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'''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.

'''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.

She is noteworthy for writing an 1843 paper with Luigi Menabrea (it actually started out has her translation of Menabrea's shorter paper from French to English; she then added extensive notes) about the analytical engine<ref name "thepaper">[http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/sketch.html Menabrea's Sketch and Ada's Notes]</ref>.  The paper ends with the famous "Note G", in which she analyzes an algorithm for calculating [[Bernoulli numbers]] and shows the code for it on the (never built) machine.  Because of this, she is often credited with "writing the first computer program" and being "the world's 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><ref>http://www.well.com/user/adatoole/bio.htm</ref><ref>[http://www.cs.fit.edu/~ryan/ada/lovelace.html Augusta Ada Byron (1815-1852)] - Ryan Stansifer, Associate Professor - Department of Computer Sciences - Florida Institute of Technology</ref>.  While this was not a program written in anything that would be recognized as a programming language in the modern sense, it was the first mathematical algorithm ''encoded for the purpose of being executed by an automatically controlled digital computer''.  That is, she wrote the first published, surviving computer program designed to solve a real problem.

She is noteworthy for writing an 1843 paper with Luigi Menabrea (it actually started out has her translation of Menabrea's shorter paper from French to English; she then added extensive notes) about the analytical engine<ref name="thepaper">[http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/sketch.html Menabrea's Sketch and Ada's Notes]</ref>.  The paper ends with the famous "Note G", in which she analyzes an algorithm for calculating [[Bernoulli numbers]] and shows the code for it on the (never built) machine.  Because of this, she is often credited with "writing the first computer program" and being "the world's 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><ref>http://www.well.com/user/adatoole/bio.htm</ref><ref>[http://www.cs.fit.edu/~ryan/ada/lovelace.html Augusta Ada Byron (1815-1852)] - Ryan Stansifer, Associate Professor - Department of Computer Sciences - Florida Institute of Technology</ref>.  While this was not a program written in anything that would be recognized as a programming language in the modern sense, it was the first mathematical algorithm ''encoded for the purpose of being executed by an automatically controlled digital computer''.  That is, she wrote the first published, surviving computer program designed to solve a real problem.

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".  The controversy will be discussed at length below.

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".  The controversy will be discussed at length below.