/kloc-In the second half of the 8th century, the French government decided to adopt decimal system in mathematics, so a large number of tables, especially trigonometric function tables and related logarithmic tables, have to be recalculated, which is a complicated calculation project. Although this reform of the French government has not been fully implemented, it has aroused the interest of British Babbage. He believes that machines can perform a series of simple calculations according to certain procedures, replacing people to complete some complicated and tedious calculations. So Babbage came up with the idea of making tables by machine. Babbage was inspired by the practice of calculating digital tables with difference tables. After 10 years of hard work, he designed an automatic computing device that can add and subtract and complete the compilation of numerical tables. He called it "differential extension". 1822, he made a prototype.
This difference machine can save three decimal numbers with five digits, add them up and print the results. This is a watchmaker's machine. But its outstanding feature is that it can automatically complete a series of operations according to the control of designers, which embodies the earliest computer programming. The originality of this programming idea opens the way for the development of modern computers.
In 1834, Babbage completed the idea of a new computing device. He believes that computing devices should be universal and can solve all kinds of mathematical problems. It can not only perform numerical operations, but also perform logical operations. Babbage named this device "analyzer". It is the predecessor of modern general digital computer. According to Babbage's plan, the analyzer is driven by steam and a large number of gears. Its memory capacity is larger than the electronic computer ENIAC that appeared in the 1940s. It was not made because it was too big.
Babbage's analytical machine consists of three parts. The first part is the gear register for storing data, which Babbage calls "stack", which is similar to the register in the differential unit, but the operation is not carried out in the register, but is realized through a new mechanism. The second part is the device for various operations on data, which Babbage called "workshop". The third part is the equipment that controls the operation sequence and selects the data to be processed and outputs the results. It is equivalent to the controller of a modern computer. This is a differential machine made by Babbage Company in the 1920s of 19.
In order to speed up the operation, Babbage designed an advanced carry mechanism. He estimated that it only takes 1 second to add and subtract a 50-digit number with the analyzer and 1 minute to multiply it. The calculation time is about 100 times that of the first electronic computer.
Babbage's adoption of punched cards in the computing equipment of analytical machines is a great leap in the history of human computing technology. Babbage once saw the jacquard punch cards knitting machine at the Paris Expo. Jacquard punch cards knitting machine must weave various patterns on the fabric, record the process of warp lifting on paper cards in advance, and weave many complicated patterns with different punch cards procedures. Babbage was inspired to apply this new technology to the analytical machine, so that he could give orders to the computer and calculate according to any complicated formula.
The design idea of modern computer is almost the same as Babbage's analytical machine more than 0/00 years ago. Babbage's analyzer can be programmed like a modern computer, and the concepts related to programs involved in the analyzer are also consistent with modern computers. I found it online ~ I hope you can use it ~