From there on, the work of development was up to the ingenuity of the programmer. This
task required a high degree of proficiency in math and the type of mind that could, in an orderly, systematic fashion, juggle a vast number of factors, trying first one arrangement and then another,
until the desired result was obtained. Generally, provision had to be made to store bits of information
in the memory sections of the machine, since the value was to be used later in a subsequent step.
Particular attention was given to the amount of time taken to perform each operation, since the
problem was being solved in "real time," that is, the time required for the performance became an
integral part of the problem and affected the final answer. Because of the close interlocking
relationship between computation time and sequence of operations it was possible to have several
days' work proved worthless because of an incongruity that suddenly appeared. When a particular
element of the operating system was completed, it was then pieced with a number of other elements
to form a larger part of the entire sequence, in effect pyramiding the complications that could arise
from incompatibility. Each element was a building block and it was not uncommon to find misfits,
hence many painful and time-consuming repeats. In absolute magnitude the job had hundreds of
separate and distinct operations. AI Abrams was the only member of the Sturdivant computer staff
who had been through the entire training program at the computer manufacturer's school, although
Eden and Smith had been exposed to portions of it.