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A compiler is a program that translates code written in one programming language, the source language, into another, the target language, typically turning human readable source code into the machine code a processor can run directly. Grace Hopper's team at Remington Rand wrote an early program they called a compiler for the A-0 system in 1952, coining the term, though by later standards it worked more like a loader that assembled and linked pre-written subroutines than a full compiler translating a complete language; compilers translating a general purpose high level language into machine code followed later in the 1950s, including for Fortran and for Hopper's own COBOL.

Facts
Proposed Year
1952 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountGrace Hopper's team wrote the compiler for the A-0 programming language in May 1952 and coined the term compiler to describe it.
Proposed BySourced to the subject's own account
Grace Hopper 1
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1. Compiler (Wikipedia)
1. Compiler (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory sectionView the Source
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