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[[Image:Ada 1838.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]

[[Image:Ada 1838.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]

'''Ada Lovelace''' (1815-1852) was a British mathematician who's claim to fame is that many credit her with being "the first computer programmer"<ref name="sciam">[http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Ada_and_the_First_Computer.pdf Scientific American, May 1999, pp76]</ref>.  The issue is not clear-cut, because there are different opinions regarding what constitutes a "program" and what constitutes a "computer".  These issues will be discussed below.  Perhaps the main objection is that the computer for which her program was written was never built.

'''Ada Lovelace''' (1815-1852) was a British mathematician involved in the extremely early history of computers, long before the "modern era" of actual construction of working computers.  She worked with [[Charles Babbage]] on an extremely visionary, completely mechanical, computer called the "analytical engine".  It was never built, because Babbage's design was way ahead of its time.

The claim of "first programmer" arises from the fact that she was first to publish a paper (in 1843) containing a mathematical algorithm ''encoded for the purpose of being executed by an automatically controlled digital computer''.  That computer was the "analytical engine" designed by [[Charles Babbage]].  It was never built, because Babbage's design was way ahead of its time.  The program calculated [[Bernoulli numbers]].

Her claim to fame is that many credit her with being "the first computer programmer"<ref name="sciam">[http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Ada_and_the_First_Computer.pdf Scientific American, May 1999, pp76]</ref><ref>http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/Files/ada-bio.html</ref><ref>http://www.cs.fit.edu/~ryan/ada/lovelace.html</ref>.  This claim arises from the fact that she was first to publish a paper (in 1843) containing a mathematical algorithm ''encoded for the purpose of being executed by an automatically controlled digital computer''.  Her program calculated [[Bernoulli numbers]].  That is, she wrote the first published, surviving computer program designed to solve a real problem.

Ada had to write the algorithm on paper, rather than at a keypunch or computer terminal, of course.  But, to use modern terminology, she actually "wrote code".  Also, since the term "program" had not been coined, she described her algorithm as a "plan".  In the 20th century, the program was carefully analyzed and simulated, and found to have a minor "bug".

But the issue is not clear-cut, because there are different opinions about what constitutes a "program" and what constitutes a "computer".  Perhaps the main objection is that the computer for which her program was written was never built, so her program did not actually run.  Ada had to write the algorithm on paper, rather than at a keypunch or computer terminal, of course.  But, to use modern terminology, she actually "wrote code".  Also, since the term "program" had not been coined, she described her algorithm as a "plan".  In the 20th century, the program was carefully analyzed and simulated, and found to have a minor "bug".

==Early Life==

==Early Life==

Although she was the only legitimate child of of the famous British poet [[George Gordon, Lord Byron|Lord Byron]], she had virtually no relationship with him, given his death when she was only nine years old.  

She was the only legitimate child of of the famous British poet [[George Gordon, Lord Byron|Lord Byron]], but he abandoned her and her mother before her first birthday.  She was raised by her mother.

She was born Augusta Ada Byron, and called by her middle name as a child.  She married William King, who later became Earl of Lovelace, making her "Countess of Lovelace".  She has been called Augusta Ada, Augusta Ada Lovelace, Ada Lovelace, Ada King, or just Ada.

She was born Augusta Ada Byron, and called by her middle name as a child.  She married William King, who later became Earl of Lovelace, making her "Countess of Lovelace".  She has been called Augusta Ada, Augusta Ada Byron, Augusta Ada Lovelace, Ada Lovelace, Ada King, or just Ada.

 

==What did Ada's Bernoulli program look like?==

==What did Ada's Bernoulli program look like?==

==Was Ada really first?  Was the Bernoulli program the first program?==

==Was Ada really first?  Was the Bernoulli program the first program?==

There are those who claim <ref>[http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/babbage/ada.html]</ref> that Babbage himself, or an assistant of his, or perhaps some of his sons, must have written "programs" before Ada did.  Issues like this arise from time to time, perhaps most notably in the "calculus war" between Newton and Leibniz, or the "non-Euclidean geometry war" among Gauss, Bolyai, and Lobachevsky.  The scientific community generally gives great weight to the act of publishing one's work.  If these other people wrote programs before Ada did, they don't seem to have published them, and they are lost.  It is not known what problems these earlier programs might have been solving.

There are those who claim <ref>http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/babbage/ada.html</ref> that Babbage himself, or an assistant of his, or perhaps some of his sons, must have written "programs" before Ada did.  Issues like this arise from time to time, perhaps most notably in the "calculus war" between Newton and Leibniz, or the "non-Euclidean geometry war" among Gauss, Bolyai, and Lobachevsky.  The scientific community generally gives great weight to the act of publishing one's work.  If these other people wrote programs before Ada did, they don't seem to have published them, and they are lost.  It is not known what problems these earlier programs might have been solving.

 

Some people, perhaps motivated by misdirected passion over the issue of feminism, take an unexpectedly strong stand in favor of, or against, the idea that she was the world's first computer programmer.  What one person did 170 years ago really has nothing to do with contemporary social issues.

==The [[ADA (computer language)|ADA]] programming language==

==The [[ADA (computer language)|ADA]] programming language==

Starting in the 1970's, a project was undertaken by the U.S. Department of Defense to find one high-level language to be used for all DoD software, replacing the hundreds of languages then in use.  After much evaluation work, the winning language (called "green" in the evaluation process) was named ADA in Ada Lovelace's honor.  Its goal of replacing all the previous languages has not been met, partly because interoperability considerations have changes that way software is put together from the way things were done in the 1970's.  The ADA language has had only partial acceptance in the military, and is hardly used in the civilian sector.

Starting in the 1970's, a project was undertaken by the U.S. Department of Defense to find one high-level language to be used for all DoD software, replacing the hundreds of languages then in use.  After much evaluation work, the winning language (called "green" in the evaluation process) was named ADA in Ada Lovelace's honor.  Its goal of replacing all the previous languages has not been met, partly because interoperability considerations have changed the way software is put together, relative to the way things were done in the 1970's.  The ADA language has had less than complete acceptance in the military, and is not widely used in the civilian sector.

==References==

==References==