ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANCAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING
ASSIGNMENT 1

BY: ABDUSELAM SULTAN

ID: ETS0024/14

DATE: 17-2-2023
 Table of content

Write and briefly discuss the evolution of computers. ......................................................................... 1

What are the different computer generations? ........................................................................................ 2
Briefly discuss the technology and programming language used in each generation. ................. 2
Compare and contrast each computer generation. .................................................................................. 4
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 1

1. Write and briefly discuss the evolution of computers.

Computer is a device which aids humans to perform various kinds of computations or

calculations. The development of such device have passed decades to reach to today’s
computer. I will try to discuss the history below.

Before we reach today’s concept of computers, there is an early history of computer. Some of
the early age computers include Tally Stick. This one wasn’t used to compute mathematical
calculation, but it was memory aid, used to record and document numbers, quantities, and/or
messages.

The other computer that is mentioned under the early age is Abacus, a mechanical device
used to perform mathematical calculations. It is believed that it was created in Babylonia in
2400 B.C. but in the form we are most familiar with was first used in China around 500 B.C.

And other early computer include Napier’s Bones, invented by John Napier in 1614 allowing
operators to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots. Slide Rule which was
invented by William Oughtred 1622, which is basically based on Napier’s ideas about
logarithms. It was a hand operated analog device primarily used for multiplication and
division which later included calculations like square, square root, cube, cube root and etc.

Blaise Pascal’s Pascaline is one of the earlier computers which was invented in 1642 but it
was limited to addition and subtraction. Stepped Reckoner, which was invented in 1672 by
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz which can automatically add, subtract, multiply and divide are
some of the early age computers.

1822, Charles Babbage, invented the first mechanical computer which made him “The father
of computer.” Charles’s programmable computer was fully automated which takes in
program data through punched cards and for output, it would have a printer, curve plotter and
a bell. His first work was the Difference engine which later developed to Analytical engine
which was not realized due to British governments cease to fund his project which was much
ahead of its time.
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 2

Tabulating machine was invented in 1890 by Herman Hollerith. The computer was based on
punched cards which can tabulate statistics and record or sort data or information. The
inventor started Tabulating Machine company which later became IBM in 1924.

Differential Analyzer is the first electronic computer introduced I US in 1930 which was
analog device invented by VanneVar Bush. This machine had vacuum tube to switch
electrical signals to perform calculation. It was capable of doing 25 calculations in few
minutes.

⚫ Computers that are invented after 1940 will be discussed under computer generations in
the coming questions.

2. What are the different computer generations?

There are 5 computer generations:

1. The First Generation (1943-1958)

2. The Second Generation (1959-1964)
3. The Third Generation (1965-1970)
4. The Fourth Generation (1971- Present)
5. The Fifth Generation (Future)

3. Briefly discuss the technology and programming language used in each

generation.

✓ The First Generation

The main defining feature of this generation of computer is that the use of vacuum tubes as
an internal computer component. This generation’s computers were very huge taking up
entire room and very expensive which consumes a lot of electricity and generate a lot of heat
which would lead to malfunctions. This generation computers relied on machine language
plus, they only solve one problem at a time. The other thing is, Inputs were based on punched
cards and paper tape and output was displayed on printouts. Example of computers developed
at this generation include:
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 3

⚫ ABC Computer: Also known as ATANASOFF BERRY COMPUTER which was

developed by John Atanasoff in 1942.
⚫ MARK 1: The first automatic calculating machine designed by Howard Aiken with IBM
corporation in 1944.
⚫ ENIAC: Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator machine was developed by John
W.Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert Jr. In 1946.
⚫ EDSAC: Electrical Delay Storage Automatic Calculator which was developed in 1949.
⚫ UNIVAC Universal Automatic Computer in 1951.

✓ The Second Generation

The main thing in this generation is the replacement of vacuum tubes by transistors, which
made computers smaller than before, faster, cheaper, energy efficient and reliable. But still
this generation’s computers release a great amount of heat. The computers used punched
cards for input and print outs for output. The other major change in this generation is the
replacement of machine language by assembly language plus some programming languages
were introduced (COBOL & FORTRAN). Example of some computers that are developed in
this generation include:

⚫ PDP1: Programmed Data Processor which was developed in 1960.

⚫ IBM Series like IBM 1401, IBM 1620, IBM 7094, and so on

✓ The Third Generation

The development of integrated circuit was a game changer in this generations. Which
replaced transistors which reduced the size and made computers much more faster and
cheaper. This generation’s computers were able for the first time to run more than one
program. These computers also used high level language like FORTRAN, COBOL, PASCAL
PL/1, ALGOL-68. Example of computers belonging to this generation include IBM-360
series and PDP 8.
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 4

✓ The Fourth Generation

The boundary between the previous third and the fourth generation is not very clear-cut at all.
The gradual change led to much more reduced, faster, and cheaper computers. It was also
around this time the first complete general-purpose microprocessor became available. Later
the progress continued to reach Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). These chips were far
more powerful and small in size compared to the previous computer chips. Programming
languages like C, C++, DBASE were used.
Example of computers belonging to this generation include: Apple I, Apple II, IBM PC.

✓ The Fifth Generation

The previously mentioned VLSI chips are being replaced by ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
Integration). with the power of this chip and AI, the aim is to develop devices that respond to
natural language, capable of communicating and learning or generally, machines that can
perform task in similar ways to humans. This goal has not been fully realized but there is a
significant progress. The programming language that is being used in this generation are C,
C++, Java etc.

4. Compare and contrast each computer generation.

After each generation we can see changes in size, speed and efficiency and how convenient
computers became but now I will focus only on three main changes.

⚫ The main difference is the first generation used vacuum tube, the second generation used
transistors, the third, fourth and fifth generations used integrated circuits each getting
better from one another.
⚫ The other main difference is size and speed that first generations would take a whole
room, second generation were a bit faster and smaller but after third generation,
computers got very fast, small, reliable and multi tasking. This change is mainly related
with inner materials used with computers.
⚫ The difference between the generations was also visible in their programming language,
the first generation used machine language, second generation used assembly language,
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 5

third generation mainly used COBOL AND FORTRAN, fourth and fifth generations are
using high level languages like C, C++, Java and so on.
The above mentioned three differences are not the only differences but the main one.
Introduction to software engineering and computing assignment 1 6

Reference

Williamson, T. (2022, January 25). History of computers: A brief timeline. livescience.com.

https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html

History of Computer - javatpoint. (n.d.). www.javatpoint.com.

https://www.javatpoint.com/history-of-computer

Zakari, Ishaq & Yar, Umaru. (2019). History of computer and its generations..