As I see my son casually flipping his fingers on his touchpad and creating games in Python, it makes me wonder how far we have come.

当我看到儿子随便在触摸板上翻转手指并用Python创建游戏时，这让我想知道我们已经走了多远。

My dad started his IT career in 1968 when the first 4 computers (ICL 1900) were imported in Pakistan by the banking sector. At that time there were no formal degrees in computer science and he was selected as a programmer on the bases of his mathematics background and performance in the IQ test.

我父亲于1968年开始他的IT生涯，当时银行业在巴基斯坦进口了首批4台计算机(ICL 1900)。 当时没有计算机科学的正式学位，并且根据他的数学背景和智商测试的表现被选为程序员。

International Computers Limited (ICL) was a large British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Electric Leo Marconi (EELM) and Elliott Automation in 1968.

国际计算机有限公司 ( ICL )是一家大型的英国计算机硬件，计算机软件和计算机服务公司，于1968年至2002年运营。它是由国际计算机和制表商(ICT)，英国电气利奥·马可尼(EELM)和埃利奥特(Elliott)合并而成1968年实现自动化。

ICL 1900 (The ICL 1900)

He started with the British made International Computers Limited’s (ICL)1900 series. The programming language they used was PLAN (programming language for 1900 series).

他从英国制造的国际计算机有限公司(ICL)1900系列开始。 他们使用的编程语言是PLAN(1900系列的编程语言)。

It was the assembly language for that computer. The ICL 1900 was a word machine with 24-bit words, containing 4 * 6-bit characters. Instructions were whole words, and a word could be addressed in both ‘word’ or ‘character mode depending on the type of data it held and IMHO a nice instruction set for commercial DP. The computer had a CPU with 28K memory.

那是那台计算机的汇编语言。 ICL 1900是具有24位单词的单词机，包含4 * 6位字符。 指令是完整的单词，一个单词可以以“单词”或“字符模式”寻址，这取决于它所保存的数据类型和恕我直言，这是用于商业DP的不错的指令集。 该计算机的CPU内存为28K。

To bring this in perspective one of the usual photos that we save on our laptops or phones these days takes up 50 times more memory than this.

为了弄清这一点，这些天我们在笔记本电脑或手机上保存的一张普通照片占用的内存比这多50倍。

Back then there was no hard disc instead there were two-spool tape drives and one high-speed printer …. and don’t get too excited by the high in high-speed because in comparison with today’s laser printers that was around 10 times slower.

那时没有硬盘，而是有两个线轴的磁带驱动器和一个高速打印机……。 而且不要对高速的高速感到兴奋，因为与当今的激光打印机相比，它的速度要慢大约10倍。

电脑所需的空调和地板木镶板 (Computers required air conditioners and floor wood paneling)

A separate air conditioning plant was installed especially for the computers which used to run 24 hours to cool down the computers and provide a dust-free environment.

特别为计算机安装了单独的空调设备，该计算机过去运行24小时以冷却计算机并提供无尘的环境。

Only limited and restricted access was allowed in computer rooms and it had separate automatic generators installed to provide a continuous supply of electricity.

机房仅允许有限和受限的出入，并且安装了单独的自动发电机以提供连续的电力。

The computers were huge and they required a spacious hall with wooden floor, hollow underneath for complete interface of different units. In case of any malfunctioning of CPU, the engineer had to open the back door of the CPU and go inside giant CPU for the problem diagnosis.

这些计算机非常庞大，它们需要一个宽敞的大厅，里面铺有木地板，下面是中空的，可以完全连接不同的设备。 如果CPU出现任何故障，工程师必须打开CPU的后门，并进入巨型CPU进行问题诊断。

The cost of the mainframe was high and the cost of the environment required to keep it working was even higher.

大型机的成本很高，而保持其正常运行所需的环境成本则更高。

然后编程 (Programming back then)

Dad had a strong mathematical background so when ICL arranged a PLAN training program he soon got up to speed with the programming language. However, programming at that time was very different, there were special coding sheets to write programs and they had pencils and erasers to write and amend the programs.

爸爸有很强的数学背景，因此当ICL安排PLAN培训计划时，他很快就熟悉了编程语言。 但是，那时的编程是非常不同的，有专门的编码表可以编写程序，并且可以用铅笔和橡皮擦来编写和修改程序。

The program used to be divided into various paragraphs and loops. Then sample data was run manually on each paragraph and the final result was discussed with the users to find out if it was according to their requirements.

