by Sharla D. Walker
Augusta Ada Byron Lovelace had a burning desire to discuss issues that were not considered appropriate topics for women. Fortunately, the well-known mathematical genius Sir Charles Babbage encouraged her to become a part of his upcoming works. Lady Lovelace took notes regularly that later shed light on other creative talents of Babbage's. Her mathematical knowledge to understand some of his plans for making use of the engines and a longing for her to find means of channeling her talents was supported by her husband's willingness to provide hired help for their three children. August Ada wrote; "We may say that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves."
During her course of study she received many honors and titles that are still used today. In 1980 the U.S. Department of Defense honored Ada Lovelace by naming their new computer programming language 'Ada.' She was also considered the first computer programmer even though the initial idea was not her own.
The works of Babbage would not be recognized today without her writing ability. She depicted writing letters to Babbage in the series The Machine that Changed the World and the letters and writings gathered were compiled to produce Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers: A Selection from the Letters of Lord Bryon's Daughter and Her Description of the First Computer. Byron's articles "Observations on Mr. Babbage's Analytic Engine" and her "Notes" appeared in the prestigious journal Taylor's Scientific Memoirs, under the pseudonym of A.A.L.. These initials provided a safe way for Byron to publish her writings without inviting ridicule.
Throughout the world Byron's work is recognized in an array of industries. Organizations in Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States use the Ada computer program. Ada is also used in many privately-owned industries such as control systems, manufacturing systems, banking and information systems, aviation, satellite and communication, computer-aided design and manufacturing, and even in the entertainment field.
The control system, NIF, uses the Integrated Control System (ICCS) architecture. The design is flexible enough to allow the construction of many similar applications from a common framework. A summary that lays the essential foundation for understanding the model-based engineering approach used to execute the design is available at: National Ignition Facility Programs. Manufacturing systems like Enviroplan chose Ada in part because of its "government-friendliness" and in part because its validation had a reputation of enduring formal and rigorous testing. But mostly Ada's multitasking made it the best language for the software, as well as its flexibility, robustness, and ease of change, which proved themselves in two subsequent ports of CEMDAS to new hardware.
Other manufacturing systems such as Westinghouse's Czech Nuclear Shutdown System and Weirton Steel Distribution Process Control System are also utilizing the Ada program. The banking system in Sweden automates all payroll, expenditures, deposits, and electronic transactions. Customer information is first collected and inputted into the primary database. The second phase includes the use of actual financial transactions and user accounts. Ada enthusiasts around the world await news of the project's success and can expect to learn that the system, upon its completion, handles 2,000,000 financial transactions per day. The Local Electric Utility Company uses Ada to cut the processing time by 99.5%. Aviation uses Ada for European air traffic control, airbus 340 flight warning system, Boeing 777, Boeing 777 brake control system, and the Boeing 777 power management system. Satellite and communications systems use the language to develop remote C2 system for PABX Communications (corporate telephone systems for multiple call handling), for the global positioning satellite system, for radio telescope control, and even the mobile communications system (ABB Nera, Satcom, Inmarsat M and Inmarsat B).
In computer-aided design and manufacturing "Super-Cad" (system for the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) industry), integrated circuits design, vehicle engine test systems, and the Microsoft Windows design-automation all use Ada. In the entertainment industry, this programming language is used to edit videotapes and prompting televisions. One-tenth of the time and cost of budget is used in rocket software which is the primary reason the military uses Ada.
Why do so many different industries use Ada? Ada is known as the most correct, safe, reliable, and easily maintainable program application on the market. Ada uses a multi-threading, with the exception of handling, in the OOPL (Object-Oriented Programming Language) on the market today. The worldwide acknowledgement of this program has increased technical support, organizational assistance, and reference manual available to users.
The Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC)
has been established to provide information about the technical aspects of Ada programming and the syntax involved, and maximize the language's efficiency, cost effectiveness, and productivity.
Even though August Ada Bryon (Ada Lovelace) is no longer with us, her creative talents to write with details and exquisite simplicity have continued to grace us even today. Over 35 years after her death, Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) invented a computer that would use a punch card for sorting and tabulating information for the United States Census. In 1931, Vannevar Bush, an American scientist, educator, and administrator, born in Everett, Massachusetts, built the first "modern large analog" computer. The most recent honorable recognition that Ada received was in 1984, over a decade after her death, Ada became a trademark of the United State Department of Defense.
It is a wonder how critical we may be, at times more so than others, about our talents; how unaware we are of our full potential, that August Ada Bryon held so close. If we could be aware of the cruel sentences and limitations we place upon our own strengths and weaknesses, and dismiss them as appropriately as it would be to do so, maybe we, even long after our deaths, could be remembered. Believing, like Ada, that we still have so much to discover within ourselves, we should unleash those binding chains of negative self talk. Lady Lovelace once stated, "No one knows what power lies yet undeveloped in that wiry system of mine." I too believe in me and the potential my mind holds!
