Programming the Pilot ACE: Early Programming Activity at the National Physics Laboratory

The design of the ACE was the subject of a report written by A M Turing in 1945. A pilot model of the ACE was completed at the National Physical Laboratory, England, in late 1951. By early 1952 a basic programming system had been established and the machine began regular operation This paper describes the development of this programming system and a matrix interpretive scheme that was subsequently developed. The paper concludes with an assessment of the programming activity and of the Pilot ACE itself.