TheĀ Analytical EngineĀ was a proposed mechanicalĀ general-purpose computerĀ designed by English mathematician and computer pioneerĀ Charles Babbage.
It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage’sĀ difference engine, which was a design for a simpler mechanical computer.
The Analytical Engine incorporated anĀ arithmetic logic unit,Ā control flowĀ in the form ofĀ conditional branchingĀ andĀ loops, and integratedĀ memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that could be described in modern terms asĀ Turing-complete.
In other words, the logical structure of the Analytical Engine was essentially the same as that which has dominated computer design in the electronic era.
The Analytical Engine is one of the most successful achievements of Charles Babbage.
Babbage was never able to complete construction of any of his machines due to conflicts with his chief engineer and inadequate funding.
It was not until 1941 thatĀ Konrad ZuseĀ built the first general-purpose computer,Ā Z3, more than a century after Babbage had proposed the pioneering Analytical Engine in 1837.
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