From smartphones to laptops and desktop computers, computer technology has deeply processed to every point of our daily lives. As an ancestor of all these, we should thank the first programmer in the world. So, who is the world’s first programmer? If you haven’t heard the name of Ada Lovelace before, the answer to the question of who is the first programmer of the world may surprise you.
Who is Ada Lovelace?
Ada Lovelace is the person who lived more than 100 years before the spread of computers and is considered the first computer programmer in the world. Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815 under the name of Ada Byron. His father was the famous poet Lord Byron and his mother was Annabella Milbanke, the first wife of Lord.
Lovelace’s parents left shortly after birth. In fact, the island never met her father who died only at the age of eight. London grew up in England. His mother did not want to be a poet like the father of the young island. He wanted music, French and mathematics.
Lovelace was often ill in her childhood. So he spent his years out of his house. Although this is generally bad, he gave him a lot of time to work with his teachers. He was interested in mathematics from an early age. Lovelace continued to work throughout his life. He was one of the brightest mathematicians of his time.
Lovelace met a mathematician named Charles Babbage when he was young. Babbage was influenced by the mathematical skill of the young woman. Babbage wanted to develop a calculator. He called this project as a difference engine. He shared his plans with Lovelace, which began to deeply interest in this idea.
Babbage also showed Lovelace’s analytical motor plans. His thoughts about this machine were very developed for that time. This machine aimed to perform mathematical operations quickly. The analytical motor was not built during the lifetime of the duo. Nevertheless, Babbage and Lovelace spent most of their lives on the design of this machine.
Lovelace was excitedly helping Babbage’s designs. In 1843, he translated an article about the machine. This article was written by the Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea in French. Lovelace rewrite this in English.
However, he did much more than translating the article. The Lovelace added his own notes about the analytical engine and what he can do.
World’s first computer program
Lovelace explained how the Analytical Motor will perform algorithms in his notes, and even gave an example. In this example, there were a number of commands that would allow the machine to calculate the Bernoulli numbers. This command is now considered the first computer program that has been written so far. This makes Ada Lovelace’s first computer programmer in the world.
Ada Lovelace died in 1852 when she was only 36 years old. In 1938, her husband William King became a Council of Lovelace when it was the first Count of Lovelace. When the island died, her husband left behind her husband, three children and a computer programming heritage.
However, after Ada Lovelace died, computer programming has not become a profession for about a century. In the late 1940s, six women became the first professional computer programmer. His names were Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Elizabeth Holberton, France Bilas Spence, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum. They worked for the US army and programmed a computer called electronic numerical integrator and computer (ENIAC).
