Deciphering punch cards is as hard as it looks. I don't know how anyone ever decided this was an efficient means of storing information. Nonetheless, today in class we attempted to read these cards. These are the steps used:
How to use a punch card:
1. Find a punch card key that looks similar to this (I have also posted a similar picture below). We used IBM 80-column punch cards.
2. Notice they ABCDEFGHI... at the top of the card.
3. Now look at the holes punched under the letter A. There is 1 hole in Row 12 and 1 Hold in Row 1. That is the punch code for the letter A. The rest of the alphabet has its own corresponding holes (or punch code). Numbers 0 - 9 and a few extra symbols also have their own punch code.
Good luck!
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