Augusta Ada Byron Lovelace had a burning desire to discuss issues that were not considered appropriate topics for women. Fortunately, the well-known mathematical genius Sir Charles Babbage encouraged her to become a part of his upcoming works. Lady Lovelace took notes regularly that later shed light on other creative talents of Babbage's. Her mathematical knowledge to understand some of his plans for making use of the engines and a longing for her to find means of channeling her talents was supported by her husband's willingness to provide hired help for their three children. August Ada wrote; "We may say that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves."
During her course of study she received many honors and titles that are still used today. In 1980 the U.S. Department of Defense honored Ada Lovelace by naming their new computer programming language 'Ada.' She was also considered the first computer programmer even though the initial idea was not her own.
The works of Babbage would not be recognized today without her writing ability. She depicted writing letters to Babbage in the series The Machine that Changed the World and the letters and writings gathered were compiled to produce Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers: A Selection from the Letters of Lord Bryon's Daughter and Her Description of the First Computer. Byron's articles "Observations on Mr. Babbage's Analytic Engine" and her "Notes" appeared in the prestigious journal Taylor's Scientific Memoirs, under the pseudonym of A.A.L.. These initials provided a safe way for Byron to publish her writings without inviting ridicule.
Throughout the world Byron's work is recognized in an array of industries. Organizations in Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States use the Ada computer program. Ada is also used in many privately-owned industries such as control systems, manufacturing systems, banking and information systems, aviation, satellite and communication, computer-aided design and manufacturing, and even in the entertainment field.
The control system, NIF, uses the Integrated Control System (ICCS) architecture. The design is flexible enough to allow the construction of many similar applications from a common framework. A summary that lays the essential foundation for understanding the model-based engineering approach used to execute the design is available at: National Ignition Facility Programs. Manufacturing systems like Enviroplan chose Ada in part because of its "government-friendliness" and in part because its validation had a reputation of enduring formal and rigorous testing. But mostly Ada's multitasking made it the best language for the software, as well as its flexibility, robustness, and ease of change, which proved themselves in two subsequent ports of CEMDAS to new hardware.
Other manufacturing systems such as Westinghouse's Czech Nuclear Shutdown System and Weirton Steel Distribution Process Control System are also utilizing the Ada program. The banking system in Sweden automates all payroll, expenditures, deposits, and electronic transactions. Customer information is first collected and inputted into the primary database. The second phase includes the use of actual financial transactions and user accounts. Ada enthusiasts around the world await news of the project's success and can expect to learn that the system, upon its completion, handles 2,000,000 financial transactions per day. The Local Electric Utility Company uses Ada to cut the processing time by 99.5%. Aviation uses Ada for European air traffic control, airbus 340 flight warning system, Boeing 777, Boeing 777 brake control system, and the Boeing 777 power management system. Satellite and communications systems use the language to develop remote C2 system for PABX Communications (corporate telephone systems for multiple call handling), for the global positioning satellite system, for radio telescope control, and even the mobile communications system (ABB Nera, Satcom, Inmarsat M and Inmarsat B).
In computer-aided design and manufacturing "Super-Cad" (system for the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) industry), integrated circuits design, vehicle engine test systems, and the Microsoft Windows design-automation all use Ada. In the entertainment industry, this programming language is used to edit videotapes and prompting televisions. One-tenth of the time and cost of budget is used in rocket software which is the primary reason the military uses Ada.
Why do so many different industries use Ada? Ada is known as the most correct, safe, reliable, and easily maintainable program application on the market. Ada uses a multi-threading, with the exception of handling, in the OOPL (Object-Oriented Programming Language) on the market today. The worldwide acknowledgement of this program has increased technical support, organizational assistance, and reference manual available to users.
The Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC)
has been established to provide information about the technical aspects of Ada programming and the syntax involved, and maximize the language's efficiency, cost effectiveness, and productivity.
Even though August Ada Bryon (Ada Lovelace) is no longer with us, her creative talents to write with details and exquisite simplicity have continued to grace us even today. Over 35 years after her death, Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) invented a computer that would use a punch card for sorting and tabulating information for the United States Census. In 1931, Vannevar Bush, an American scientist, educator, and administrator, born in Everett, Massachusetts, built the first "modern large analog" computer. The most recent honorable recognition that Ada received was in 1984, over a decade after her death, Ada became a trademark of the United State Department of Defense.
It is a wonder how critical we may be, at times more so than others, about our talents; how unaware we are of our full potential, that August Ada Bryon held so close. If we could be aware of the cruel sentences and limitations we place upon our own strengths and weaknesses, and dismiss them as appropriately as it would be to do so, maybe we, even long after our deaths, could be remembered. Believing, like Ada, that we still have so much to discover within ourselves, we should unleash those binding chains of negative self talk. Lady Lovelace once stated, "No one knows what power lies yet undeveloped in that wiry system of mine." I too believe in me and the potential my mind holds!
