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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Program (machine)</span></span>
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<p>A <b>program</b> is a set of instructions used to control the behavior of a <a href="Machine" title="Machine">machine</a>. Examples of such programs include:
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<ul><li>The sequence of <a href="Punched_card" title="Punched card">cards</a> used by a <a href="Jacquard_loom" class="mw-redirect" title="Jacquard loom">Jacquard loom</a> to produce a given pattern within weaved <a href="Cloth" class="mw-redirect" title="Cloth">cloth</a>. Invented in 1801, it used holes in punched cards to represent sewing loom arm movements in order to generate decorative patterns automatically.</li>
<li>A <a href="Computer_program" title="Computer program">computer program</a> (<a href="Software" title="Software">software</a>) is a list of instructions to be executed by a computer.</li>
<li>Barrels, punched cards and <a href="Music_roll" title="Music roll">music rolls</a> encoding music to be played by <a href="Player_piano" title="Player piano">player pianos</a>, <a href="Fairground_organ" title="Fairground organ">fairground organs</a>, <a href="Barrel_organ" title="Barrel organ">barrel organs</a> and <a href="Musical_box" class="mw-redirect" title="Musical box">music boxes</a>.</li>
<li>The automatic flute player, which was invented in the 9th century by the <a href="Ban%C5%AB_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_brothers" title="Banū Mūsā brothers">Banū Mūsā brothers</a> in <a href="Baghdad" title="Baghdad">Baghdad</a>, is the first known example of a programmable machine. The work of the Banu Musa was influenced by their Hellenistic forebears, but it also makes significant improvements over Greek creation.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The pinned-barrel mechanism, which allowed for programmable variations in the rhythm and melody of the music, was the key contribution given by the Banu Musa.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1206, the Muslim inventor <a href="Al-Jazari" class="mw-redirect" title="Al-Jazari">Al-Jazari</a> (in the <a href="Artuqids" title="Artuqids">Artuqid Sultnate</a>) described a <a href="Drum_machine" title="Drum machine">drum machine</a> which may have been an example of a programmable automaton.<sup id="cite_ref-Sharkey_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sharkey-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>
<p>The execution of a program is a series of actions following the instructions it contains. Each instruction produces effects that alter the state of the machine according to its predefined meaning.
</p><p>While some machines are called <b>programmable</b>, for example a <a href="Programmable_thermostat" title="Programmable thermostat">programmable thermostat</a> or a musical <a href="Synthesizer" title="Synthesizer">synthesizer</a>, they are in fact just devices which allow their users to select among a fixed set of a variety of options, rather than being controlled by programs written in a language (be it textual, visual or otherwise).
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFKoetsier2001" class="citation journal cs1">Koetsier, Teun (2001-05-01). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094114X01000052">"On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators"</a></span>. <i>Mechanism and Machine Theory</i>. <b>36</b> (5): <span class="nowrap">589–</span>603. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0094-114X%2801%2900005-2">10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2</a>. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0094-114X">0094-114X</a>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFKapurCarnegieMurphyLong2017" class="citation journal cs1">Kapur, Ajay; Carnegie, Dale; Murphy, Jim; Long, Jason (2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS1355771817000103">"Loudspeakers Optional: A history of non-loudspeaker-based electroacoustic music"</a>. <i><a href="Organised_Sound" title="Organised Sound">Organised Sound</a></i>. <b>22</b> (2). <a href="Cambridge_University_Press" title="Cambridge University Press">Cambridge University Press</a>: <span class="nowrap">195–</span>205. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS1355771817000103">10.1017/S1355771817000103</a></span>. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1355-7718">1355-7718</a>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-Sharkey-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sharkey_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="Noel_Sharkey" title="Noel Sharkey">Professor Noel Sharkey</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070629182810/http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html">A 13th Century Programmable Robot (Archive)</a>, <a href="University_of_Sheffield" title="University of Sheffield">University of Sheffield</a>, 2007</span>
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