Computer Fundamentals

Introduction
Computer

 The word computer comes from the word “compute”,

which means, “to calculate”

A computer is derived from the Latin word ‘computerae’ which

means ‘to compute’

 Thereby, a computer is an electronic device that can

perform arithmetic operations at high speed

 A computer is also called a data processor because it can

store, process, and retrieve data whenever desired

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 Data Processing
The activity of processing data using a computer is called
data processing

Data Input Computer Output Information

(Raw material) (Data processor) (Finished product)

Data is raw material used as input to data processing and

information is processed data obtained as output

So, a computer is an electronic machine that accepts data from the user, processes
the data by performing calculations and operations on it, and generates the
desired outcome or result

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Computer
Computer - Common Operating Machine Purposely
Used for Technological and Educational Research

Computer = Arithmetic Logical Unit + Control unit

ALU: Arithmetic Logical Unit is used to carry out

arithmetic (addition, subtraction, division, and
multiplication) and logical operation.

CU: Control unit is used to change the order of

operations in response to stored information

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Characteristics of Computers
Sr.
Characteristics Description
No.

1 Automatic It carries out a job normally without any human intervention

It can perform several billion (109) simple arithmetic operations

2 Speed
per second

3 Accuracy It performs every calculation with the same accuracy

4 Diligence It is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration

5 Versatility It can perform a wide variety of tasks

It can store huge amount of information and can recall any piece
6 Memory
of this information whenever required

It cannot take its own decisions, and has to be instructed what

7 No I. Q.
to do and in what sequence

8 No Feelings It cannot make judgments based on feelings and instincts

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Evolution of Computers
 Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical adding
machine in 1642
 Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented the first
calculator for multiplication in 1671
 Keyboard machines originated in the United States
around 1880
 Around 1880, Herman Hollerith came up with the concept
of punched cards that were extensively used as input
media until the late 1970s

(Continued on next slide)

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Evolution of Computers

 Charles Babbage is considered to be the father of

modern digital computers

 He designed “Difference Engine” in 1822

 He designed a fully automatic analytical engine in

1842 for performing basic arithmetic functions

 His efforts established a number of principles that are

fundamental to the design of any digital computer

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Some Well Known Early Computers

 The Mark I Computer (1937-44)

 The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1939-42)
 The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC)
(1943-46)
 The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
(EDVAC) (1946-52)
 The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC)
(1947-49)
 Manchester Mark I (1948)
 The Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) I (1951)
 IBM 701 (1952)
 IBM 650 (1953)

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Computer Generations

 “Generation” in computer talk is a step in technology. It

provides a framework for the growth of computer industry

 Originally it was used to distinguish between various

hardware technologies, but now it has been extended to
include both hardware and software

 Till today, there are five computer generations

(Continued on next slide)

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Computer Generations

Some
Generation Key hardware Key software Key
representative
(Period) technologies technologies characteristics
systems
First • Vacuum tubes Machine and  Bulky in size  ENIAC
(1942-1955) •Electromagnetic assembly  Highly unreliable  EDVAC
relay memory languages Limited commercial
 Stored program use commercial  EDSAC
• Punched cards concept production difficult and  UNIVAC I
secondary storage costly
Mostly scientific  IBM 701
applications  Difficult to use

Second  Transistors Batch operating Faster, smaller, more  Honeywell 400

(1955-1964) Magnetic core system reliable and easier to  IBM 7030
memory High-level program than previous
programming generation systems  CDC 1604
 Magnetic tapes languages  UNIVAC LARC
Commercial production
Disks secondary Scientific and was still difficult and
storage commercial costly
applications

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Computer Generations

Key hardware Key software Key Some

Generation
representative
(Period) technologies technologies Characteristics
systems

Third ICs with SSI and Timesharing Faster, smaller, more  IBM 360/370
(1964-1975) MSI technologies operating system reliable, easier and  PDP-8
Larger magnetic cheaper to produce
Standardization  PDP-11
core memory Commercially, easier
of high-level  CDC 6600
Larger capacity to use, and easier to
programming
magnetic disks and upgrade than previous
languages
tapes secondary generation systems
storage Unbundling of Scientific, commercial
software from and interactive on-line
 Minicomputers hardware applications

