About the very first software company, and the largest software project in US history
Introduction
This article is a compilation from several sources of information about the very first software company, as well as about the largest software project in US history - the SAGE project.
History
In order to understand the context in which the SDC company was born, we need to return in August 1949, when the United States received intelligence that the Soviet Union had tested its first atomic bomb. Suddenly it turned out that the United States was completely defenseless against the “Soviet threat”, since the Soviet Union had bombers capable of flying over the North Pole and dropping a bomb in the very center of the country (from the translator - see notes at the end of the article). The best that America could counter such an attack was the early detection system of approaching bombers using radars and the immediate dispatch of fighter jets. However, as of 1949, the United States Air Defense could not cope with this task, since the entire data collection from radar systems was carried out manually, and the radar systems themselves were created during the Second World War. By the time the interceptor is in the air, the bomb will already be on the ground.
To revise the U.S. Air Force in December 1949, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Council set up a commission chaired by George E. Valley professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The report presented by the Valley Committee's report recommended updating the entire air defense system, adopting an improved interceptor model, deploying anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft artillery complexes, expanding the area covered by radars, and automating the entire data processing process by concentrating it in special command centers. As a result of the last recommendation, the largest computer and software project in the history of America was born.
The U.S. Air Force approved the report of the Valley Commission, and in December 1950, a contract was signed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for air defense research and the development of a prototype computerized system. The project, which later became known as Project Lincoln, was staffed by specialists from the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT. Whirlwind, a prototype computer developed at MIT, was also chosen for the prototype system.. The Whirlwind computer was chosen not so much because it was created in MIT (which of course was very convenient), but rather because of the requirement that the computer can process data in real time. At that time, the Whirlwind computer was the only machine in the world capable of doing this; it was 10 times faster than any other similar machine existing or being developed at that time. During 1952, a prototype air defense system was created based on the XD-1 computer, an industrial version of the Whirlwind computer. Using the prototype, the data from the radar installed in the Cape Cod Bay was processed. Managed a system of 30 operators of the US Air Force. They sat at consoles equipped with large CRT displays that displayed digitized data. This data on the screen could be selected for tactical analysis using a light pen.
Based on the test results of the system in Cape Cod Bay, it was decided to deploy a full-blown air defense network across the country. The new system is called SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), which literally means "semi-automatic ground environment." The adjective “semi-automatic” emphasized what tasks in this system were performed by man and machine: computers had to carry out high-speed data processing, and people were responsible for making decisions based on this data. Many defense contractors were involved in the development of the system. Western Electric acted as the main contractor, while IBM, RCA, Bendix, General Electric, Bell Labs and Burroughs acted as subcontractors in various areas: radars, computers, communication lines, technical analysis. The mass production of XD-1 computers was entrusted to IBM. The machine, which was given the code name AN / FSQ-7, and more often it was simply called Q-7, weighed 250 tons, had 49,000 lamps in its design and consumed 3 megawatts of electricity. During its existence, the SAGE project brought IBM $ 500 million in revenue; at the peak of development, it employed from 7,000 to 8,000 employees — 25% of the company's workforce. Thomas Watson Jr., who inherited the chair of IBM from his father, later recalled that "The Cold War helped IBM become the king of the computer business." However, IBM supplied only equipment. Despite the fact that companies proposed to create and software for the system, IBM abandoned this task. Later, one of the company’s managers explained that that "according to our calculations, a software project will require the involvement of several thousand people ... we could not figure out where we could put 2000 programmers at the end of this project." Bell Labs also received the offer, but she also rejected it.
