In this type of loom, the patterns woven were controlled by the patterns of the holes in a set of punched cards strung together in the sequence in which they were to be used.  This allowed the loom to produce complex patterns and pictures in silk and other materials. The loom operates in the same way that a player piano or a music bow does. A cord to a metal needle connects each warp yarn. A series of cards, one for each weft yarn, are punched with holes in a certain pattern of choice. The cards are the arranged in the sequence determined by the pattern and strung together to pass through the loom. As each card falls into its position, only those needles connected to the warp corresponding to the punched holes are allowed through. This raises those particular warps to create the shed, the area for the shuttle to pass through. Any combination of warp yarns can be raised. It all depends on the pattern selected. There is a new card for each movement of the shuttle. When all of the cards have been used, the sequence begins again. They run on a continuos loop.

This technique was so successful that by 1812, the punched card device was attached to 18,000 looms in Lyons.  The Jacquard loom was a technological break- through.   J. M. Jaquard even received a pension from Napolean for his invention.

His idea for the Analytical Engine consisted of 4 parts: an input device, a storage device, a mill (processing unit) and an output device.

A crucial step was the adoption of a punched-card system derived from the jacquard loom. The punched cards were used for three principal purposes. A number card was used to introduce numeric value of a constant into the engine. A variable card was used to define the axis on which the number was to be placed. The variable card also transported numbers back and forth from the mill, the processing or operations unit. The third card, the operation cards, controlled the action of the mill. It decided what operation to use, addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

The control of the sequence of operations was done in a fashion similarto that of a Jacquard loom. This was the only device capable of being adapted to the purpose of the Analytical Engine at the time and Babbage was very appreciative of its possibilities. This punch card system borrowed from the jacquard loom was ideal for controlling the sequence of simple arithmetical instructions required in a calculation by the Analytical Engine.

Ada Byron - Enchantress of Numbers    

Another name that is often mentioned when discussing the history of computers is Ada Byron Lovelace (1815-1852).   She was the daughter of George Gordon, Lord Byron, a controversial English poet of the time.
Ada was fascinated with numbers and mathematical patterns and sequences.  Her childhood education consisted of numerous private tutors who covered basic subjects of school:  reading, writing, science, and mathematics.  By age thirteen, Ada had taught herself so much about mathematics that she knew more than the tutors her mother hired.

When Ada was in her teens, her mother took her to all of the social events in town.   One was a party hosted by Charles Babbage.  He was displaying and demonstrating his Difference Engine (which preceeded his Analytical Engine.) He enjoyed mystifying his guests with the "thinking" machine, whose answers seemed to come like magic.  Ada became very interested in the Difference Engine when she saw it.  She took careful time to study all of the parts and connections until she understood their various purposes.
    
It wasn't until years later that Charles Babbage and Ada Byron Lovelace found themselves working side by side on the latest invention of Babbage's - the Analytical Engine.   In 1842, Ada was asked to write a scientific interpretation of the Analytical Engine and its operations.  Ada compared the Analytical Engine to a Jacquard loom.  Babbage used punched cards as the basis of operations for his calculating engine, very similar to the punched cards that operated the weaving patterns on the Jacquard loom.