Jacquard Loom

What Does Jacquard Loom Mean?

The Jacquard loom is a loom machine developed in the early 1800s that used a series of punch cards to control weave operations. It is named for Joseph Marie Jacquard, its inventor, and is considered part of the historical chain of progress toward modern computing operations.

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Techopedia Explains Jacquard Loom

Jacquard designed this loom to use a series of punch cards that would correspond to certain hook activities that would raise or lower the loom harness. Operators could change patterns simply by changing the punch cards.

The Jacquard loom predated certain other machines that would eventually lead to the first large mainframe computers such as the ENIAC in the mid-20th century. For example, in 1837, Charles Babbage began to construct his Analytical Engine, which would be thought of as one of the first large mechanical computers using principles such as input and memory. Although he was never able to complete construction of this machine, it is significant that Babbage had planned to use a system of punch cards for inputting data and instructions. Later in the 1800s, Herman Hollerith developed the electromechanical punch card counters which were used in what eventually became the early IBM versions of punch card computer technology.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…