CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Computer
Learning Objective
In this chapter you will learn about:
• Computer
• Data processing
• Characteristics features of computer
• Computers’ evolution to their present form
• Computer generations
• Characteristic features of each computer generation
Computer
• The word computer comes from the word “computer”, which
means, “to calculate”
• 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.
Data Processing
The activity of processing data using a computer is data
processing
DATA

CAPTURE
DATA
MANIPULATE
DATA

OUTPUT RESULTS

INFORMATION

Data is raw material used as input and information is

processed data obtained as output of data processing
Characteristics of Computers
1. Automatic: Given a job, computer can work on it automatically
without human interventions.
2. Speed: Computer can perform data processing jobs very fast,
usually measured in microseconds (10-6), nanoseconds (10-9),
and picoseconds (10-12)
3. Accuracy: Accuracy of a computer is consistently high and the
degree of its accuracy depends upon its design. Computer errors
caused due to incorrect input data or unreliable programs are
often referred to as Garbage-In-Garbage-Out (GIGO)
4. Diligence: Computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack
of concentration. It can continuously work for hours without
creating any error and without grumbling.
Characteristics of Computers
5. Versatility: Computer is capable of performing almost any
task, if the task can be reduced to a finite series of logical
steps
6. Power of Remembering: Computer can store and recall
any amount of information because of its secondary storage
capability. It forgets or looses certain information only when
it is asked to do so
7. No I.Q.: a computer does only what is programmed to do. It
cannot take its own decision in this regard
8. No Feelings: computers are devoid of emotions. Their
judgement is based on the instructions given to them in the
form of programs that are written by us (human beings)
Some Well Known Early
Computers
• The Mark I Computer (1937-44)
• The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1939-42)
• The ENIAC (1943-46)
• The EDVAC (1946-52)
• The EDSAC (1947-49)
• Manchester Mark I (1948)
• The UNIVAC I (1951)
The Mark I Computer (1937-44)
• The Harvard Mark I, or IBM Automatic Sequence
Controlled Calculator (ASCC), was one of the earliest
general-purpose electromechanical computers used
in the war effort during the last part of World War II.
• One of the first programs to run on the Mark I was
initiated on 29 March 1944 by John von Neumann.
The Mark I also computed and printed mathematical
tables, which had been the initial goal of British
inventor Charles Babbage for his analytical engine
in 1837.
• According to Edmund Berkeley, the operators of the
Mark I often called the machine "Bessy, the Bessel
engine", after Bessel functions.
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer
(1939-42)
• The Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) was the first
automatic electronic digital computer. The device
was limited by the technology of the day. The ABC's
priority is debated among historians of computer
technology, because it was neither programmable,
nor Turing-complete. Conventionally, the ABC would
be considered the first electronic ALU (arithmetic
logic unit) – which is integrated into every modern
processor's design.
The ENIAC (1943-46)
• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Computer) was the first programmable,
electronic, general-purpose digital computer,
completed in 1945. Other computers had
some of these features, but ENIAC was the
first to have them all. It was Turing-complete
and able to solve "a large class of numerical
problems" through reprogramming.
The EDVAC (1946-52)
• EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer) was one of the earliest electronic
computers. It was built by Moore School of
Electrical Engineering at the University of
Pennsylvania. Along with ORDVAC, it was a
successor to the ENIAC. Unlike ENIAC, it was
binary rather than decimal, and was designed
to be a stored-program computer.
• ENIAC inventors, John Mauchly and J. Presper
Eckert, proposed the EDVAC's construction in
August 1945.
The EDSAC (1947-49)
• The Electronic Delay Storage
Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an
early British computer. Inspired by John
von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a
Report on the EDVAC, the machine was
constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his
team at the University of Cambridge
Mathematical Laboratory in England.
EDSAC was the second electronic
digital stored-program computer, after
the Manchester Mark 1, to go into
regular service.
Manchester Mark I (1948)
• The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest
stored-program computers, developed at the
Victoria University of Manchester, England from
the Manchester Baby (operational in June
1948). Work began in August 1948, and the first
version was operational by April 1949; a
program written to search for Mersenne primes
ran error-free for nine hours on the night of
16/17 June 1949.
The UNIVAC I (1951)
• The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer
I) was the first general-purpose electronic
digital computer design for business
application produced in the United States. It
was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert
and John Mauchly, the inventors of the
ENIAC.
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

