Ada Lovelace is credited with the first published algorithm intended for a machine.
In 1843, Lovelace published notes on Charles Babbage’s proposed Analytical Engine, a general-purpose mechanical computer that was never completed. Her notes included a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers, usually described as the first published computer program or algorithm designed for implementation by a machine.
Lovelace was born Augusta Ada Byron, the daughter of poet Lord Byron. She worked closely with Babbage after translating an Italian article about the Analytical Engine. Her added notes were much longer than the original translation and explored how the machine might manipulate symbols, not just numbers.
The claim is specific: Lovelace’s work was the first published algorithm intended for a machine, not the first working electronic program. The Analytical Engine remained a design, so no completed machine executed her algorithm. Her ideas about general-purpose computation later made her a major figure in computing history.