Editing COBOL (section)

===Background===
In the late 1950s, computer users and manufacturers were becoming concerned about the rising cost of programming. A 1959 survey had found that in any data processing installation, the programming cost US$800,000 on average and that translating programs to run on new hardware would cost US$600,000. At a time when new [[Timeline of programming languages|programming languages were proliferating]], the same survey suggested that if a common business-oriented language were used, conversion would be far cheaper and faster.{{sfn|Beyer|2009|p=282}}

On 8 April 1959, [[Mary K. Hawes]], a computer scientist at [[Burroughs Corporation]], called a meeting of representatives from academia, computer users, and manufacturers at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] to organize a formal meeting on common business languages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gürer|first=Denise|date=1 June 2002|title=Pioneering Women in Computer Science|journal=SIGCSE Bull.|volume=34|issue=2|pages=175–180 |doi=10.1145/543812.543853 |s2cid=2577644|issn=0097-8418}}</ref> Representatives included [[Grace Hopper]] (inventor of the English-like data processing language [[FLOW-MATIC]]), [[Jean Sammet]], and [[Saul Gorn]].{{sfn|Beyer|2009|pp=281–282}}{{sfn|Sammet|1978a|p=200}}

At the April meeting, the group asked the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD) to sponsor an effort to create a common business language. The delegation impressed Charles A. Phillips, director of the Data System Research Staff at the DoD,<ref name = "Flahive, Texas Public Radio, 2019" >{{ cite web | url = https://www.tpr.org/post/how-cobol-still-powers-global-economy-60-years-old | title = How COBOL Still Powers The Global Economy At 60 Years Old | access-date = 19 July 2019 | first = Paul | last = Flahive | date = 24 May 2019 | website = [[Texas Public Radio]] | quote = (Grace Hopper) Nicknamed Grandma Cobol, the code was based on some of her earlier work. She said — after hearing the rumors — one of her collaborators went out and bought a granite tombstone. "He had the word COBOL cut in the front of it. Then he shipped it express collect to Mr. Phillips in the pentagon." The prank on Charles Phillips, a leader for the project at the defense department, got the attention of the powers that be and was a turning point she said. COBOL would go on to become the most widely used and longest lasting computer languages in history. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190524035248/https://www.tpr.org/post/how-cobol-still-powers-global-economy-60-years-old | archive-date = 24 May 2019 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> who thought that they "thoroughly understood" the DoD's problems. The DoD operated 225 computers, had 175 more on order, and had spent over $200 million on implementing programs to run on them. Portable programs would save time, reduce costs, and ease modernization.{{sfn|Beyer|2009|p=283}}

Charles Phillips agreed to sponsor the meeting, and tasked the delegation with drafting the agenda.{{sfn|Beyer|2009|p=284}}