Ada Lovelace (1815 to 1852), born Augusta Ada Byron, was an English mathematician best known for her 1843 notes on Charles Babbage’s proposed Analytical Engine. The notes are widely cited as an early description of how a general-purpose computer could be given instructions. She was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron. Early
Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician who wrote extensive notes in 1843 on Charles Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine, an early vision of general-purpose computing.
Alan Turing (1912 to 1954) was a British mathematician and logician whose work laid theoretical foundations for computer science. During World War II he helped break German Enigma ciphers at Bletchley Park, and in 1950 he proposed a test for machine intelligence. He was convicted in 1952 under laws that criminalized homosexuality, and he was
Alan Turing was a British mathematician who founded the theory of computation, helped break Enigma ciphers at Bletchley Park, and proposed the Turing test.
In simple terms An algorithm is a set of steps that turns an input into a result. The US standards body NIST puts it plainly: a computable set of steps that achieves what you wanted. The usual comparison is a recipe, and it holds up. Fixed ingredients go in, defined steps follow, and the same
An algorithm is a computable set of steps that turns an input into a desired result, such as a sorted list or a route.
Apple Inc. is an American technology company based in Cupertino, California, that designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and sells a range of related services. In its fiscal 2026, which ended on September 26, 2026, it reported net sales of $478.8 billion, according to its annual report filed with the
An American technology company in Cupertino that designs iPhone, Mac, iPad and wearables and sells related services.
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that overlays digital content, such as images, text or three-dimensional models, onto a person’s view of the real world. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes it as a real-world experience that mixes simulated digital imagery with the physical world as seen through a camera or a display,
A technology that overlays digital content onto a live view of the real world through a phone, glasses or headset.
Binary search is an algorithm for quickly finding a target value inside a sorted list by repeatedly checking the middle element and narrowing the search to the half of the list that could still contain the target. Because it eliminates roughly half of the remaining possibilities with every single check, binary search can locate a
An algorithm that finds a target value in a sorted list by repeatedly checking the middle element and discarding half the remaining list.
Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger in which records of transactions are grouped into blocks and each block is cryptographically linked to the one before it. Copies of the ledger are kept by many participants, usually without a central authority such as a bank, company or government. The design makes earlier records tamper evident, because
A distributed digital ledger of transactions grouped into blocks that are cryptographically linked, making earlier records tamper evident.
A compiler is a program that translates source code written by a human in a programming language, such as C, Java, or Rust, into another form, usually machine code, that a computer’s processor can execute directly. Compiling happens before a program ever runs, which distinguishes a compiler from an interpreter, a tool that reads and
A program that translates source code written in a programming language into machine code a computer can run directly.
A computer is a machine that carries out arithmetic and logical operations automatically by following a set of instructions called a program. The modern electronic computer took shape during and just after World War II. Which machine counts as the first computer depends on the definition used, because several machines built between the 1930s and
A machine that carries out arithmetic and logical operations automatically by following stored instructions, with no single inventor.
A data structure is a specific way of organizing, storing, and accessing data inside a computer so that operations on that data, such as searching, inserting, deleting, or sorting, can be carried out efficiently. Rather than treating information as an undifferentiated block, a data structure arranges values into a defined shape, for example a line,
A way of organizing, storing, and accessing data in a computer so operations like searching and sorting can run efficiently.