Some silly questions about the history of computers

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Right now I got to know some bit of assembly and C. I am
Struggling with C++ ,and I am really sorry if I am asking silly questions without,
Having appropriate knowledge,

Here are they:
1) How did the Babbage Machine worked? Did it used any programming language like we do today, If not how could it compute results of addition and subtraction?
2) Did programmers discover binary or they themselves made it?
Was there anytime when they had to write codes in 10110110011?
3) What was the first programming language? How was it implemented?
4) Did punched cards had 010010101001010 written on them? Why couldn't we run a program from the File System? Why use punch cards?
5) Can a computer directly read assembly code?
I am really sorry if they are too long or silly,
Any response would be appreciated

~Sids123

Posted 4-Aug-13 4:32am

sid2x

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[no name] 4-Aug-13 10:37am

Hmmmm.... doing your homework? Are you currently taking the test? What research have you done before posting this here? What was unclear or incomprehensible about the documents you found?

sid2x 4-Aug-13 10:47am

LOL, Nope I was reading my textbook when I discovered this term called binary saying it used the numbers 0 and 1, a little bit about the Babbage engine, not much, I just want to know how were programs written in those days and the questions above.

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Richard MacCutchan · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-04T04:44:00

All of these questions can be found by doing some basic research, and none of them have anything to do with C++. Get hold of a copy of a book or use Google to search for "history of computers".
Briefly:

Use Google
Binary has existed since the beginning of the universe. And early digital computers were programmed by entering binary values, e.g on this one that I worked on[^]
There are a few claims on this, but it also depends on your definition of a programming language.
Punched cards had various things printed on them. You could not run programs from the file system as there was no such thing on the earlier computers.
How else would it work?

OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-04T04:49:00

This is your homework, so I'll give you a "short" version:
1) Mechanically. It's closer to a calculator than a computer. How does an abacus add and subtract?
2) No. Google "Pingala"
3) Machine code. Entered via on/off switches on the front panel of computers. (Still in use in the early eighties where I worked, the correct sequence of instructions was entered to read the bootstrap from the disk.
4) No. Punched cards did not use binary (they used dozenal instead)
5) Yes, if it is programmed to do so.

Some silly questions about the history of computers

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