklocker.com/books/4055.html
