An analysis of the two earliest sets of instruction codes planned for stored program computers, and the earliest extant program for such a computer, gives insight into the thoughts of John yon Neumann, the man who designed the
instruction sets and wrote the program, and shows how several important aspects of computing have evolved. The paper is based on previously unpubhshed documents from the files of Herman H. Goldstine.Key words and phrases:
electronic computers, computer history, stored program computers, machine organization and architecture, sorting, latency time, ENIAC,
EDVAC, order code, programming techniqu