Introduction to Computers

Computers - A computer can be defined as an electronic device

that is designed to accept data, perform the required
mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and output
the result.
• In the past, computers were extremely large in size and often
required an entire room for installation.
• Computers consumed enormous amounts of power and were
too expensive for commercial applications.
 They were used only for limited tasks -astronomical or
military applications.
 However, with technological advancements, the size of
computers became smaller and their energy requirements
reduced immensely.
 This opened the way for adoption of computers for
commercial purposes.
 Computers are basically meant to solve problems quickly
and accurately.
Characteristics of Computers
Speed

 Computers can perform millions of operations per second.

 The speed of computers is usually given in nanoseconds
and picoseconds,
 where 1 nanosecond =1 × 10−9 seconds and 1 picosecond =
1 × 10−12 seconds.
Accuracy

 A computer is a very fast, reliable, and robust electronic

device
 It always gives accurate results, provided the correct data
and set of instructions are input to it
 In the event of an error, it is the user who has fed
incorrect program or data is responsible.
Automation

 Computers are automatable devices that can perform a

task without any user intervention.
 The user just needs to assign the task to the computer,
after which it automatically controls different devices
attached to it and executes program instructions.
Diligence

 Unlike humans, computers never get tired of a repetitive

task.
 It can continually work for hours without creating errors.
 Even if a large number of executions need to be
executed, each and every execution requires the same
duration, and is executed with the same accuracy.
Versatile

 Versatility is the quality of being flexible

 Today, computers are used in our daily life in different
fields.
✓ home use
✓ business-oriented tasks
✓ weather forecasting
✓ space exploration
✓ teaching
✓ railways
✓ banking , medicine, and so on
 On the PC that you use at home, you may play a game,
compose and send e-mails, listen to music, etc -
computers are versatile devices as they can perform
multiple tasks of different nature at the same time
Memory
 Similar to humans, computers also have memory.
 Just the way we cannot store everything in our memory and need secondary
media, such as a notebook, to record certain important things, computers also
have internal or primary memory (storage space) as well as external or secondary
memory.
 While the internal memory of computers is very expensive and limited in size, the
secondary storage is cheaper and of bigger capacity.
 The computer stores a large amount of data and programs in the secondary
storage space.
 The stored data and programs can be retrieved and used whenever required.
 Secondary memory is the key for data storage.
 Some examples of secondary devices include floppy disks,optical disks (CDs and
DVDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), and pen drives.
 When data and programs have to be used, they are copied from the secondary
memory into the internal memory, often known as Random Access Memory (RAM)
No IQ
 Although the trend today is to make computers intelligent by inducing
artificial intelligence (AI) in them, they still do not have any decision-making
abilities of their own.
 They need guidance to perform various tasks
Economical
 Using computers also reduces manpower requirements and leads to an
elegant and efficient way of performing various tasks.
 Hence, computers save time, energy, and money.
 When compared to other systems, computers can do more work in lesser
time.
Stored Program Concept
All digital computers are based on the principle of “stored program concept”
Stored Program Concept was introduced by Sir John von Neumann in the late
1940s
The following are the key characteristic features of this concept
✓ Before any data is processed, instructions are read into memory.
✓ Instructions are stored in the computer’s memory for execution. Instructions
are stored in binary form (using binary numbers—only 0s and 1s).
✓ Processing starts with the first instruction in the program, which is copied
into a control unit circuit.
✓ The control unit executes the instructions.
 Instructions written by the users are performed sequentially until there is a
break in the current flow.
 Input/Output and processing operations are performed simultaneously.
 While data is being read/written, the central processing unit (CPU) executes
another program in the memory that is ready for execution.
Types of Stored Program Concept

 A computer with a Von Neumann architecture stores data and instructions in

the same memory.
 There is a serial machine in which data and instructions are selected one at a
time.
 Data and instructions are transferred to and from memory through a shared
data bus.
 Since there is a single bus to carry data and instructions, process execution
becomes slower
 Later Harvard University proposed a stored program concept in which there
was a separate memory to store data and instructions.
 Instructions are selected serially from the instruction memory and executed
in the processor.
 When an instruction needs data, it is selected from the data memory.
 Since there are separate memories, execution becomes faster.
Evolution of computers
First Generation (1942–1955)
Hardware Technology – manufactured using thousands of vacuum tubes(A
vacuum tube is a device made of fragile glass)

Memory- Electro magnetic relay was used as primary memory and punched cards
were used to store data and instructions.

