How Did the First Computers Work?

Imagine a giant room full of switches and lights. That’s what the first computers were like! They used switches to do math, just like you use your fingers when counting. When you flip a switch on, it means something is true; when it's off, it's false. These early computers had to solve problems one step at a time because they didn’t have memory or speed.

The first computers worked by using punch cards, like little paper cards with holes in them. Each hole represented a number or instruction. When you ran the machine, it would read each card and do exactly what was told. It was like giving a robot a list of things to do.