B A S I C

CLASSIFICATION
OF COMPUTERS
 GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER

INTRODUCTION
We have five generations of
computer, each generation has
better advancement than the
previous, the various generation
1st Generation: The period was (1940 – 1956), Made use
of Vacuum tubes, very large in size, made a lot of noise,
needed a big system because of the heat generated, it
needed A.C, consumed large electricity and supported
machine language only . Examples of such computers
were ENIAC, UNIVAC, EDSAC, IBM-650 etc.
@
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCcab1P22klddnopXgu3swn0A
2nd Generation: The period was (1956 –
1963)Major component was transistor.
Generated lesser heat, small in size, cheaper,
faster, consumed lesser electricity and more
reliable when compared to the 1st generation
computers needed A.C rooms, programming
language was machine and assembly
language.
3rd Generation: The period was (1964 – 1971),
major components was integrated circuit,
employed the small scale integration (SSI)
technology; High level language were used, easy to
use, smaller in size, consumed lesser electricity
and faster than the 1st two generations. Examples
were IBM-360 Series, PDP (Personal Data
Processor), TDC-316 (Torpedo Data Computer) etc.
4th Generation: The period was (1972 – 2010)
component was microprocessor, small in size,
employ the very large scale integration (VLSI)
Technology, user friendly software and
programming language is high level, very cheap,
faster than previous generation, portable and
reliable, no A.C needed, Examples were, CRAY-1,
PDP 11, STAR 1000 etc
5th Generation: The period is (2010- PRESENT
AND BEYOND). This generation uses Ultra large
scale integration (ULSI) technology, although
Artificial intelligence are still in development,
most devices these days are still been produced
using microprocessors, they have very small in
size, easy to use, high processing speed, large
storage capacity, intelligent, natural language
advancement. Examples are; Laptop, Desktop,
Classification by
sizes
•Super computer
•Mainframe computer
•Mini-Computers
•Micro-computers
Super computers
• They are computer systems with enormous power
and size. They are the largest, fastest and most
expensive of all computers.
• They are used for scientific and military research.
• The performance of a supercomputer is commonly
measured in floating point operations per second
(FLOPS).
• Used to track and control space exploration, for oil
exploration, weather forecasting.
Examples of super computers
• JAGUAR, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
• NEBULAE, China. ...
• ROADRUNNER, Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• KRAKEN, National Institute for Computational Sciences.
• JUGENE, Juelich Supercomputing Centre, Germany.
• PLEIADES, NASA Ames Research Center.
• TIANHE-1, China
• TITAN
 Mainframe computer
• Mainframe computers are referred to as "big iron”

• They are powerful computers used for large information

processing jobs.

• They are mainly used by government institutions and

large companies for tasks such as census, industry and
consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning etc.

• they are used in large organization banks, airline

Examples of mainframe
computers
• IBM zSeries

• IBM 704 mainframe (1964)

• System z10 servers

• HP mainframe

• IBM S/390

• HP9000

• AS/400 System
 Mini computers
• They are also known as workstations/Mid-range computers.
It was developed in the mid-1960s.

• They handle the computing needs of 4 to approximately

200 client computer in a smaller organization.

• used in different software application development.

• used for scientific and engineering computations, business-

Examples of mini
computers
•IBM AS/400
•IBM SYSTEM 360
•PRIME 9755
•Honeywell200
•HP 3000.
 Micro-computers
• They are the smallest general purpose computer on
the base of size.

• They are also called personal computers.

• It is easy to handle so it is used in different application

areas such as school, home, church etc.

• It consists of a single chip processor as its CPU.

• They are the smallest of them all.

• They are designed to be used by individual.

Examples of micro computers
• Modern desktop computers

• video game consoles

• Laptops

• tablet PCs

• mobile phones

• pocket calculators etc.

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON TYPES

• 1. Analogue Computers

• 2. Digital computers

• 3. Hybrid computers
Analogue Computers:

• An analog computer is a computer which is used to

process analog data. Analog computers store data

in a continuous form of physical quantities and

perform calculations with the help of measures. It

is quite different from the digital computer, which

makes use of symbolic numbers to represent

EXAMPLES OF ANALOG
DEVICES
Digital computers:

• A computer that performs calculations and logical operations with

quantities represented as digits, usually in the binary number system.

This type processes data in discrete form i.e “ON or OFF”; YES/NO.

They count numbers and can only produce integers (floating point

numbers). All the input must be in “quantized” or integral form

EXAMPLES OF DIGITAL DEVICES
Hybrid computers:

• These are the type of computers that combine the functions of

both Analogue and Digital signal/data using Analogue-Digital

converter or vice versa and work as a single system. Thus, a

Hybrid computer consists of an analogue and a digital computer

functioning as a single computer.

EXAMPLES OF HYBRID DEVICES
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO
PURPOSE

• 1.General purpose.

• ii. Special Purpose Computers:

General Purpose Computers:

• They are also called multi-purpose computers and are

used for Variety of works, they have the ability to store

various programs of instructions, perform a variety of

operation such as integrated processing, graphics,

database etc.
• Most computers are general-purpose machines

as they can handle many and different kind of

tasks of. Because, most Microcomputers are

general purpose, they have multi-tasking

capability. Assignment Write a short note on the

contribution of IBM and APPLE to the growth of

Special Purpose Computers:

• These were designed to perform one specific task such

as scientific work, or word processing. The program of

instructions is built into the `machine and this, once

booted, goes straight to the configured mode.

• They have merit of performing the job
economically, quickly and efficiently. They are
also known as Dedicated Purpose
Computers. Examples: Production control of
Refinery and Guidance, control of Airplanes,
weather study forecast, Automobile;
Thermostat; microwave ovens, etc.
 Class-work

1. How many generation of

computers do we have?
2. What technologies did the first,
second, third, fourth and fifth
generation of computers make use
of?
•CE 3 IN PROGRESS…

You have 3 mins

remaining…