Green Card N. [after The "IBM System/360 Reference Data" Card] A Summary Of An Assembly Language, Even If The Color Is Not Green And Not A Card.

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green card n.

[after the "IBM System/360 Reference
Data" card] A summary of an assembly language, even if the color is
not green and not a card. Less frequently used now because of the
decrease in the use of assembly language. "I'll go get my green
card so I can check the addressing mode for that instruction."

The original green card became a yellow card when the System/370
was introduced, and later a yellow booklet. An anecdote from IBM
refers to a scene that took place in a programmers' terminal room
at Yorktown in 1978. A luser overheard one of the programmers
ask another "Do you have a green card?" The other grunted and
passed the first a thick yellow booklet. At this point the luser
turned a delicate shade of olive and rapidly left the room, never
to return.

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