Five Computer Generations
• 1st Generation (1940s–1950s) – Vacuum Tube Computers
• 2nd Generation (1950s–1960s) – Transistor Computers
• 3rd Generation (1960s–1970s) – Integrated Circuit (IC) Computers
• 4th Generation (1970s–Present) – Microprocessor Computers
• 5th Generation (Present & Future) – Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computers
1st Generation (1940s–1950s) – Vacuum
Tube Computers
Generation Key Hardware Key Software Key Some
(Period) Technologies Technologies Characteristic Representativ
s e System
First • Vacuum tubes • Machine and • Bulky in size • ENIAC
(1942-1955) • Electromagnetic assembly • Highly • EDVAC
relay memory languages unreliable • EDSAC
• Punched cards • Stored • Limited • UNIVAC I
secondary program commercial • IBM 701
storage concept use and
• Mostly costly
scientific • Difficult
Applications commercial
production
• Difficult to
use
2nd Generation (1950s–1960s) – Transistor
Computers
Generation Key Hardware Key Software Key Some
(Period) Technologies Technologies Characteristic Representativ
s e System
Second • Transistors • Batch • Faster, • Honeywell
(1955-1964) • Magnetic cores operating smaller, more 400
memory system reliable and • IBM 7030
• Magnetic tapes • High-level easier to • CDC 1604
• Disks for programming program than • UNIVAC LARC
secondary languages previous
storage • Scientific and generation
commercial systems
applications • Commercial
production
was still
difficult and
costly
3rd Generation (1960s–1970s) – Integrated Circuit (IC)
Computers
Generation Key Hardware Key Software Key Some
(Period) Technologies Technologies Characteristic Representativ
s e System
Third • ICs with SSI and • Timesharing • Faster, smaller, • IBM 360/370
(1964-1975) MSI technologies operating more reliable, • PDP-8
• Larger magnetic system easier and • PDP-11
cores memory • Standardizatio cheaper to • CDC 6600
• Larger capacity n of high-level produce
disks and magnetic programming • Commercially,
tapes secondary languages easier to use,
storage • Unbundling of and easier to
• Minicomputers; software from upgrade than
upward compatible hardware previous
family of generation
computers systems
• Scientific,
commercial and
interactive
online
applications
4th Generation (1970s–Present) –
Microprocessor Computers
Generation Key Hardware Key Software Key Some
(Period) Technologies Technologies Characteristic Representativ
s e System
Fourth • ICs with VLSI • Operating systems • Small, affordable, • IBM PC and its
(1975-1989) technology for PCs with GUI reliable, and easy clones
• Microprocessors; and multiple to use PCs • Apple II
semiconductor memory windows on a • More powerful and • TRS-80
• Larger capacity hard single terminal reliable mainframe • VAX 9000
disks as in-built screen systems and • CRAY-1
secondary storage • Multiprocessing OS supercomputers • CRAY-2
• Magnetic tapes and with concurrent • Totally general- • CRAY-X/MP
floppy disks as portable programming purpose machines
storage media languages • Easier to produce
• Personal computers • UNIX operating commercially
• Supercomputers based system with C • Easier to upgrade
on parallel vector programming • Rapid software
processing and language development
symmetric • Object-oriented possible
Multiprocessing design and
technologies programming
• Spread of high-speed • PC, Network-
computer networks based, and
supercomputing
applications
5th Generation (Present & Future) – Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Computers

Generation Key Hardware Key Software Key Some

(Period) Technologies Technologies Characteristic Representativ
s e System
Fifth • ICs with ULSI • Micro-kernel • Portable computers • IBM notebooks
(1989- technology based, • Powerful, cheaper, • Pentium PCs
Present) • Larger capacity main multithreading, reliable, and easier • SUN
memory, hard disks distributed OS to use desktop • Workstations
with RAID support • Parallel machines • IBM SP/2
• Optical disks as programming • Powerful • SGI Origin 2000
portable read-only libraries like MPI & supercomputers • PARAM 10000
storage media PVM • High uptime due to
• Notebooks, powerful • JAVA hot-pluggable
desktop PCs and • World Wide Web components
workstations • Multimedia, • Totally general
• Powerful servers, Internet purpose machines
supercomputers applications • Easier to produce
• Internet • More complex commercially,
• Cluster computing supercomputing easier to upgrade
Applications • Rapid software
development
possible
Electronic Devices Used in
Computers of Different Generations

Vacuum Tube Transistor IC Chip

Vacuum Tube

• A vacuum tube is an electronic device

that controls the flow of electric
current in a vacuum. They were widely
used in early computers and are still
used today.
Transistor

• A transistor is a miniature
semiconductor that regulates or
controls current or voltage flow in
addition to amplifying and generating
these electrical signals and acting as a
switch or gate for them.
IC

• An integrated circuit (IC), also known

as a microchip or simply chip, is a set
of electronic circuits, consisting of
various electronic components (such
as transistors, resistors, and
capacitors) and their interconnections.