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==History==
{{further|History of computing}}
Early computing devices were more complicated than the ancient [[abacus]] date to the seventeenth century. French mathematician [[Blaise Pascal]] designed a gear-based device that could add and subtract, selling around 50 models. The [[stepped reckoner]] was invented by [[Gottfried Leibniz]] by 1676, which could also divide and multiply. Due to the limitations of contemporary fabrication and design flaws, Leibniz' reckoner was not very functional, but similar devices ([[Leibniz wheel]]) remained in use into the 1970s.{{sfn|Blum|2011|p=13–14}} In the 19th century, Englishman [[Charles Babbage]] invented the [[difference engine]], a mechanical device to calculate [[polynomial]]s for astronomical purposes.{{sfn|Blum|2011|p=14}} Babbage also designed a general-purpose computer that was never built. Much of the design was incorporated into the earliest computers: [[punch card]]s for input and output, [[memory (computing)|memory]], an arithmetic unit analogous to [[central processing unit]]s, and even a primitive [[programming language]] similar to [[assembly language]].{{sfn|Blum|2011|p=15}}
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