When was the first computer bug discovered?

[TGVF]

As a student (1973-76), I learned FORTRAN II programming with an IBM1130, (codes made of punch cards, extremely slow execution). As engineer, I very much appreciated the introduction of the HP9845A (1979), with featured specific high speed magnetic cassettes and was very easy to program using the powerful HP extended BASIC with its amazing graphic package.
My first home computer was a Tandy Radio-Shack TRS80 Model 1 (bought in 1980): Zilog Z80 processor 8 bits @ 1 MHz, no HD, no floppy, just a keyboard; 16 line*64 column black and green screen; standard cassette tape recorder for codes & data; OS cast in a 12 Kbyte ROM; 16 Kbytes RAM; langage= BASIC or binary code (assembler had to be loaded from cassette). Lot of fun, since complete documentation was available (hardware, software) and could be modified ad libidum.

 

[mathwonk]

the first one i wrote a program for was a univac mark 1, in about 1963. it filled an entire room and needed to be fed punch cards.

the first one i actually brought home was a macplus with 1meg of ram, in maybe 1984 or 1987. it was considered portable, since i was strong enough to carry it in a large backpack. i still had it in 2013 when we moved and it had always worked before, but when cranked up that day it just gave a puff of smoke so i recycled it. maybe rats got into it in the attic.

 

[f95toli]

An Atari 800XL
http://www.old-computers.com/Museum/computer.asp?c=27
I bought it used in about 1985. I must have been about nine years old and it had taken me ages to save up for it (probably a couple of years).
I had one game (on cassette); Bounty Bounces Back
http://www.retrogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Bounty-Bob-Strikes-Back-perfectten.png

 

[TheOldFart]

I instead programmed it via the switches which was arduous and of little help in trying to debug the program so I lost patience.

I was on a Lafayette class FBM submarine in the early 80's. The missile control center still had a very long bank of toggle switches for entering targeting information. Hopefully they didn't lose patience and just wing the last few bits! :p

 

[DrClaude]

Way more! And, you know, these computers had real bugs sitting in and sometimes causing shortcircuit and malfunction! ... (That's where the term 'bug' actually comes from, as far as I know.)

The last part is not correct. The term bug to designate a defect or fault goes longer back. The OED gives a reference from 1875, way before computers.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

The last part is not correct. The term bug to designate a defect or fault goes longer back. The OED gives a reference from 1875, way before computers.

In engineering in general yes. But OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is perhaps a too generic type source. For use of the term "bug" (and "debugging") more particularly in computer science, it seems though that the turn point (in 1945 & 1947) is due to Grace Brewster Murray Hopper [1906-1992] (early computer scientist & USA navy):

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

"AnecdotesEdit

Photo of "first computer bug" (a moth)

Throughout much of her later career, Hopper was much in demand as a speaker at various computer-related events. She was well known for her lively and irreverent speaking style, as well as a rich treasury of early war stories. She also received the nickname "Grandma COBOL".

• While she was working on a Mark II Computer at a US Navy research lab in Dahlgren, Virginia in 1947, her associates discovered a moth that was stuck in a relay; the moth impeded the operation of the relay. While neither Hopper nor her crew mentioned the phrase "debugging" in their logs, the case was held as an instance of literal "debugging." For many years, the term bug had been in use in engineering.[35][36] The remains of the moth can be found in the group's log book at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C."

[My edit note:] Computerworld in the following article gets the dates more accurately (1945: 1st comp. bug incident ; 1947: possibly prevailing of the term(s) ..., as "Harvard's Mark II came online in summer of 1947, two years after the date attributed to this story. "):
"Moth in the machine: Debugging the origins of 'bug' "
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...-machine--debugging-the-origins-of--bug-.html