The document provides a summary of the history of software engineering from the 19th century to present day. It discusses how:
- The first computers were human "computers", mostly women, who performed calculations by hand. The term "software" was coined in the 1940s.
- The origin of the term "software engineering" is debated but it was used in the 1960s to distinguish the work of building software systems from computer science and hardware engineering.
- Early programming involved humans organizing complexity through techniques like flowcharts. Languages like Fortran automated programming and made it possible to write software independent of hardware.
- Large software projects in defense and aerospace in the 1960s highlighted the need for software engineering