Computer Programming and Scripting.
I have always had an interest in computing and computer programming after two semesters of Statistics with Fortran Programming [The computer language for scientists! Link] which was required coursework for my BS degree program in Biochemistry/Biophysics at SUNY Plattsburgh.
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With Fortran programming I learned the basics of code line structure, logical precedence of commands, do loops, if-than-else routines, etc... All these things have stayed with me despite dislike of coding at the time because the college had just installed a Burroughs Mainframe computer [Similar to photo - Link] which took up most of the third floor of the Kehoe administration building. Since the computer had just been installed the connections to the dumb terminal stations for student use had not been completed, so this necessitated the use of keypunch cards to run your program. Each line of computer code had to be typed out onto decks of IBM keypunch cards [Link] and then arranged in the proper order for submission back at Kehoe. This was a very time consuming task which meant trips back and forth from the keypunch room in a classroom building and the Kehoe Administration building. Nine chances out of ten your program would not compile due to a typo, mistake in coding structure, or card in the wrong order! This was relatively infuriating and as a result I quickly developed a disdain for computers and programming because of dealing with decks of typed keypunch cards and reams of super-wide pin-feed computer paper!
Despite my early experience with the Burroughs computer, the thought process and logic of computer language stayed with me. I enjoyed the puzzle of it all and the logical thought processes involved. When I took a position at Colorado State University in 1986 PC computing was entering the laboratory and DOS made the whole process more user friendly. My first personal computer for my own use at CSU was a Macintosh SE and I enjoyed its graphic user interface structure. Also, the early Mac's came with a rather unique application called Hypercard. This application was like a stack of "cards" in which you could do some computer scripting in a basic language to get the stack of cards to do useful things. I learned to utilize Hypercard to maintain a database of scientific journal references. Many of the programming skills I had learned in college benefited me and I found myself liking the process of playing with code both in my professional as well as my personal life. As the Macintosh OS has developed over the years Hypercard [Link] has been replaced by Applescript [Link] and XCode [Link] which I have utilized for various projects. Also, the familiarity with logical computer operations has helped me immensely in many software applications where basic computations are involved. The everyday use of the Microsoft Office suite sometimes requires mathematical calculations to be set-up in Excel or database merge operations need to be set up with Word documents.
I have a great interest in history, and one of my interests is in the events of World War II because my father [HSL Link1] and all of my uncles [HSL Link2, Link3], who were part of what Tom Brokaw termed "The Greatest Generation", served their country in this global conflict. One story from WWII which intrigued me was the cracking of Nazi Germany's Enigma machine [Link] codes and the people involved in this effort first in Poland by Marian Rejewski and colleagues [Link] and then later in Britain at Bletchly Park [Link] by teams of cryptanalyst experts such as the now famous Alan Turing [Link] who was portrayed in the recent historical docudrama "The Imitation Game" [Link]. The development of the cryptographic Bombe [Link] was the seed for the modern digital computer and was a direct result of the efforts of Alan Touring and his colleagues to break the Nazi codes. These efforts, it has been estimated, shortened the war by at least two years and saved possibly 14 million lives. A vital contribution to the course of history.
The following pages are devoted to a small Applescript based application, Enigma Helper, which I created to work with an application created by Terry Long [Link] to simulate the German WWII Enigma Cipher Machine. The Enigma Simulator is a faithful computer recreation of this electromechanical cipher machine, but I found the process of getting input and output during coding rather tedious. Also, I wanted to find an efficient way to get settings and messages exported and imported into the system. I thought about this problem and using Applescript and another development application called Facespan I was able to create a small application which interfaces nicely with the Enigma Simulator and Microsoft Word. Please find the links below for Terry Long's Enigma Simulator and my Enigma Helper 3.1 application. These applications run on Macintosh OS X.
Despite my early experience with the Burroughs computer, the thought process and logic of computer language stayed with me. I enjoyed the puzzle of it all and the logical thought processes involved. When I took a position at Colorado State University in 1986 PC computing was entering the laboratory and DOS made the whole process more user friendly. My first personal computer for my own use at CSU was a Macintosh SE and I enjoyed its graphic user interface structure. Also, the early Mac's came with a rather unique application called Hypercard. This application was like a stack of "cards" in which you could do some computer scripting in a basic language to get the stack of cards to do useful things. I learned to utilize Hypercard to maintain a database of scientific journal references. Many of the programming skills I had learned in college benefited me and I found myself liking the process of playing with code both in my professional as well as my personal life. As the Macintosh OS has developed over the years Hypercard [Link] has been replaced by Applescript [Link] and XCode [Link] which I have utilized for various projects. Also, the familiarity with logical computer operations has helped me immensely in many software applications where basic computations are involved. The everyday use of the Microsoft Office suite sometimes requires mathematical calculations to be set-up in Excel or database merge operations need to be set up with Word documents.
I have a great interest in history, and one of my interests is in the events of World War II because my father [HSL Link1] and all of my uncles [HSL Link2, Link3], who were part of what Tom Brokaw termed "The Greatest Generation", served their country in this global conflict. One story from WWII which intrigued me was the cracking of Nazi Germany's Enigma machine [Link] codes and the people involved in this effort first in Poland by Marian Rejewski and colleagues [Link] and then later in Britain at Bletchly Park [Link] by teams of cryptanalyst experts such as the now famous Alan Turing [Link] who was portrayed in the recent historical docudrama "The Imitation Game" [Link]. The development of the cryptographic Bombe [Link] was the seed for the modern digital computer and was a direct result of the efforts of Alan Touring and his colleagues to break the Nazi codes. These efforts, it has been estimated, shortened the war by at least two years and saved possibly 14 million lives. A vital contribution to the course of history.
The following pages are devoted to a small Applescript based application, Enigma Helper, which I created to work with an application created by Terry Long [Link] to simulate the German WWII Enigma Cipher Machine. The Enigma Simulator is a faithful computer recreation of this electromechanical cipher machine, but I found the process of getting input and output during coding rather tedious. Also, I wanted to find an efficient way to get settings and messages exported and imported into the system. I thought about this problem and using Applescript and another development application called Facespan I was able to create a small application which interfaces nicely with the Enigma Simulator and Microsoft Word. Please find the links below for Terry Long's Enigma Simulator and my Enigma Helper 3.1 application. These applications run on Macintosh OS X.
Note: Currently Unavailable for Download. Enigma
Helper was originally compiled in Mac OS X 10.5.8 and was very stable -
With the passage of time, I recently found a few "bugs" when Enigma Helper is used with newer Mac OS versions which need to
be addressed before I can release it for public use. I worked on this
project many years ago, it was shelved, and I haven't updated it. I may
use Apple Xcode to recompile this project to improve stability when I
get a chance. I'm disappointed that I cannot showcase my applications functionality at this time.
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Informative videos about Enigma from Numberphile on YouTube.
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Books I have in my personal history library on the Enigma:
"Enigma - The Battle For The Code" by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore ©2000 [Link] "Seizing The Enigma - The Race To Break The German U-Boat Codes - 1939-1943" by David Kahn ©1991 [Link] |
Enigma Machine in use by Wehrmacht
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Alan Turing
Enigma Web Resources:
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