BALOCHISTAN AGRICULTURE

COLLEGE, QUETTA
Introduction to Computer Science
LECTURE - 1

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 Outline
 What is Computer?
 Why do we use Computer?
 Computer Generations

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 Objectives:
 At the end of the lecture, students will be able to:
i. Define what is computer?
ii. Answer why do we prefer using computers?
iii. Know the history of Computer

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 What is Computer?
 The Word Computer derives from the word “Compute” which
means to calculate.

For example:
 We want to calculate two numbers using simple calculator i.e.
“2+3” , for that what step will we take?
 Step 1: Enter two numbers 2 and 3 (INPUT)
 Step 2: Give instruction to perform action on entered numbers
+ , - , * . / (PROCESS)
 Step 3: Press equal “=“ button
After pressing button, Result will appear on screen i.e. “5”
(OUTPUT)

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 What is Computer?
 An electronic device which accepts data as input,
process on it, and gives result / information as output.
 An electronic device for storing and processing data,
typically in binary form, according to instructions
given to it in a variable program.

Data:
 Raw, Facts and figures.
 Combination of unprocessed alphabets (A to Z) ,
numbers (0 – 9), special characters (@ , $, % ,&),
images , sound that does not give clear meaning.

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 What is Computer?
Information
 Collection of processed data that gives clear meaning.

Example:
 Owh era ouy , snduett 1  Doesn’t give clear meaning

After processing:
1. How are you, student 1? OR
2. Who are you, student 1?
Both the above collections of data giving clear meaning
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Pictorial View of Data and Information
for better understanding!!!

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 What is Computer?
Binary Number:
 Binary: 0 or 1

Binary Form:
110010110

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 How does computer work?

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 IPO Cycle for making a cup of tea

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 Why Computer?
 There are some characteristics of computers that have
made them so powerful and useful which compel us to
use computer,These are:
 Speed.
 Accuracy.
 Diligence.
 Versatility.
 Storage Capacity.

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 Speed
 Computers work at an incredible speed. The speed with
which it performs is way beyond human capabilities. As a
comparison, it can do in one minute what a human being
would probably take a lifetime!
 When we refer to the speed of computers, we now talk
in terms of milliseconds (hundredth of a second),
microseconds (millionth of a second), nanoseconds
(billionth of a second), and even picoseconds (trillionth of
a second). A powerful computer is capable of performing
about 3-4 million simple instructions per second.

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 Accuracy
 In addition to being fast, computers are also accurate.
Errors that may occur can almost always be attributed to
human error (inaccurate data, poorly designed system or
faulty instructions/programs written by the
programmer) rather than technological weaknesses.

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 Diligence
 Unlike human beings, computers are highly consistent.
They do not suffer from human traits of boredom and
tiredness resulting in lack of concentration. Computers,
therefore, score high over human beings in performing
voluminous and repetitive jobs.

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 Versatility
 Computers are versatile machines and are capable of
performing any task as long as it can be broken down into
a series of logical steps.
 The presence of computers can be seen in every sphere –
Railway/Air reservation, Banks, Hotels, Weather
forecasting and many more.

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 Storage Capacity
 Today’s computers can store volumes of data. Unlike
human memory where unimportant information is
relegated to the back of the mind and forgotten as time
progresses, a piece of information once recorded (or
stored) in the computer, can never be forgotten and can
be retrieved almost instantaneously! Information can,
therefore, be retained as long as desired.

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 Generations of Computer
Evolution of modern computer is commonly considered
in terms of Generations of Computer. Each new
generation has seen the following changes in computer
characteristics.

 Increase in Speed.
 Increase in Storage capacity.
 Increase in Reliability.
 Reduction in System Cost.

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 1st Generations Computer (1942 –1955)
Characteristics:
 Vacuum Tube technology was used.
 Punched Cards used for feeding information.
 Punched Cards and paper used for getting results.
 Magnetic tapes were used for external storage.
 Oriented towards batch processing (Entire machine is
dedicated to a particular job until completed.
 Development of Machine Language.

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 Typical Computers
 Mark-1.
 ENIAC(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator).
 EDSAC(Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer).
 EDVAC(Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer).
 UNIVAC-1(Universal Automatic Computer)
 IBM 650.

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 Disadvantages
 Large Size.
 Unreliable.
 Thousand of vacuum tubes generate large amount of heat and
burn out frequently.
 Air conditioning required.
 Non portable.
 Commercial production was difficult and costly.

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 2nd Generations Computer (1955 – 1964)
Characteristics:
 Transistor technology was used.
 Punched Cards and Magnetic tapes used for feeding
information.
 Punched Cards and paper used for getting results.
 Magnetic tapes were used for external storage.
 Oriented towards more versatile type of applications in
which users were capable of using the machine
concurrently.
 Development of Assembly language.
 High Level Language were also developed during 2nd
Generation (FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC.
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 Typical Computers
 IBM 1400 series.
 IBM 700 series.
 General Electric 635.

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 Disadvantages
 Air conditioning required.
 Frequently maintenance required.
 Commercial production was still difficult and costly.

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 3rd Generations Computer (1964 – 1975)
Characteristics:
 The Integrated Circuits (Ics) which although microscopic in
size contained the equivalent of many transistors.
 Monitors and keyboards were introduced for data input and
output.
 Magnetic disks used for external storage.
 Even lower heat generated than 2nd generation computers.
 Maintenance cost is low because hardware failures are rare.
 Commercial production was easier and cheaper.

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 Typical Computers:
 IBM 360.
 ICL 900 etc.

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 4th Generations Computer (1975 to Present)
Characteristics:
 The Micro Chip (Microprocessor) technology
was used.
 Smallest in size.
 Very much reliable.
 No air conditioning required in most cases.
 Much faster in computation than previous
generations.
 Development of Higher level languages like C,
C++

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 Characteristics
 Heat generated is negligible.
 Hardware failure is negligible and hence minimal
maintenance is required.
 Easily portable because of their small size.
 Cheapest among all generations.

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 5th Generations Computer (Present - Beyond)
Characteristics:
 This generation is based on Artificial Intelligence.
 This generation is based on parallel processing
hardware.
 All the Higher level languages like C and C++, Java,
.Net etc. are used in this generation.

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 Examples of 5th Generation
 Maps and Directions
 Smart Cars and Drones
 Video Games
 Robots
 Speech recognition

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 Summary
We have learnt:
What is computer?
Why we prefer using computers for performing our tasks?
What are the generations of Computer?

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  Thanks for Listening
 Any Question Please feel free to
comment.

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 Vacuum Tube

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 Vacuum Tube

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 Punch Card

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 Magnetic tape

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 Transistor

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 Integrated Circuits (Ics)

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 Monitor

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