The OED (which is usually not very good on anything technological) gives the following etymology. My studies on this go back to 1965 and I vaguely remember being taught that government programs and network analysis came into it somewhere. 9. a. A sequence of operations that a machine can be set to perform automatically. 1942 J. W. MAUCHLY Use High Speed Vacuum Tube Devices for Calculating (Moore School of Electr. Engin., Univ. Pennsylvania) in B. Randell Origins Digital Computers (1973) 330 Mechanical devices..see to it that the numerical result from an operation in one machine is properly transferred to some other machine, which is selected by a suitable program device;..this program device is capable of arranging a cycle of different transfers and operations in each cycle. 1945 J. P. ECKERT et al. Descr. ENIAC (PB 86242) (Moore School of Electr. Engin., Univ. of Pennsylvania) 1 The intended use of the ENIAC is to compute large families of solutions all based on the same program of operations. 1954 Amer. Machinist 25 Oct. 136/1 The operator..sets a combination of switches calling for table movements equivalent to blueprint dimensions, or a 'program', then presses a starting button. 1962 E. BRUTON Automation vi. 74 An automatic washing machine may be designed to wash for four minutes, empty, and spin-dry for ten. This is its programme. b. Now usu. in form program. A series of coded instructions and definitions which when fed into a computer automatically directs its operation in performing a particular task. Also in extended use: something conceived of as encoding and determining a process, esp. genetically. stored program: see STORED adj. 1c. Cf. quots. 1942, 1945 at sense 9a, in which one can see the beginnings of this sense. 1947 Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation II. 358 An important limitation upon programming is that the machine must adhere to a prescribed linear course of operation. It cannot at any point choose between two subsequent programs on the basis of results already obtained. 1950 Phil. Mag. 41 256 The problem of constructing a computing routine or 'program' for a modern general purpose computer which will enable it to play chess. 1953 Proc. IRE 41 1247/1 This conditional instruction makes it possible for the programmer to write programs which take different courses of action depending upon the results of previous computation. 1960 Times 4 Oct. (Computer Suppl.) p. v/3 To prepare this sequence of instructions, or program (a spelling now adopted in computer terminology), the programmer will have broken down an operation into its simplest elements. 1971 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 June 635/2 The next world chess champion could quite conceivably be a computer programme. kind regards neil Dr Roger Neil Barton Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research http://www.uclmail.net/~neil.barton/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marie Gevers" <mge@info.fundp.ac.be> To: <members@sigcis.org> Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 3:34 PM Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Origin of the words 'program' and 'programming'? Could anybody tell me when and in which circumstances the words 'program' and 'programming' did appear? Marie Gevers Dr. Marie d'UDEKEM-GEVERS Chargée d'enseignement et maître de conférence Conseillère à la formation Faculté d'Informatique Facultes Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix Rue Grandgagnage 21 B.5000 Namur Belgique Tél.: 32 (0) 81 72 49 73 FAX : 32 (0) 81 72 49 67 http://www.fundp.ac.be/universite/personnes/page_view/01001574/ _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members@sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members