UNIT-I

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
BCA-107
Introduction to Computers 2

 Topics Covered
 Characteristics of Computers
 History/Evolution

 Generation Of Computers
 Classification of Computers
 Distributed Computer System
 Parallel Computers
Basics 3

 Computer
 Performs computations and makes logical decisions
 Millions / billions times faster than human beings
 Computer programs
 Sets of instructions for which computer processes data
 Hardware
 Physical devices of computer system
 Software
 Programs that run on computers
Basics 4

 Definition:
 Its an electronic device that is used for Information Processing.
 Computer.. Latin word.. Compute
 Calculation Machine
 A computer system includes a computer, peripheral devices,
and software
 Also known as Data processor
 Accepts input, processes data, stores data, and produces output
Data Processing 5
Basic Analogy of Computers 6

 Input refers to whatever is sent to a Computer system

 Data refers to the symbols that represent facts, objects, and ideas

 Processing is the way that a computer manipulates data

 A computer processes data in a device called the Central

Processing Unit (CPU)
Contd.. 7

 Memory is an area of a computer that holds data that is waiting to be

processed, stored, or output

 Storage is the area where data can be left on a permanent basis

 Computer Output is the result produced by the computer

 An Output Device displays, prints or transmits the results of

processing
Computer Characteristics 8

 Automatic  Diligence

 High Processing Speed  Memory

 Accuracy  No I.Q.

 Reliability  No Emotions

 Versatility  Dependency
What Computers Do? 9

Four basic operations:

Receive input: Accept information from outside world
Process information: Perform arithmetic or logical operations on
information
Produce output: Communicate information to outside world
Store information: Store and retrieve information from memory and
storage devices
How do computer circuits manipulate 10

data?
 ALL computers are electronic, digital devices
 Digital devices work with discrete data, such as digits 1 and 0, or
like a light switch – on or off
 These 1s and 0s are referred to as binary digits or shortened to
bits
 Computers use sequences of bits to digitally represent
numbers, letters, punctuation marks, music, pictures, and
videos
Bits Basics 11

 Bit: From Binary digit

 Smallestunit of information computer can process
 Can have one of two values: 0 or 1

 Byte
 Collection of 8 bits
• Can represent 256
different messages
(256 = 28)
Bits as Numbers 12

 Denotes all numbers with combinations of 0s and 1s

 Decimal numbers automatically converted to binary
 Binary number processing hidden from user.

Decimal Binary Decimal Binary

0 0000 5 0101
1 0001 6 0110
2 0010 7 0111
3 0011 8 1000
4 0100 9 1001
Bits as Codes 13

 Codes represent each letter, digit,

and special character
 ASCII: Most widely used
• Each character is a unique 8-­bit
code
• 256 unique codes for 26 letters,
10 digits, special characters
 Unicode : Supports more than
100,000 unique characters
Computer Evolution
BCA-107
 History 15

Few First Inventions Machine Looks

•Before the 1500s, in Europe, calculations were made with an
abacus
Invented around 500BC, available in many cultures (China,
Mesopotamia, Japan, Greece, Rome, etc.)

•In 1642, Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist,

philosopher) invented a mechanical calculator called the Pascaline

In 1671, Gottfried von Leibniz (German mathematician,

philosopher) extended the Pascaline to do multiplications,
divisions, square roots: the Stepped Reckoner

None of these machines had memory, and they required human intervention at each step
History Contd.. 16

Invention Details Machine Looks

In 1822 Charles Babbage (English mathematician, philosopher), sometimes
called the “father of computing” built the Difference Engine

•Machine designed to automate the computation (tabulation) of polynomial

functions (which are known to be good approximations of many useful
functions)
–Based on the “method of finite difference”
–Implements some storage
•In 1833 Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, but he died before he
could build it
–It was built after his death, powered by steam
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The use of binary

In the 30s Claude Shannon (the father of “information theory”) had

proposed that the use of binary arithmetic and boolean logic should be
used with electronic circuits.
The Von-Neumann architecture

CPU Memory

I/O
System
Evolution 18

 Generation of Computers
 Mechanical Calculators
 First Generation (1946-59) :Vacuum Tube Computers
 Second Generation(1959-65): Transistor Computers
 Third Generation(1965-74):Integrated Circuits
 Fourth Generation(1975-89):VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated
Circuits)
 FifthGeneration(1990 till date):Microprocessors / ULSI (Ultra
Large Scale Integration)
First Generation 19