The test system in Cape Codd Bay contained 35,000 instruction instructions, but the difference between the test system and the full-fledged SAGE program was the same as the “difference between the test lab and actual production." While the Cape Codd system was the only one of its kind created by a select group of experienced engineers, the SAGE system would need to attract inexperienced programmers and create a common program that could be easily reconfigured and deployed to more than 20 installations. In the absence of a private contractor who would like to tackle this difficult task, RAND Corporation, a governmental non-profit organization, was involved in the case. RAND Corporation (from the words “research and development”) was created in the city of Santa Monica (Santa Monica) back in 1948 as a “think tank” of the US Air Force, engaged in research in the field of “air warfare methods”, which It included a fairly wide range of topics: from the safety of communications to the psychology of human interaction with the machine. RAND Corporation has already taken part in the SAGE project: it trained Air Force personnel to work on an experimental system in Cape Codd Bay. Over the next 8 years, RAND Corporation was engaged in both staff training and programming of the SAGE system. RAND Corporation has already taken part in the SAGE project: it trained Air Force personnel to work on an experimental system in Cape Codd Bay. Over the next 8 years, RAND Corporation was engaged in both staff training and programming of the SAGE system. RAND Corporation has already taken part in the SAGE project: it trained Air Force personnel to work on an experimental system in Cape Codd Bay. Over the next 8 years, RAND Corporation was engaged in both staff training and programming of the SAGE system.
In December 1955, RAND Corporation established an independent division of Systems Development Division, which was engaged exclusively in programming. At that time, the corporation consisted of 10 percent of the best US programmers in its staff, which amounted to only 25 people. It was estimated that in the United States there were no more than 200 free programmers who would be able to produce the highest class code, and 6 times more professional programmers who worked on relatively simple commercial applications.
It became clear that a lot more programmers would be needed to complete the project, and RAND did not even know how many programmers would be needed. In February 1956, a hiring manager was hired, and he immediately launched an advertising campaign across the country in professional magazines, newspapers and on the radio. A recruitment office was opened in New York, and entire teams traveled across the country in search of talent. The process of recruiting programmers was at a speed of 50 people per month, but few recruits were a real programmer. It was decided that it was better not to recruit programmers themselves, but such people who are easily trained in programming. Most of the recruits were men aged 22 to 29, most of whom were college graduates in a wide range of disciplines. (“The music teachers were especially good.”) Despite the fact that there was no shortage of volunteers, only less than a quarter of them passed the initial testing and got a job. During the selection, a three-day complex of tests for psychology and thinking was used, which turned out to be a very effective way to identify a person’s ability to program. After hiring, the recruit went to an 8-week training course on Q-7 computer, which was conducted by IBM, and then another 8-week course, which was conducted by RAND Corporation itself. which turned out to be a very effective way to identify a person’s ability to program. After hiring, the recruit went to an 8-week training course on Q-7 computer, which was conducted by IBM, and then another 8-week course, which was conducted by RAND Corporation itself. which turned out to be a very effective way to identify a person’s ability to program. After hiring, the recruit went to an 8-week training course on Q-7 computer, which was conducted by IBM, and then another 8-week course, which was conducted by RAND Corporation itself.
By October 1956, the subsidiary of System Development Division exceeded the staff of RAND Corporation itself. Therefore, it was decided to separate this unit into a separate non-profit organization, which was called System Development Corporation (SDC). The following year, SDC moved to a 250,000 sq. Ft. Facility built specifically for her in Santa Monica. A crowd of programmers and the newly-acquired Q-7 computer took up all of this area. The computer, by the way, consumed 1/20 of the electricity in the city of Santa Monica. In the fall of 1957, programmers at the Lincoln Laboratory moved to this new building. Here is what the SDC historian writes, whose lines resemble the style of John Steinbeck’s novels: “All the pro-programmers from the east coast - more than 500 families, along with all their belongings - were transported to Santa Monica in special trains. Some of them were returning home; many of them saw the State of the sun and oranges for the first time in their lives. They all settled in California, some of them formed the core of the SAGE project programmers, and some of them reinforced the staff of training courses instructors. ” By 1959, over 700 programmers worked on the SAGE project and more than 1,400 people served their work. This number was half of all programmers available in the United States. By 1959, over 700 programmers worked on the SAGE project and more than 1,400 people served their work. This number was half of all programmers available in the United States. By 1959, over 700 programmers worked on the SAGE project and more than 1,400 people served their work. This number was half of all programmers available in the United States.
