COMP 1 REVIEWER

What is COMPUTER?

- A computer is a programmable electronic device that accepts raw data as input and processes it
with a set of instructions (a program) to produce the result as output.
- The term "computer” is derived from the Latin word "computare” which means to calculate.
- Also designed to execute applications and provides a variety of solutions through
integrated hardware and software.
- The components of a computer such as machinery that includes wire, transistor, circuits, hard
disk are called hardware.
- While the programs and data are called software.

CHARLES BABBAGE

- Known as the father of the modern computer

- It is believed that he invented the first computer which is the Analytical Engine in 1837.
- The Analytical Engine used punch cards as read-only memory.

The basic parts without which a computer cannot work are as follows:

- Processor: it executes instructions from software and hardware.

- Memory: it is primary memory for data transfer between the CPU and storage.
- Motherboard: it is the part that connects all other parts or components of a computer.
- Storage Device: it permanently stores data, e.g., hard drive
- Input Device: it allows you to communicate with the computer or to input data.
Examples: Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone
- Output: it enables you to see the output.
Examples: Monitor, Printer, Speaker, Projector.

Computers are divided into different types based on different criteria. Based on the size, a computer
can be divided into five types:

1. Micro Computer – it is a single-user computer which has less speed and storage capacity than
the other types. It uses microprocessor as a CPU.
- Microcomputers are generally designed and developed for general usage like browsing,
searching for information, internet, MS Office, social media, etc.

Examples: Laptops, Desktop computers, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablets, and
smartphones.
 2. Mini Computer – known as “Midrange Computers”
- They are not designed for a single. They are multi-user computers designed to support multiple
users simultaneously.
- They are generally used by small business firms.
- For example, the admission department of a University can use a Mini-computer for monitoring
the admission process.

3. Mainframe Computer – it is also a multi-user computer capable of supporting thousands of

users simultaneously.
- They are used by large firms and government organizations to run their business operations as
the can store and process large amounts of data.
- For example, Banks, Insurance company use mainframe computers to store the data of their
customers, students, and policyholders respectively.

4. Super Computer – the fastest and most expensive computers among all the types of
computers.
- They have huge storage capacities and computing seeds and thus can perform millions of
instructions per second.
- For example, NASA uses supercomputers for launching space satellites and monitoring and
controlling them for space exploration.

5. Work Stations – it is a single computer. Although it is like a personal computer, it has a more
powerful microprocessor and a higher quality monitor than a microcomputer
- In terms of storage capacity and speed, it comes between a personal computer and
minicomputer.
- Work stations are generally used for specialized application such as desktop publishing, software
development, and engineering designs.

BENEFITS OF USING A COMPUTER:

- increase your productivity

- connects you to the internet
- storage
- organize data and information
- improves your abilities
- assist the physically challenged
- keeps you entertained
The computer has become a part of our life. There are plenty of things that we do in a day are
dependent on a computer. Some of the common examples are as follows:

1. ATM: While withdrawing cash from an ATM, you are using a computer that enables the ATM to
take instructions and dispense cash accordingly.
2. Digital currency: A computer keeps a record of your transactions and balance in your account
and the money deposited in your account in a bank is stored as a digital record or digital
currency.
3. Trading: Stock markets use computers for day to day trading. There are many advanced
algorithms based on computers that handle trading without involving humans.
4. Smartphone: The smartphone that we use throughout the day for calling, texting, browsing is
itself a computer.
5. VoIP: All voice over IP communication (VoIP) is handled and done by computers

History of Computers
The first counting device was used by the primitive people. They used sticks, stones and
bones as counting tools.

Abacus

- The history of computer begins with the birth of abacus which is believed to be the first
computer.
- It is said that Chinese invented Abacus around 4,000 years.
- It was a wooden rack which has metal rods with beads mounted on them.
- Abacus is still used in some countries like China, Russia, Japan.

Napier’s Bones

- Invented by John Napier of Merchiston (1550-1617)

- It was manually operated calculating device
- He used 9 different ivory strips or bones marked with numbers to multiply and divide.
- It was also the first machine that use the decimal point.

Pascaline

- Also known as Arithmetic Machine or Adding Machine.

 - It was invented between 1642 and 1644 by a French mathematician-philosopher Blaise Pascal.
- It is believed that it was the first mechanical and automatic calculator.

Stepped Reckoner or Leibnitz wheel

- It was developed by German Mathematician-Philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673.

- He improved Pascal’s invention to develop this machine.
- It was a digital mechanical calculator which was called the stepped reckoner as instead of gears
it was made of fluted drums.

