Editing FLOW-MATIC (section)

== Development ==
Hopper had found that business data processing customers were uncomfortable with mathematical notation:<ref>Hopper (1959) p.&nbsp;198.</ref>
{{quote|I used to be a mathematics professor. At that time I found there were a certain number of students who could not learn mathematics. I then was charged with the job of making it easy for businessmen to use our computers. I found it was not a question of whether they could learn mathematics or not, but whether they would. […] They said, 'Throw those symbols out—I do not know what they mean, I have not time to learn symbols.' I suggest a reply to those who would like data processing people to use mathematical symbols that they make the first attempt to teach those symbols to vice-presidents or a colonel or admiral. I assure you that I tried it.|author=|title=|source=}} In late 1953, she proposed that data processing problems should be expressed using English keywords, but Rand management considered the idea unfeasible. In early 1955, she and her team wrote a specification for such a programming language and implemented a prototype.<ref>Hopper (1978) p.&nbsp;16.</ref> The FLOW-MATIC compiler became publicly available in early 1958 and was substantially complete in 1959.<ref name="sammet316">Sammet (1969) p.&nbsp;316</ref>