What is Computer? | its Working | Computer Generations | SparkEasy

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👉What's Computer? How does it Work? Write about the different Computer Generations. | SparkEasy

SparkEasy Explains ~ What's Computer?

➤A computer is a programmable electronic device that is designed to work with Information. It accepts raw data as input and processes it with a set of instructions (a program) to produce the result as output. Hence, a computer is also known as a data processor (See fig. below). A computer can't do anything without a Program. It represents the decimal numbers (base 10) through a string of binary digits (0 and 1).

A computer is designed to execute applications and provides solutions with the help of integrated hardware and software components. It also has a memory that stores the data, programs, and processing results. The components of a computer which include - transistors, circuits, and hard disks are called hardware. Whereas, the programs and data are called software.

Charles Babbage is called the "Father of the computer". It is believed that the First mechanical computer (Analytical Engine) was designed by Charles Babbage. And it uses Read-only memory (ROM) in the form of punch cards.

How does Computer work? | SparkEasy

➤Normally, computers don't ever try to mimic the human brain. Instead, they run commands sequentially, with data constantly moving from input and memory to the computer's processor.

A computer actually works in four steps: Input, Storage, Processing, and Output.

Input: An input is a piece of information that is provided to the Computer system. It is the data before processing. It comes from the mouse, keyboard, microphone, and other external sensors.

Storage: It is the place where our input gets stored in a computer system. It is known as Computer's Memory that keeps the data. The hard drive is used for long-term and bulk data storage while the data for immediate processing is stored temporarily in the Random Access Memory (RAM).

Processing: Processing is where input gets transformed into output. The computer's Central Processing Unit (CPU) is its brain. It's responsible for executing instructions and performing mathematical operations on the input data.

Output: Output is the final result of data processing. It can be anything from images, video, or audio content, even the words you type using a keyboard. You can also receive the output through a printer or a projector instead of directly through your device.

These all play an important role in the working of a computer.

Different Computer Generations ~ Summary

Generation (Period)	Key Hardware technologies	Key Software technologies	Key Characteristics	Some representative Systems
First (1942-1955)	Vacuum tubes; Electromagnetic relay memory; Punches cards secondary storage;	Machine and Assembly Languages; Stored program concepts; Mostly scientific applications;	Bulk in size; Highly unreliable; Limited commercial use; Commercial production difficult and costly; Difficult to use;	ENIAC, EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701
Second (1955-1964)	Transistors; Magnetic core memory; Magnetic tapes and disks secondary storage;	Batch operating system; High-level programming languages; Scientific and Commercial Applications;	Faster; Smaller; More reliable and easier to plan than previous generation systems; Commercial production was still difficult and costly;	Honeywell 400, IBM 7030, CDC 1604, UNIVAC LARC
Third (1964-1975)	ICs with SSI and MSI technologies; Larger magnetic core memory; Larger capacity magnetic disks and tapes secondary storage; Minicomputers;	Timesharing operating system; Standardization of high-level programming languages; Unbundling of software from hardware;	Faster; Smaller; More reliable; Easier and cheaper to produce commercially; Easier to use and upgrade; Scientific; Commercial and interactive online applications;	IBM 360/370, PDP-8, PDP-11, CDC 6600
Fourth (1975-1989)	ICs with VLSI technology; Microprocessors; Larger capacity hard disks as in-built secondary storage; Magnetic tapes and floppy disks as portable storage media; Personal computers; Spread of high-speed computer networks;	Operating systems for PCs; GUI; Multiple windows on a single terminal screen; Multiprocessor OS and concurrent programming languages; UNIX OS; C and C++ programming languages; PC-based applications; Network-based applications; Object-oriented software design;	Small; Affordable; Reliable; Easy to use PCs; More powerful and reliable mainframe systems; General purpose machines; Easier to produce commercially;	IBM PC and its clones, Apple II, TRS-80, VAX 9000, CRAY-1, CRAY-2, CRAY-X/MP
Fifth (1989-Present)	ICs with ULSI technology; Multicore processor chips; Larger capacity main memory; Larger capacity hard disks; Optical disks as portable read-only storage media; Notebook computers; Powerful desktop PCs and workstations; Very powerful mainframes; Supercomputers based on parallel processing; The internet	World wide web; Multimedia applications; Internet-based applications; Microkernel, multithreading, and multicore OS, JAVA programming language; MPI and PVM libraries for parallel programming	Portable computers; More powerful; Cheaper; Reliable; Easier to use desktop machines; Very powerful mainframes; Very high uptime due to hot-pluggable components; General purpose machines; Easier to produce commercially	IBM notebooks, Pentium PCs, SUN Workstations, IBM SP/2, SGI Origin 2000, PARAM supercomputers

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