Software Technology- Programming was done in machine or assembly language

Used for Scientific applications.

Examples: ENIAC, EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701.

Highlights

 They were the fastest calculating device of those times.

 Computers were too large and required a complete room for storage.
 Highly unreliable as vacuum tubes emitted a large amount of heat and burnt
frequently.
 Required air-conditioned rooms for installation.
 Costly.
 Difficult to use.
 Required constant maintenance because vacuum tubes used filaments that
had limited life time.
 Therefore, these computers were prone to frequent hardware failures.
Second Generation (1955–1964)

 Hardware Technology - Second generation computers were manufactured

using transistors.

 Transistors were reliable, powerful, cheaper, smaller, and cooler than vacuum
tubes.

 Memory - Magnetic core memory was used as primary memory, magnetic

tapes and magnetic disks were used to store data and instructions.

 These computers had faster and larger memory than the first generation
computers.
Software Technology- Programming was done in high level programming
languages.

Batch operating system was used.

Used for Scientific and commercial applications

Examples - Honeywell 400, IBM 7030, CDC 1604, UNIVAC LARC.
Highlights

 Faster, smaller, cheaper, reliable, and easier to use than the first generation computers.
 They consumed 1/10th the power consumed by first generation computers.
 Bulky in size and required a complete room for its installation.
 Dissipated less heat than first generation computers but still required air-conditioned
rooms.
 Costly.
 Difficult to use.
Third Generation (1964–1975)
 Hardware Technology - Third generation computers were manufactured using
integrated chips (ICs) .

 ICs consist of several components such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors

on a single chip to avoid wired interconnections between components.
 These computers used SSI and MSI technology.
 Mini computers came into existence.
 Memory - Larger magnetic core memory was used as primary memory, larger
capacity magnetic tapes and magnetic disks were used to store data and
instructions
 Software Technology Programming was done in high level programming
languages such as FORTRAN, COBOL, Pascal, and BASIC.
 Time sharing operating system was used.
 Software was separated from the hardware
 This allowed users to invest only in the software they need.
 Used for Scientific, commercial, and interactive online applications
 Examples - IBM 360/370, PDP-8, PADP-11, CDC6600.
Highlights

 Faster, smaller, cheaper, reliable, and easier to use than the second
generation computers.
 They consumed less power than second generation computers.
 Bulky in size and required a complete room for installation.
 Dissipated less heat than second generation computers but still required air-
conditioned rooms.
 Costly.
 Easier to use and upgrade
Fourth Generation (1975–1989)

 Hardware Technology - Fourth generation computers were manufactured

using ICs with LSI (Large Scale Integrated) and later with VLSI technology
(Very Large Scale Integration).
 Microcomputers came into existence.
 Use of personal computers became widespread.
 High speed computer networks in the form of LANs, WANs, and MANs started
growing.
 Memory- Semiconductor memory was used as primary memory, large capacity
magnetic disks were used as built-in secondary memory.
 Software Technology- Programming was done in high level programming
language such as C and C++.
 Graphical User Interface (GUI) based operating system (example: Windows)
was introduced.
 UNIX was also introduced as an open source operating system.
 Apple MacOS and MS DOS were also released during this period
 Used for Scientific, commercial, interactive online, and network applications.
 Examples: IBM PC, Apple II, TRS-80, VAX 9000, CRAY-1, CRAY-2, CRAY-X/MP
Highlights

 Faster, smaller, cheaper, powerful, reliable, and easier to use than the
previous generation computers.
Fifth Generation (1989–Present)

 Hardware Technology-Fifth generation computers are manufactured using ICs

with ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integrated) technology.
 Super computers use parallel processing techniques.
 Memory – Semiconductor memory is used as primary memory, large capacity
magnetic disks are used as built-in secondary memory
 Software Technology - Programming is done in high-level programming
languages such as Java, Python, and C#.
 Graphical User Interface (GUI)-based operating systems such as Windows,
Unix, Linux, Ubuntu, and Apple Mac are being used.
 Examples- IBM notebooks, Pentium PCs, SUN workstations, IBM SP/2, Param
super computer
Highlights
✓ Faster, smaller, cheaper, powerful, reliable, and easier to use than the
previous generation computers
✓ Speed of microprocessors and the size of memory are growing rapidly.
✓ They consume less power than computers of prior generations.
✓ Air-conditioned rooms required for mainframes and supercomputers but not
for microprocessors.
Classification of Computers

