The influence of the Jacquard loom on her work was
evident in her writing, ???We may say most aptly that the analytical engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the
Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.???
It is because of this work that many consider Lovelace to be the world??™s first programmer.
The US Department of Defense named the computer language ADA in honor of Lovelace??™s work as a
programmer.
CHAP. 1] INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE 7
Figure 1-4 Ada Lovelace (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/PictDisplay/Lovelace.html).
The 1890 census of the United States proved another milestone in the history of computing when punch
cards were used with automatic sorting and tabulating equipment invented by Herman Hollerith to speed the
compilation of the data. His machines reduced the time required for a full compilation of census results from
10 years to 3 months, and saved $5,000,000 in costs to the census bureau.
Building on the success of his equipment with the US Census Bureau, Hollerith founded the Tabulating
Machine Company in 1896. After merging with two other companies and changing its name, the company
became known as the International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. The punch card remained a staple of data
storage well into the 20th century.
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