(Continued on next slide)

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 Computer Generations
Key hardware Key software Key Some
Generation
representative
(Period) technologies technologies Characteristics
systems
Fourth  ICs with VLSI Operating systems for Small,  IBM PC and its
(1975-1989) technology PCs with GUI and Multiple affordable, clones
Microprocessors; windows on a single reliable, and easy  Apple II
semiconductor terminal screen to use PCs
Multiprocessor operating More powerful  TRS-80
memory
systems and concurrent and reliable  VAX 9000
Larger capacity programming languages mainframe
hard disks as in-  CRAY-1
 UNIX operating system systems
built secondary  General purpose  CRAY-2
storage C and C++
programming languages machines  CRAY-X/MP
Magnetic tapes PC-based applications; Easier to
and floppy disks as produce
network-based
portable storage commercially
applications
media
 Object-oriented software
 Personal design
computers
Spread of high-
speed computer
networks
Continue on the next slide

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Computer Generations
Key hardware Key software Key Some
Generation
representative
(Period) technologies technologies Characteristics
systems
Fifth ICs with ULSI World Wide  Portable computers  iPhone
(1989- technology Web  Hand-held mobile  iPad
Present)  Multicore processor Multimedia, smart devices
chips More powerful,  IBM notebooks
Internet-based
Larger capacity main applications cheaper, reliable, and  Pentium PCs
memory and hard disks easier to use desktop  Windows PC
Microkernel, machines
Optical disks as multithreading,  Apple PC
portable read-only Very powerful
multicore OS
storage media mainframes  SUN
JAVA, Python Very high uptime Workstations
 Solid state disks and other due to hot-pluggable  IBM SP/2
 Notebook computers programming components
Powerful desktop PCs languages  SGI Origin 2000
General purpose
and workstations MPI and PVM PARAM
machines
Very powerful libraries for supercomputers
mainframes Easier to produce
parallel commercially
 Supercomputers based programming
on parallel processing
 Internet
(Continued on next slide)

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Electronic Devices Used in Computers of Different Generations

(a) A Vacuum tube (b) A Transistor (c) An IC chip

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First Generation Computers

The period of first generation was from 1946-

1959.
First generation used vacuum tubes as the
basic components for memory and circuitry
for CPU.
These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a
lot of heat and the installations used to fuse
frequently.
They were very expensive and only large
organizations were able to afford it.
In this generation, mainly batch processing
operating system was used.
Punch cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape
was used as input and output devices.
The computers in this generation used
machine code as the programming language.

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Second Generation Computers

The period of second generation was from

1959-1965.
Transistors were used that were cheaper,
consumed less power, more compact in
size, more reliable and faster than the first
generation machines made of vacuum
tubes.
Magnetic cores were used as the primary
memory and magnetic tape and magnetic
disks as secondary storage devices.
Assembly language and high-level
programming languages like FORTRAN,
COBOL were used.
The computers used batch processing and
multiprogramming operating system.

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Third Generation Computers

The period of third generation was from 1965-

1971.
The computers of third generation used
Integrated Circuits (ICs) in place of
transistors.
A single IC has many transistors, resistors,
and capacitors along with the associated
circuitry. The IC was invented by Jack Kilby.
This development made computers smaller in
size, reliable, and efficient.
In this generation remote processing, time-
sharing, multi-programming operating system
were used.
High-level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV,
COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.)
were used during this generation.

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Fourth Generation Computers

The period of fourth generation was from

1971-1980.
Computers used Very Large Scale
Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits
having about 5000 transistors and other
circuit elements with their associated
circuits on a single chip made it possible to
have microcomputers of fourth generation.
Computers became more powerful,
compact, reliable, and affordable. As a
result, it gave rise to Personal Computer
(PC) revolution.
In this generation, time sharing, real time
networks, distributed operating system
were used.
All the high-level languages like C, C++,
DBASE etc., were used in this generation.