Computers can be broadly classified into four categories based on their speed,
amount of data that they can process, and price.
These categories are as follows:
1. Super computers.
2. Main frame computers.
3. Mini computers.
4. Micro computers.
Supercomputers

▪ Among the four categories, the supercomputer is the fastest, most powerful,
and most expensive computer.
▪ Super computers were first developed in the 1980s to process large amounts
of data and to solve complex scientific problems
▪ Super computers use parallel processing technology .
▪ It can perform more than one trillion calculations in a second.
▪ A single super computer can support thousands of users at the same time.
Such computers are mainly used for :
 weather forecasting.
 nuclear energy research.
 aircraft design.
 automotive design.
 online banking.
 controlling industrial units.
Main Frame Computers

 Mainframe computers are large-scale computers (but smaller than

supercomputers)
 These are very expensive and need a very large clean room with air
conditioning, there by making them very costly to deploy.
 As with super computers, main frames can also support multiple processors.
 For example, the IBM S/390 mainframe can support 50,000 users at the same
time.
 Users can access mainframes by either using terminals or via PCs.
 The two types of terminals that can be used with mainframe systems are as
follows:
 1. Dumb Terminals.
Dumb terminals consist of only a monitor and a keyboard(or mouse).
They do not have their own CPU and memory and use the mainframe system’s
CPU and storage devices.
 2. Intelligent Terminals.
Intelligent terminals have their own processor and thus can perform some
processing operations
Mainframe computers are typically used as servers on the World Wide Web
They are also used in organizations such as banks, airline companies, and
universities, where a large number of users frequently access the data stored in
their databases.
IBM is the major manufacturer of mainframe computer.
Mini Computers

 As the name suggests, mini computers are smaller, cheaper, and slower than
mainframes.
 They are called minicomputers because they were the smallest computer of
their times.
 Mini computers are widely used in business, education, hospitals, government
organizations, etc.
 Mini computers can also be used as servers in a networked environment, and
hundreds of PCs can be connected to it.
 The first mini computer was introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) in the mid1960s.
 Other manufacturers of mini computers include IBM Corporation (AS/400
computers), Data General Corporation, and Prime Computer
Micro Computers

 Microcomputers, commonly known as PCs, are very small and cheap.

 The first microcomputer was designed by IBM in 1981 and was named IBM-PC.
 Many computer hardware companies copied this design and termed their
microcomputers as PC compatible, which refers to any PC that is based on the
original IBM PC design.
 Moreover, PCs and PC-compatible computers commonly use the Windows
operating system, while Apple computers use the Macintosh operating system
(MacOS).
PCs can be classified into the following
categories:
Desktop PCs
 The system unit of the desktop PC can be placed flat on a desktop table
 It is widely used in homes and offices
Laptops
Laptops are small microcomputers
 very handy
 operate on a battery
 do not always have to be plugged
 The memory and storage capacity of a laptop is almost equivalent to desktop
 For input, laptops have a built-in keyboard and a trackball/touchpad
Workstations
Workstations are single-user computers that have the same features as PC but
their processing speed matches that of a minicomputer or mainframe computer.
Advanced processors
More storage capacity
More expensive
Applications of Computer

1. Communication: Computers enable communication through email, instant messaging,

video conferencing, and social media platforms.
2. Internet: Computers provide access to the internet, allowing users to browse websites,
search for information
3. Education: Computers are extensively used in educational institutions for research,
online learning
4. Business and Finance: Computers are vital for tasks such as accounting, payroll
processing, online transactions.
5. Entertainment: Computers are used for gaming, multimedia content creation, video
and audio editing, animation, virtual reality experiences
6. Healthcare: Computers play a critical role in healthcare for managing patient records,
medical imaging and diagnostics
7. Science and Research: Computers are used extensively in scientific research for data
analysis, simulations, modeling complex systems, running experiments, and managing
large datasets.
8. Weather Forecasting: Supercomputers are used to model weather patterns, simulate
climate change, and provide accurate forecasts and predictions.
9. Transportation: Computers are employed in various modes of transportation, including
aviation, automotive, and railways, for navigation, traffic management, ticketing systems
10. Personal Use: Computers are widely used for personal activities such as word
processing, web browsing