Past Notes - People that shaped our industry

Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace (1815-1852), the 'first lady of computing'

Ada King (nee Byron), Countess of Lovelace claims her place as 'first lady of computing' primarily for her association with Charles Babbage, inventor of the Analytical Engine.

In 1834 she translated into English an Italian account of his invention.

Her version was made much more accessible than the original by the addition of her own notes, based on her first-hand observation of the inventor's work. The information Ada added included what is usually referred to as the first 'program'. Most memorably she was the first to refer to a loop in a program, which she described as a 'snake biting its tail'.

As Betty Alexandra Toole writes in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, (Vol. 18, No. 3, Autumn 1996): "Augusta Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace, is regarded by some people as the first programmer and by others as a science fiction archetype, perhaps as 'mad and bad' as her illustrious father, Lord Byron. At the very least, Ada is one of the most colourful characters in computer history."