5 female programmers who broke down stereotypes

For some reason, when they talk about the compatibility of women and IT technologies, men remember stupid jokes. Although the era of emancipation began long before the digital age, many still believe that women were created to adorn the world. It's time to debunk a common myth. There are many women professionals on the planet who have proven their worth in a variety of professions. 

We present five beautiful ladies who have written their name in the history of programming. 

Ada Lovelace

The daughter of the great poet George Byron went down in the history of mankind as the world's first programmer, a talented mathematician. She was born in London in 1815.

As a little girl, Ada Lovelace liked to retire to some secluded corner with a pen and notebook. Her mother was very afraid that her daughter had inherited her father's literary talent and was interested in versification. Ada wasn't really interested in poetry at all. The girl was obsessed with the idea of a flying machine, which she designed. 

When Ada was 17, the mathematician Charles Babbage came into her life. Today, he is known as the inventor of the first computer. Ada translated from Italian the comments of the mathematician Luigi Menabrea on the invention of Charles Babbage. The girl accompanied the translation with her own explanations, which took up 52 pages. 

Among other things, she described an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers. Its calculation sequence can be safely considered the first computer program. Ada Lovelace made a forecast of the scope of the analytical machine. Many of the girl's ideas formed the foundation for the development of modern programming. In her notes, for the first time in the world, there are references to a "working cell", "subroutine", "cycle".

The analytical engine remained a great idea "on paper". Countess Lovelace's scientific work has been recognized: the Ada programming language is named in her honor. 

Heddy Lamarr

To the rare combination of stunning beauty and remarkable intelligence, you should add the ability to show character. She was born in 1914 in Vienna in the family of a banker and a pianist. 

At the age of 23, Heddy Lamarr, having drugged a maid with sleeping pills, makes a classic escape from her millionaire husband. She moved from Germany to the United States, changed her name and stage name. On the way to America, Heddy signed a contract with a Hollywood film company. A new round of acting career has been successfully developed. 

When the Second World War broke out, Heddy Lamarr decided to serve her new homeland. However, she encountered a popular stereotype that beauty is more important than mathematical talent. She was assigned the task of selling defense loan bonds. The actress collected seven million dollars in the defense budget thanks to a fun bonus: paying 25 thousand dollars, the client received a kiss from a Hollywood star. 

The beauty did not imagine how fateful it would be to meet the composer, the pianist George Anteil. They were fired up with the idea of creating an elusive radio-controlled torpedo. The bottom line was that the transmission frequency changed periodically, creating conditions that made it impossible to jam or intercept the radio signal. 

Anteil and Lamarr co-authored a new principle of secret communication. In 1942, they patented an invention that they voluntarily handed over to the American government. Half a century later, the authorities removed the secrecy label from some military patents, including the invention of Hendy Lamarr. The idea of secret radio communication formed the basis of many modern developments: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

Grace Hopper

Outstanding commander of the American Navy, scientist. Grace Hopper called programming an art form. Born in 1906 in New York City. 

As a child, she was very curious. This trait of character was preserved for life. Little Grace dismantled seven alarm clocks, which greatly puzzled her mother. Because of her father's illness, she escaped the fate of most American women, who were limited to the role of wife and housewife. A decent dowry was worth much more than a good education. Therefore, the father chose the latter, which determined the fate of his daughter. 

The gifted Grace Hopper quickly became a Doctor of science at Yale University. When the Second World War began, the girl went to serve in the Navy. In 1943, she was transferred to the Bureau of Artillery Calculations at Harvard University. She was among the first programmers of the Mark I computer. The pioneer in her field developed programs for automatic processing of data tables. 

Grace Hopper created the COBOL programming language, which is still relevant today. She was the first to use the term "bug" in a bug report. Grace was investigating the cause of the computer's malfunction. It was found that a moth got into the relay contacts. The insect was removed and attached to the bug report. Since then, errors in programs have been called bugs. 

Marissa Mayer

The smart blonde broke all existing stereotypes about female intelligence by becoming the chief executive officer of Yahoo!. Born in the family of an engineer and an artist in 1975 in the state of Wisconsin, USA. 

Marissa Mayer went down in the history of Google as the first female developer. Later, she moved from one department to another, dealing with web design, management, marketing, and staff training. As a result, the indefatigable blonde ended up as the president of the IT product development department. 

Marissa Mayer found herself in a difficult situation when she was offered a job as an executive director of Yahoo, because she was expecting a child. It is known that an "interesting position" does not promote career advancement. However, Marissa gave the board of directors an amazing presentation. The company's management had no doubt that it was "the one" that would lead Yahoo out of the crisis. 

Her success in her career is primarily due to her character, which is an incredible "rattling mixture" of pedantry in everything, exorbitant workaholism. Marissa Mayer is used to making high demands on herself and the team. Fortune magazine included her name in the ranking of the 50 most influential women in America. The outstanding blonde proved to skeptics that professionalism is much more important than gender. 

Arianna Huffington

The life of a writer, political activist, media manager is like a collection of vivid stories. She was born in the family of a newspaperman in 1950 in Athens. 

At the age of 16, Arianna Huffington changed from sunny Greece to foggy Albion to get an education in Cambridge. She was lucky enough to become a fellow of Girton College, where she was an active member of the debating society. After receiving a master's degree in economics, Arianna took up journalism and began writing books. 

At the age of 30, she moved to New York, where she met her future husband, Michael Huffington. A promising politician, an entrepreneur, he was nominated for election from the Republican Party. Arianna, helping her husband in the election race, actively used the experience of the discussion club, journalism. It is noteworthy that she later changed her political views. Arinna Huffington ran for governor of California, making a worthy competitor to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, politics did not play a major role in her life. The Huffington Host media platform was Arianna's favorite brainchild. The idea of the risky Internet project was to publish texts written by famous people for free specifically for the publication. The project was a success. Today, serious verbal battles are unfolding on the pages of the Huffington Host. The site was among the most influential American Internet resources.