Procrastination: Now what?: Algol

Berkeley, Thursday, May 6, 2021 6:55 PM

Often, I show up more frequently in this blog, which I have turned down and reopened many times, means that I might be figured things, avoiding tasks, under pressure, or just trying to clear my mind, and write down some facts.

I was reading a bit about the history of computer programming, at the end those are machines, which has helped us to conduct tasks, communicate, make calculations, write, map, or just waste time getting connected in the internet and binge watch or binge read something we are interested on.

In any case, when pressure also releases there is more time to think and to ask about how many things work.

For me, it has been always a curiosity to learn how computers work, but dominating them would take time, and it is not in my primary interests as its to write more, conduct my calculations, and stay healthy.

The only fact I want to make is that in order to dominate computers we need to be very good at understanding and performing the task with our hands without computer.

So whether it is making flow charts, writing, drawing, making calculations, organizing stuff, among other things I might be excluding for the brevity of the following argument.

Well the modern computer came, I think, from the fusion between accounting and logic. Thus, having a clear process with instructions was key to order this machine to perform the tasks we wanted.

Among the first programming languages, I believe, was algol, which was the short for algorithm. Therefore, a key flow chart, is the base for the computer to work.

Same as one is in the field, it could be ok to just wander around time to time. However, for every effective work, competition, conquering, war, field work collection, tracking changes, planning development, etcetera our basic skill is cartography. Fortunately, we have learned to map, and we get each time better to it.

A map, with clear directions in the field, is a flow chart, and algorithm for the computer.

Further, then it is not about allowing the computer to order us, we also need that flow chart before we even open the computer, otherwise it is extremely easy to wonder around in this infinite unphysical web, which we visualize through a screen, and which started 60 years ago with algol, and about 2.5 centuries ago with a mechanical counting machine.