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LabView is a code generation tool that replaces the work a programmer would have to do. Rational Rose has a tool that spits out Java code, but that doesn't mean there are no Java programmers.

I'm not sure why you're trying to downplay the work these women did, but it's clear from the ENIAC histories and their biographies that they were far, far more than transcriptionists or "compilers". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Holberton



I'm not trying to downplay it, I'm merely pointing out that "programmer" refers to a different job today than it did historically.

See also this piece, which goes into more detail about the actual work done by programmers: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~nathanen/files/cbi-gender.pdf


After reading that, it still sounds like they were actually coding, and they also served as systems administrators.

edit: sorry - admins, not engineers




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