Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (COBOL)

Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was a United States Navy

admiral. Hopper is also a mathematician and a computer scientist.

Hopper alongside Antonelli invented the first ever personal computer

also known as The Harvard Mark I computer. Hopper also invented

COBOL, COBOL stands for Common Business–Oriented Language.

COBOL has a big impact in both military and private sectors that it was

considered the “most extensively used computer language”.

COBOL is a Programming language used from the late 1950s up until now. It is used in business,

finance, corporation, and government industries. In the financial industry, COBOL serves as the one that

process, access, and manages a large amount of data, it also works accurately, efficiently, resilient, and

fasts. According to Vijay Kanade (August 2022), “COBOL supports legacy applications in the cloud” which

“Cloud computing provides reliable, secure, fast, and scalable services”. As I search for how COBOL works in many

industries, it provides the same function to perform such tasks.

Common Business–Oriented Language (COBOL) is designed to improve finance, corporation, and

government capabilities. It has contributed a lot to our computing technology, it helps us to easily understand

programming language. According to Vicki-Lynn Brunskill (October 2021), “COBOL is an easy-to-learn,

standard language that can be compiled and executed on a variety of computers”. Thinking back to the 1950s

technology is still developing even now but in the 1950s we don’t have the technology that we have today,

some programming language way back is hard to understand until COBOL is used or when it is invented. It

affects the business that is handling huge amounts of data because COBOL is suited for handling big

amounts or volumes of data from simple to complex data. It also became reliable for its accurate, efficient,

and fast work.

 COBOL language or programming is widespread in our present day, we may be using it in our lives

without knowing it. Common Business–Oriented Language is used in banking systems. According to

Stannard (March 2021).” every time you swipe an ATM card, it executes COBOL code 95% of the time.”

COBOL is the one that creates the transaction process for our payroll, it helps run the application. COBOL

application can also be seen by simply managing hotel booking and book airlines. According to Micro Focus

(February 2022), COBOL applications help run payroll programs, manage government pension funds,

operate banking systems, manage hotel bookings, book airline tickets, and much more. COBOL can be found

in our daily lives from work, travel, and many more.

Credits

 Kanade, Vijay."What Is COBOL Programming Language? Definition, Examples, Uses, and

Challenges." 12, Aug 2022, https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/articles/what-is-

cobol/.

 Vicki-Lynn Brunskill. "COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)."October 2021,

https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/COBOL-Common-Business-Oriented-

Language.

 Micro Focus. “What is COBOL?” Feb 2022, https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/what-is/cobol

 Gladys Mae West (GPS Technology)

Gladys Mae West is an American mathematician who

contributed to the modeling of the shape of the Earth and its geoid

which became the basis of the GPS which stands for Global

Positioning System in the 1960s. West is also known for her Satellite

geodesy. West is one of the ladies who are known as Notable

Figures in Computing. West was instated into the United States Air

Force Hall of Fame in 2018.

West GPS Technology can be seen in our regular lives, work, schools, and many more. GPS Can

be seen in many transportations. GPS is used by pilots and the navy to track where will they go. According

to GPS.GOV (2006) “Mariners and oceanographers are increasingly using GPS data for underwater

surveying, buoy placement, and navigational hazard location and mapping.” Logistics uses GPS to track a

vehicle’s location, speed, time, and direction. Couriers and delivery services also use GPS for them to

transport goods from one point to another.

Gladys Mae West GPS Technology has a big impact on computing technologies and industries using

GPS. Computing Technologies almost all of our gadgets have GPS. It affects by changing how we navigate

cities, and streets, with the use of GPS we could easily go to our destination without getting lost. It also affects

how we track, it’s either we track a person, vehicle, or package through GPS we will know where the person

is, vehicle or package is. It also changes how the military operates they can now navigate and tracks nearby

vehicles and missiles that can be detected by the GPS. GPS can help us track our lost gadgets.

GPS is a type of application that we can use and see every day through our social media, cars, video

games, mobile apps, and many more. We can use this on our mobile devices, some mobile devices even
ask for permission if we want to open the GPS. Food deliveries or couriers like Lalamove, Grab, and many

courier services that use GPS. On social media, every time we upload there is an option if we want to include

the location where we take pictures or videos. The military and Navy also benefited from GPS for their security

and safety and also for people’s safety. GPS gives us the convenience to locate, track, and navigate places.

Credits

 GPS.GOV. “Marine”2006, https://www.gps.gov/applications/marine/

 Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried (Step Reckoner)

Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried is a German mathematician who

invented the Step Reckoner. He is also a pioneer in the mechanical

calculation. Step Reckoner or also known as the Leibniz calculator is a

mechanical calculator that is invented around 1672 to 1964. Step Reckoner

was derived from Blaise Pascal’s Calculating machine, the Pascaline, in

which Pascaline can only perform 2 operations, addition, and subtraction

while Leibniz calculator has addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,

and the extraction of roots. Step Reckoner was also the first to perform

basic arithmetic operations.

Step Reckoner is a great invention or a great upgrade from Pascaline. Step Reckoner is faster and there are

many math operations to use. it was used to speed up calculation and computation. It is used for the computation of

taxes. It is used for educational purposes. It is used by researchers or other mathematicians.

Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried’s invention has a big effect on computing technology it became a stepping stone for

us to speed up calculation and computation in its era. Through innovation, we can now easily add, subtract, multiply,

and divide using the Leibniz calculator. Researchers and mathematicians in early 1672 after the invention of the Leibniz

Calculator must be a big help to them with the way the mechanical calculator works and its binary system. It also affects

inventors who are striving to enhance or innovate the calculator. It affects the computing technology to become fast

and accurate when generating answers.

Through the evolution of calculators, every invention and innovation of calculators affect our present day. A

calculator can be used in business for them to compute profits and costs. Engineers measure things, and for their

conversion. Having accurate computations, we can have strong and durable houses and buildings. Through

calculators, we can solve complex and difficult equations.