Summary

Code Chart Template manufactured by Remington Rand for Univac computer.

This was used by the donor as an indispensable tool for flowcharting programs when programming for Univac computers. Donor worked as a programmer for the company that provided Friden equipment in Australia.

Physical Description

Plastic Code Chart that is rectangular in shape. The top and bottom edges have measurement indicators (inches, 1-6) along their length. There are several apertures cut form the centre of the plastic in various shapes including circles, rectangles and a triangle.

Significance

This item gives insight into the work practices of programmers in the 1950s and 1960s, who relied on manual tools such as templates to manually draw / write program flowcharts.

It shows the logical processes that computer systems of the time followed; that each proprietary computer design, such as IBM, UNIVAC and Friden, had their own conventions and requirements. The various stages and equipment involved in each is also evident from the options provided on the various templates - eg paper tape, punch card, manual operation, extract and so on.

The donor worked for the company that provided Friden equipment to Australia, and hence the Flexowriter that was used with CSIRAC in the early 1960s. Whilst most users of CSIRAC wrote their own programs using methods particular to CSIRAC, the Friden code chart and template packet shows how programs were prepared by Friden for other commercial clients who were using Friden equipment on more modern computers. The items therefore show an interesting comparison with CSIRAC, which in the early 1960s was already an obsolete computing technology, albeit a much used and still successful one.

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