[roguecoder]

The idea that coding algorithms into something executable is "menial" labor is pretty insulting to all of us currently coders, but even given that women invented multiplication routines, using human-readable commands and the IDE. That originally all of what we now consider "programming" was assumed to be menial labor is beside the point; they were doing what we're now paid good money for.

[sliverstorm]

I think you misunderstand. What I am saying is that there used to be a role similar to a scribe- someone who toggles switches according to a paper someone else wrote. Someone who feeds into the machine, punch cards someone else wrote. This is the "menial labor" I speak of.