Item MM 26124 Manual - CSIRAC Computer, Programming, University of Melbourne,1959

Summary

Programming manual for the Automatic Electronic Computer, CSIRAC, August 1959.

The manual was produced to guide expert users of CSIRAC in programming the machine.
It was created by the staff of the Computation Laboratory of the University of Melbourne and based on material by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard.

The manual provides a detailed description of how to program CSIRAC. The Introduction includes some explanation of what is meant by programming:
"To 'programme the calculation' means to draw up a list of commands, each of which calls on an operation that the machine can perform and which together will do what is required. For this purpose the programmer will need to know which commands the machine can perform and how to organize these operations into a complete programme. It is sometime helpful, but not necessary, to understand the physical details of machine organization ...
In many programmes, most of the commands are copied from previously tested programmes, which have been organized into a 'library' of routines."

Physical Description

Foolscap booklet, stapled along edge. Light brown coloured cover with black text.