THIS IS CODING IN HARDWARE.
This is part of the source code of a program for UNIVAC 1004.
Guess what it did and for how long?
This is a plugboard for the Univac 1004.
This board was used for payroll consolidation from 1965 to 1972.
It never crashed and can not be hacked.
Many users expressed nostalgia and amazement toward the Univac 1004 plugboard's long-running payroll processing from 1965 to 1972 because it highlights the durability and intricate engineering of early hardware.
If you code for the UNIVAC 1004 ain’t no Claude Code gonna replace you anytime soon.
Take a ganders at this accounting software code!
Stick that into your pipeline!
THIS IS CODING IN HARDWARE.
This is part of the source code of a program for UNIVAC 1004.
Guess what it did and for how long?
This is a plugboard for the Univac 1004.
This board was used for payroll consolidation from 1965 to 1972.
It never crashed and can not be hacked.
The most unusual feature of the Univac 1004 was that it was programmed by a plugboard (above) instead of a stored program.
The system was programmed by plugging patch cords into a plugboard to indicate the desired action for each of the 31 program steps.
While earlier electromechanical accounting machines used plugboards, that machine was obsolete by 1963.
The computer's "program" consisted of 31 steps.
The operations for each step were specified by plugging wires into the board.
For instance, a data field could be moved from a punch card to memory, a value could be added or subtracted, or a line of output could be configured for the printer.
The system even supported conditional branches.
The diagram below shows the structure of the plugboard. The highlighted wire shows a subtraction operation, activated by the wire in the "algebraic minus" position.
THIS IS CODING IN HARDWARE.
This is part of the source code of a program for UNIVAC 1004.
Guess what it did and for how long?
This is a plugboard for the Univac 1004.
This board was used for payroll consolidation from 1965 to 1972.
It never crashed and can not be hacked.
@BrianRoemmele I was ran a lathe that had an old GE CNC controller. Open the back of that large cabinet and you would see massive amounts of angel hair wiring. Now I wonder how much of that was coding for interpreting the G-code and making the machine move accordingly. Hmmm.
@BrianRoemmele @dabreadmanyo Cool af 😍
@BrianRoemmele ha made me think of this tweet just saw today also
@BrianRoemmele Spaghetti Style .
@BrianRoemmele Have you heard of the MCM/70? I'd love to own, one day, the one owned by the banking system I worked on within CGI ( $GIB-A.TO ).
@BrianRoemmele ok I will keep on going with the "traditional" way
@BrianRoemmele That is one ugly wire wrapping job!
@wreckmyshit @BrianRoemmele Insane🤯
@BrianRoemmele what is the difference betwen plugboard and wire wrap? was there solder involved?
@BrianRoemmele Wooooow!
@BrianRoemmele
@BrianRoemmele Beautiful doggie
@BrianRoemmele For banking the programmers were never allowed to operate these for obvious reasons. Fun fact
@BrianRoemmele 😊
I once ran a lathe.....
@BrianRoemmele Damn that’s wild.
@BrianRoemmele Glorious. Like working on an old pinball machine that scores to a trillion.
@BrianRoemmele That plugboard is a nice reminder that durability is a feature too.
