All the great programmers know that coding is about so much more than just algorithms and making an application “work”.
Coding is a way of life and a way of thinking.
But there are also several titbits about coding most people don’t know. Below are just some facts about coding we bet you never knew.
She Came First
The very first programmer ever was a woman named Ada Lovelace.
Born in 1815 in England, Lovelace was a mathematician and a writer. She is chiefly remembered for the pioneering work she performed on Charles Babbage’s “general-purpose computer”, and became the very first person ever to recognise that the computer could do more than merely calculate.
Born to the poet Lord Byron and acclaimed mathematician Lady Byron, Lovelace had a solid foundation in both maths as well as language, which is probably the combination that contributed the most to everything she would go on to achieve.
The First Language
The very first programming language ever used was called FORTRAN. Created in 1956, it was developed by John Backus and his team.
FORTRAN shorted the process of coding and made computer programming accessible to everybody. This programming language formed an important stage in the development of further languages down the line.
The Bug Was Real
The very first computer bug was named as such because it was an actual bug.
The first bug was discovered by Grace Hopper. When the computer she was working on started to fail, Hopper discovered that a moth had become stuck in the mechanics.
Ever since, whenever a problem has occurred in either software or hardware, this was referred to as a bug.
A Matter Of Volume
The humble smartphone is millions of times more powerful than the technology employed by NASA to place the first man on the moon.
As such, it took less code to power Apollo 11 into space than what it takes to run your smartphone.
Interesting too is that it was a female computer scientist who wrote the actual code that helped save Apollo 11’s landing mission. Her name was Margaret Hamilton.
Another fun fact is that it is a requirement for all astronomers to know how to code. A variety of languages is used to process measurements and develop new space-travel technologies.
The Test Of Time
NASA operates some programming projects dating all the way back to the 1970s.
The US space agency makes use of a high-level programming language developed especially for space travel. Their language is called the High-order Assembly Language/ Shuttle.
Coding Equal To Reading
For kids growing up in a technological age, coding will soon become every bit as important as learning how to read well.
Today, we live in a world powered by technology. Everything from our work to betbigdollar bonus codes is digitized in some way or another. As such, coding will become every bit as important as language skills for the adults of tomorrow.
Money Only Came Later
Initially, turning a profit wasn’t a part of the deal. In fact, the very first programmer didn’t earn a dime for her efforts.
Today, the gaming industry alone is estimated to be worth a massive US$196 billion.
