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2The code, on page 32 of my paperback copy, is five lines: " T Z", "0 A 23 ⊖", "1 U 11 ⊖", "2 A 2 F", "3 U 13 ⊖".John Doty– John Doty2020-07-04 21:23:57 +00:00Commented Jul 4, 2020 at 21:23
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2@AncientSwordRage It is described as "a sample of the code by which the computer was instructed as to how it should perform its calculations and operations".John Doty– John Doty2020-07-05 01:42:13 +00:00Commented Jul 5, 2020 at 1:42
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1This answer seems currently the earliest, and would arguably be the best if the two quotes by @JohnDoty were to be edited in.Dewi Morgan– Dewi Morgan2020-07-05 05:59:13 +00:00Commented Jul 5, 2020 at 5:59
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2It wouldn't have been hex, which was rarely used in those days. However on reflection it's not entirely unlike some of the coding used for e.g. early IBM computers derived from unit record machines (punched cards etc.) where the programmer was expected to know that a character or number in a specific field had some specific effect. Again on reflection, ⊖ looks like a "nothing in this field" indicator, rather than some sort of symbolic operator. I plead that I was working entirely from memory...Mark Morgan Lloyd– Mark Morgan Lloyd2020-07-05 14:27:10 +00:00Commented Jul 5, 2020 at 14:27
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12This is not fictional. The novel describes the real Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory, which indeed was in a building that used to be the Anatomy School as the novel says. The computer is EDSAC, which was indeed programmed via paper tape, and that is what its programming language looks like. cl.cam.ac.uk/events/EDSAC99/history.html cl.cam.ac.uk/events/EDSAC99/simulators/echo/flat.htmlJdeBP– JdeBP2020-07-06 10:10:08 +00:00Commented Jul 6, 2020 at 10:10
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create code fences with backticks ` or tildes ~
```
like so
``` -
add language identifier to highlight code
```python
def function(foo):
print(foo)
``` - put returns between paragraphs
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