My mother was a programmer in this era. She got her degree in math in 1954. Rather than being a teacher, she went to work for Union Carbide in Buffalo to work on "this new thing called a computer". I have a great Union Carbide PR photo of her up on a stool, moving a jumper cable on a room-sized computer. I really need to digitize that.
She learned FORTRAN shortly after, and was a FORTRAN programmer for her entire career, later working at Calspan and then a spin-off defense contractor. She used FORTRAN for her entire career.
I fondly remember her making her grocery lists and taking notes on the used punch cards that she'd bring home from work.
My first internship in the late 80s was at another defense contractor, and I had to program a GUI in FORTRAN (!!) on a VAXstation. I remember coming to her for help, since I knew C and Lisp, and the whole FORTRAN column number thing threw me for a loop.
She learned FORTRAN shortly after, and was a FORTRAN programmer for her entire career, later working at Calspan and then a spin-off defense contractor. She used FORTRAN for her entire career.
I fondly remember her making her grocery lists and taking notes on the used punch cards that she'd bring home from work.
My first internship in the late 80s was at another defense contractor, and I had to program a GUI in FORTRAN (!!) on a VAXstation. I remember coming to her for help, since I knew C and Lisp, and the whole FORTRAN column number thing threw me for a loop.