Ada lovelace: The World's First Programmer

Ada Lovelace: The World’s First Computer Programmer

Ada Lovelace is widely known as the world’s first computer programmer. In the 1840s, she wrote the world’s first machine algorithm for an early computing machine that existed only on paper.

 

Ada Lovelace | Babbage Engine | Computer History Museum

Ada Lovelace, also known as “The Enchantress of Numbers.”

 

Daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron, she was born Augusta Ada Byron on December 10, 1815. She was just a teenager when she met Cambridge mathematics professor Charles Babbage, who in 1834 designed his Analytical Engine, the first general purpose computer.

 

Charles Babbage - Wikipedia

Charles Babbage, 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871.

 

In 1842, Babbage gave a lecture on the engine, which was transcribed in French. Ada, now known as the Countess of Lovelace, was charged with translating it into English, to which she added her own notes. These notes made is very clear that she had as in-depth an understanding of how the machine worked as Babbage. She actually wrote the data input that would program the machine, which is now considered the first computer program.

 

Analytical Engine - Wikipedia

The Analytical Engine, the first fully-automatic calculating machine. The Science Museum.

 

More than this though, she saw that numbers could be used to mean more than just quantities, that a machine that understands numbers could in-turn understand any data that is represented by numbers. Ada predicted that machine could be used to compose music, create graphics and much more. Turns out she was right!

 

 

This month OKIDO magazine is all about CODING!

Get ready to learn the language of robots as Messy and the gang explore coding. Messy Monster types a code and gets a surprise, play the Beep-Beep board game, make a Quiz-O-Meter and much more.

OKIDO #114 Coding

OKIDO has a BRAND NEW app to make learning with OKIDO even more fun! This digital companion to your magazine brings new extra, interactive content every month to help bring the topic to life. Find out more here.