该程序曾经被划分为不同的段落和循环。 然后，在每个段落上手动运行样本数据，并与用户讨论最终结果，以确定是否符合他们的要求。

The coding sheets were then given to Key Punch Operators (KPO) for punching on the cards. After punching by KPO the program was fed in the computer for compilation and debugging.

然后将编码表交给钥匙打Kong操作员(KPO)以便在卡片上打Kong。 在KPO打Kong之后，程序被送入计算机进行编译和调试。

Finally, the print out was taken for manual comparison of instructions with the coding sheets and removal of punching errors. After the final compilation test data was run by this program.

最后，将打印出来的内容与说明书和编码表进行手动比较，并消除打Kong错误。 在最终编译后，该程序将运行测试数据。

Even the best of programmers couldn’t get accurate results in the initial attempt, at least that hasn’t changed, but I can understand the pain of debugging when everything was so laborious. If you were lucky you could get the correct results in a few attempts but mostly this wasn’t the case.

即使是最优秀的程序员也无法在最初的尝试中获得准确的结果，至少那没有改变，但是我可以理解，当一切都变得如此艰苦时，调试的痛苦。 如果幸运的话，您可以尝试几次以得到正确的结果，但事实并非如此。

It is amazing that they used it for huge tasks like processing of export receipts of the whole of Pakistan on that 28k RAM computer.

他们将它用于诸如28k RAM计算机上处​​理整个巴基斯坦的出口收据之类的巨大任务，这真是令人惊讶。

旅程 (The journey)

After working 7 years Dad got the chance to shift to another Government department where he learned COBOL language. The logic building was the same but they had to write fewer instructions to do the same task.

在工作了7年后，爸爸有机会转移到另一个政府部门，在那里他学习了COBOL语言。 逻辑构造是相同的，但是他们必须编写更少的指令来完成相同的任务。

Debugging was much easier. But punch cards were still used for programming and data punching. The data was still processed in batch modes and there was no online facility.

调试要容易得多。 但是打Kong卡仍用于编程和数据打Kong。 数据仍以批处理方式处理，并且没有在线工具。

Data entry and processing were time-consuming and it took a while to produce the final results which made them less significant.

数据输入和处理非常耗时，要花一些时间才能得出最终结果，从而使它们的重要性降低。

With the passage of time more powerful computers were introduced making it possible to run powerfully development tools.

随着时间的流逝，引入了更强大的计算机，从而可以运行功能强大的开发工具。

Finally, microprocessors were invented in 1971, signaling the start of a new era of mass usage of computers. It was however at least a decade afterward that Dad got hold of his first desktop computer.

最终，微处理器于1971年发明，标志着计算机大规模使用新时代的开始。 但是，至少在十年后，父亲获得了他的第一台台式计算机。

Microprocessors have thousands of integrated circuits on one silicon chip. This chip contained the CPU, memory, and input/output controls. Following these developments around 1981, IBM introduced the first computer that was dedicated to the home users, and then three years later, Apple introduced Macintosh.

微处理器在一个硅芯片上具有数千个集成电路。 该芯片包含CPU，内存和输入/输出控件。 随着1981年左右的这些发展，IBM推出了第一台专用于家庭用户的计算机，然后三年后，Apple推出了Macintosh。

The development of computer networks began and this lead to the invention of the Internet. Later keyboards and monitors were invented, and we saw the invention of the mouse, GUI, and other features. The usage of microprocessors expanded and in the present day, the majority of electronic devices use microprocessors or micro-controllers.

开始了计算机网络的发展，这导致了Internet的发明。 后来发明了键盘和显示器，我们看到了鼠标，GUI和其他功能的发明。 微处理器的用途不断扩大，如今，大多数电子设备都使用微处理器或微控制器。

The first time my dad bought personal computers for his department it was only used for official record-keeping and presentations but within just a matter of few years, came the internet boom and made room for many of the languages used by programmers today. Scripting languages such as Applescript, Javascript, and Python were born in this era and paved the way for many other programming languages used for the virtual world of the web.

我父亲第一次为他的部门购买个人计算机时，只用于官方记录和演示，但在短短几年内，互联网蓬勃发展，为当今程序员使用的许多语言腾出了空间。 Applescript，Javascript和Python之类的脚本语言诞生于这个时代，为用于网络虚拟世界的许多其他编程语言铺平了道路。

The human mind is the magic wand that converted huge room size slow computers into efficient handheld devices in the span of a single generation. Making programming and problem solving available to all.

人类的思维是魔棒，它在一代人的时间内将巨大的房间大小的慢速计算机转换为高效的手持设备。 使所有人都能进行编程和解决问题。