Computer programming in the punched card era

Computer programming in the punched card era was a way for computers to understand instructions before the invention of computer screens and keyboards. In the punched card era, computers were controlled with punch cards. The punch cards were made out of cardboard, and had a bunch of little holes in them (kind of like a piece of Swiss cheese). Each hole in the punch card was a different instruction that the computer had to follow. The computer would read the punch cards and do what they said like follow the instructions.