On display at CWI is a small collection of punched tape, a form of data and software storage of early computers, consisting of long strips of perforated paper. This developed from punched cards, differing in that the tape is continuous. Punched tape was used throughout the 19th and for much of the 20th centuries for programmable looms, teleprinter communication and for input to computers of the 1950s and 1960s. During the Second World War, high-speed punched tape systems were used in code breaking systems.
The punched tape on display comes from the archives of the Mathematical Centre (MC), the current Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI). It contains, among others, ALGOL 60 by the later Turing Award winner Edsger Dijkstra (MC/CWI) and ZEBRA Simple Code by Lambert Meertens (MC/CWI).
The ENIGMA machine is currently on loan, and can be seen at the Freedom Museum (Vrijheidsmuseum) in Groesbeek. It will be returned to CWI early 2024.