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Fifth Generation Computers

The period of fifth generation is 1980-till

date.
In the fifth generation, VLSI technology
became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
Integration) technology, resulting in the
production of microprocessor chips having
ten million electronic components.
This generation is based on parallel
processing hardware and AI (Artificial
Intelligence) software.
All the high-level languages like C and
Some computer types of this
C++, Java, .Net etc., are used in this
generation are:
generation.
 Desktop  Laptop
 NoteBook  UltraBook
 ChromeBook

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Types of Computers
Sr. No. Type Specifications
1 PC (Personal Computer) It is a single user computer system having
moderately powerful microprocessor
2 Workstation It is also a single user computer system, similar
to personal computer however has a more
powerful microprocessor
3 Mini Computer It is a multi-user computer system, capable of
supporting hundreds of users simultaneously.
4 Main Frame It is a multi-user computer system, capable of
supporting hundreds of users simultaneously.
Software technology is different from
minicomputer.
5 Supercomputer It is an extremely fast computer, which can
execute hundreds of millions of instructions per
second.

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PC (Personal Computer)

A PC can be defined as a small, relatively

inexpensive computer designed for an
individual user.
PCs are based on microprocessor technology
that enables manufacturers to put an entire
CPU on one chip.
Businesses use personal computers for word
processing, accounting, desktop publishing,
and for running spreadsheet and database
management applications.
Personal computers are designed as single-user systems, these systems
are normally linked together to form a network.
In terms of power, now-a-days high-end models of the Macintosh and
PC offer the same computing power and graphics capability as low-end
workstations by Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.

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Workstation

Workstation is a computer used for

engineering applications (CAD/CAM),
desktop publishing, software development,
and other such types of applications which
require a moderate amount of computing
power and relatively high quality graphics
capabilities.

Workstations generally come with a large, high-resolution graphics screen,

large amount of RAM, inbuilt network support, and a graphical user
interface.
Most workstations also have mass storage devices such as a disk drive,
but a special type of workstation, called diskless workstation, comes
without a disk drive.
Common operating systems for workstations are UNIX and Windows NT.
Workstations are also single-user computers like PC but are typically
linked together to form a local-area network.

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Minicomputer

It is a midsize multi-processing system

capable of supporting up to 250 users
simultaneously.

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Mainframe

Mainframe is very large in size and is an

expensive computer capable of supporting
hundreds or even thousands of users
simultaneously. Mainframe executes many
programs concurrently and supports many
simultaneous execution of programs.

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Supercomputer

Supercomputers are one of the fastest

computers currently available. Supercomputers
are very expensive and are employed for
specialized applications that require immense
amount of mathematical calculations (number
crunching).
For example, weather forecasting, scientific
simulations, (animated) graphics, fluid dynamic
calculations, nuclear energy research, electronic
design, and analysis of geological data (e.g. in
petrochemical prospecting).

As of May 2022, India now has 15 supercomputers disclosed to the public, with a
combined performance capability of 24 petaflops.

In May 2022, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and IIT
Gandhinagar have unveiled India's latest supercomputer called 'Param Ananta'

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Sr. No. Operations Description
1 Take Input The process of entering data and instructions
into the computer system.
2 Store Data Saving data and instructions so that they are
available for processing as and when required.
3 Processing Data Performing arithmetic, and logical operations
on data in order to convert them into useful
information.
4 Output Information The process of producing useful information or
results for the user, such as a printed report or
visual display.
5 Control the Directs the manner and sequence in which all
workflow of the above operations are performed.

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 The Five Basic Operations of aComputer System

 Inputting. The process of entering data and instructions into

the computer system
 Storing. Saving data and instructions to make them readily
available for initial or additional processing whenever required
 Processing. Performing arithmetic operations (add, subtract,
multiply, divide, etc.) or logical operations (comparisons like
equal to, less than, greater than, etc.) on data to convert
them into useful information
 Outputting. The process of producing useful information or
results for the user such as a printed report or visual display
 Controlling. Directing the manner and sequence in which all
of the above operations are performed

(Continued on next slide)

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Basic Organization of a Computer System

Storage Unit

Secondary
Storage

Program Information
Input Output (Results)
and
Unit Unit
Data Primary
Storage

Control
Unit
Indicates flow of
instructions and data
Arithmetic Indicates the control
Logic Unit exercised by the
control unit
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

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