How was the first computer programmed? With what? How does it know 1 means yes and 0 means no?

Question

How was the first computer programmed? With what? How does it know 1 means yes and 0 means no?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Let’s say you have a wire, and you can control the electricity current. I can arrange with you to zap me between 1 and 2 volts when you mean to say YES, and between 5 and 6 volts when you mean to say NO.

With that info, you can effectively have what you call 1s and 0s in a controlled setting, the 1 is current between 1-2v and the 0 is 5-6v. Apply basic programming fundamentals and you can build logic gates for example, receive 2 inputs and evaluate them, get a result, boom! Your first calculator is here.

I made up the numbers to make it easier to understand btw.