The SAGE completion program contained more than a million instruction instructions and was the largest program of its time. 230,000 instructions made up the program itself; 870,000 instructions - support programs and utilities. The programming mode was very thoughtful for its time, a lot of effort was invested in the development of the discipline for managing software projects, as well as in the development of tools that helped write and test the hundreds of modules that made up the system. The project was completed a year later than planned, and the project cost was $ 50 per line of code. As it later became clear, the delay in completing the project was not at all connected with the inefficiency of the nonprofit organization; this was typical of any software project of this magnitude.
In June 1958, the first SAGE command center was commissioned. Here's how Newsweek magazine described it:
Inside the concrete box without a single window at McGuire (New Jersey), the US Air Force earned a huge electronic computer this week. Next to him are operators sitting in rows bending over the screens of locators, on which white-yellow images flicker.
With the speed of lightning and the unmistakably electronic heart, the SAGE system helps the human brain, which is so often prone to errors and slow response. For the first time, the electronic brains of the SAGE system were connected to early warning radars, all-weather jet interceptor aircraft, rocket launchers, patrol ships, ground surveillance stations, protecting the lives and peace of 44 million Americans in the New York air defense sector.
In total, 23 command centers were created, which were connected into a single national defense system.
From that moment, SDC's operations have changed from pure programming to support and deployment. Each new command center opened approximately once every two months. To deploy the software, SDC sent a group of software programs in the amount of 100 people. After the system was deployed and launched, 8 technical personnel and several instructors for training the military on equipment were constantly working in the control center. By 1959, 400 programmers and 200 instructors worked in the field. At the same time, an in-line production system was created at the SDC office in Santa Monica, which made it possible to produce various versions of the program for various computer configurations and system requirements. By 1962, when the system was fully deployed,
Since deploying the system was less interesting than programming itself, talented programmers began to leave the SDC corporation. Highly qualified specialists immediately found application for their talents. In 1958, the staff turnover was 20 percent. “By the end of 1960, with 3,500 employees in the SDC, there were already 4,000 former SDC employees; By 1963, with 4,300 employees, 6,000 former SDC employees were already working for other US companies. ”Only 50 percent of SDC programmers remained in SDC after 4 years of work, and only 30 percent after 7 years.
Finding a replacement to replace those who left was particularly difficult for SDC, but the president of the corporation later said: “Our corporation has become a university for programmers - this was partly our task as a non-profit organization. So in those days we were not going to impede the transfer of our employees to other companies and were not going to offer higher salaries than potential employers offered them. ”It was later stated that“ with a high degree of probability in 1970 in any large data processing project you could find at least one person who once worked for the SAGE project. ”
By 1960, even though the SAGE project was drawing to a close, SDC continued to grow by participating in other military and government projects. By 1963, SDC had 4,300 employees, and in addition to the Santa Monica office, the company had seven more offices in seven different cities across the country. The company’s computer center already had two Q-7 computers and several IBM 1401 computers, the largest set of computing power in the world. The annual profit of the company amounted to 57 million dollars, which were obtained from participating in 45 projects. Some of these were U.S. Air Force projects, some were NASA projects, some were Civil Defense Departments, and several were DARPA agencies. SDC Corporation at that time was the largest software company in the United States.
Finally
- In 1949, the Soviet Union did not have the means to deliver a nuclear bomb to the United States, although it had something close to this - the Tu-4 bomber . Yes, and the nuclear bomb itself, and not a simple nuclear device, caught on with the USSR only on October 18, 1951 (RDS-3 product). The Tu-16 aircraft , capable of performing such a task, appeared only in 1954.
- The SAGE project, despite the successful completion, is considered a failure, since by the time the project was completed, the USSR had adopted intercontinental ballistic missiles (R-7 rocket in 1960), against which the SAGE system was completely powerless
- The last SAGE command center was closed in 1983.