 Slow Input / Output device

 Very large in Size
 Huge size
 Vacuum tube technology
 Need of A.C.
 Unreliable
 Non-portable
 Supported Machine language only
 Consumed lot of electricity
 Very costly

 Generate lot of heat

EXAMPLES : ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC,

IBM-701, IBM-650
 20
Generation 1 : ENIAC
The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was unveiled in
1946: the first all-electronic, general-purpose digital computer
 Second Generation 21

 Use of transistors  Consumed less electricity as

 Reliable as compared to First compared to First generation

generation  Faster than first generation

 Smaller size as compared to First  Still very costly
generation  A.C. needed
 Generate less heat as compared to  Support machine and assembly
First generation languages
Examples: IBM 1620, IBM 7094, CDC 1604,
CDC 3600, UNIVAC 1108
 22
Generation 2: IBM7094
Third Generation 23

 IC used  Lesser maintenance

 More reliable in comparison to  Still costly
previous two generations  A.C needed
 Smaller size  Consumed lesser electricity
 Generated less heat  Supported high-level language
 Faster

Examples : IBM-360 series, Honeywell-6000 series,

PDP(Personal Data Processor), IBM-370/168, TDC-316
 24
Generation 3: Integrated Circuits

Seymour Cray created the Cray Research Corporation

Cray-1: $8.8 million, 160 million instructions per seconds and 8
Mbytes of memory
Fourth Generation 25

 VLSI technology used  No A.C. needed

 Very cheap  Concept of internet was
 Portable and reliable introduced
 Use of PC's
 Great developments in the
fields of networks
 Very small size
 Computers became easily
 Pipeline processing available

Examples: DEC 10, STAR 1000, PDP 11,

CRAY-1 & CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)
 26
Generation 4: VLSI
Improvements to IC technology made it possible
to integrate more and more transistors in a single
chip
SSI (Small Scale Integration): 10-100
MSI (Medium Scale Integration): 100-1,000
LSI (Large Scale Integration): 1,000-10,000
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration): >10,000

Microprocessors
 Fifth Generation 27

 Advancement in
 ULSI technology
Superconductor technology
 Development of true artificial  More user friendly interfaces
intelligence
with multimedia features
 Development of Natural language  Availability of very powerful
processing
and compact computers at
 Advancement in Parallel cheaper rates
Processing

Also Know for Future Developments:

Voice recognition, Artificial intelligence, Quantum computing, Bio computing,
Nano technology, Learning, Natural languages
 28

Examples : Desktop, Laptop, NoteBook, UltraBook, ChromeBook

Computer
Classification
BCA-107
 Classification 30

Sr.No. Type Specifications

PC (Personal Single user
1 Moderately powerful microprocessor
Computer)

2 WorkStation Single user More powerful microprocessor.

Mini capable of supporting hundreds of users

3 Multi-user.
Computer simultaneously

4 Main Frame Multi-user Software technology is different from minicomputer.

Super execute hundreds of millions of instructions per

5 Extremely fast
Computer second.
System Classification
• Micro Computers :IBM-PC Pentium, Apple Mac
▫ Desktop computers
▫ Laptop /Notebooks
▫ Hand Held / Personal Digital Assistant(PDA)
• Mini Computers:
▫ Ex..PDP11, VAX7500
• Mainframes:
▫ Ex..VAX 8000
• Super Computers
▫ PARAM Padma –Cdac product (1trpsec –proc. speed).
Distributed Computer System 32

 In this multiple computer systems are working on a single problem.

 In distributed computing, a single problem is divided into many parts, and each
part is solved by different computers.
 As long as the computers are networked, they can communicate with each other to
solve the problem.
 If all the above work is done properly, the computers perform like a single entity.
 The ultimate goal of distributed computing is to maximize performance by
connecting users and IT resources in a cost-effective, transparent and reliable
manner.
 It also ensures fault tolerance and enables resource accessibility in the event that
one of the components fails.
33
Parallel Computers 34

 Parallel computing is a type of computation where many calculations or

the execution of processes are carried out simultaneously. 
 Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be
solved at the same time.
 There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-
level, instruction-level, data, and task parallelism.
 Parallelism has long been employed in high-performance computing, but
has gained broader interest due to the physical constraints
preventing frequency scaling.
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