In 1947, we find ourselves in the laboratories of Harvard University, where the team led by Grace Hopper was working on the Mark II, a colossus of the era: an electromechanical computer the size of a room with computing power that makes us smile today. Consider that the Mark II executed operations at a speed of 10 microseconds per cycle, while the legendary Commodore 64 of the 1980s, despite being a home computer, was already thousands of times more powerful and portable.
During one of those days of intense work, we came across a curious malfunction: analyzing the circuits, we discovered a moth trapped between the electromechanical relays. After removing it, we documented everything in our log, calling the event “debugging” – literally “removal of the bug”. From that moment on, the term “bug” began to indicate errors or defects in computer systems.
Today we can smile thinking about how far we’ve come since then, but it’s incredible how a small insect left such a big mark in the history of computing! 🐛💻 #RetroComputing #ComputingTrivia #MarkIIvsCommodore64