Difference Engine

- In the early 1820s, it was designed by Charles Babbage who is known as “Father of Modern
Computer”.
- It was a mechanical computer which could perform simple calculations.
- It was a steam driven calculating machine designed to solve tables of numbers like logarithm
tables.

Analytical Engine

- This calculating machine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830.

- It was a mechanical computer that used punch-cards as input.
- It was capable of solving any mathematical problem and storing information as a permanent
memory.

Tabulating Machine

- It was invented in 1890 by Herman Hollerith, an American statistician.

- It was a mechanical tabulator based on punch cards.
- It could tabulate statistics and record or sort data or information.
- Tabulating Machine Company which later became International Business Machine (IBM) in
1924.

Differential Analyzer

- It was the first electronic computer introduced in the United States in 1930.
- Analog device invented by Vannevar Bush.
- This machine has vacuum tubes to switch electrical signals to perform calculations. It could do
25 calculations in few minutes.
Mark I

- First programmable digital computer

- In 1944, Mark I computer was built as a partnership between IBM and Harvard
- The next major changes in the history of computer began in 1937 when Howard Aiken planned
to develop a machine that could perform calculation involving large numbers.
- Invented by Howard Aiken.

Generations of Computers

A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in computer technology with time. In
1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform the counting. It replaced the gears
and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous computing machines.

First Generation Computers

The first generation (1946-1959) computers were slow, huge and expensive. In these computers vacuum
tubes were used as the basic components of CPU and memory. These computers were mainly depended
on batch operating system and punch cards. Magnetic tape and paper tape were used as output and
input devices in this generation;

Some of the popular first generation computers are;

- ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

- EDVAC ( Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
- UNIVACI( Universal Automatic Computer)
- IBM-701
- IBM-650

Second Generations Computers

The second generation (1959-1965) was the era of the transistor computers. These computers used
transistors which were cheap, compact and consuming less power; it made transistor computers faster
than the first generation computers.
 Some of the popular second generation computers are;

- IBM 1620
- IBM 7094
- CDC 1604
- CDC 3600
- UNIVAC 1108

Third Generation Computers

The Third Generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of transistors. A single IC can pack
huge number of transistors which increased the power of a computer and reduced the cost. The
computers also became more reliable, efficient and smaller in size.

Some of the popular third generation computers are;

- IBM-360 series
- Honeywell-6000 series
- PDP(Personal Data Processor)
- IBM-370/168
- TDC-316

Fourth Generation Computers

The fourth generation (1971-1980) computers used very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits; a chip
containing millions of transistors and other circuit elements. These chips made this generation
computers more compact, powerful, fast and affordable. These generation computers used real time,
time sharing and distributed operating system. The programming languages like C, C++, DBASE were also
used in this generation.

Some of the popular fourth generation computers are;

- DEC 10
- STAR 1000
- PDP 11
 - CRAY-1(Super Computer)
- CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)

Fifth Generation Computers

In fifth generation (1980-till date) computers, the VLSI technology was replaced with ULSI (Ultra Large
Scale Integration). It made possible the production of microprocessor chips with ten million electronic
components. This generation computers used parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence)
software. The programming languages used in this generation were C, C++, Java, .Net, etc.

Some of the popular fifth generation computer;

- Desktop
- Laptop
- NoteBook
- UltraBook
- ChromeBook

Types of Computer

We can categorize computer in two ways; on basis of data handling capabilities and size

On the basis of data handling capabilities, the computer is of three types:

1. Analogue Computer
- Designed to process analogue data.
- Continuous data that changes continuously and cannot have discrete values.
- Used where we don’t need exact values always such as speed, temperature, pressure and
current.
- Directly accepts the data from the measuring device without first converting it into numbers and
codes.
- Speedometer and Mercury Thermometer are examples of analogue computers.
Tyoes of Analogue Computers:

Slide Rules
- it is one of the simplest types of mechanical analogue computers
- developed to perform basic mathematical calculations
- made of two rods. To perform the calculation, the hashed rod is slid to line up with markings on
another rod.

Differential Analyzer

- developed to perform differential calculation

- it performs integration using wheel and disc mechanisms to solve differential calculations.

Castle Clock

- invented by Al-Jarazi
- it was able to save programming instructions
- it was around 11 feet in height and it was provided with the display of time, the zodiac, and the
solar and lunar orbits.
- This device also could allow users to set the length of the day as per the current season

Electronic Analogue Computer

- This type of analogue computer, electrical signal flow through capacitors and resistors to
simulate physical phenomena.
- The mechanical interaction of components does not take place

2. Digital Computer
- Designed to perform calculations and logical operations at high speed.
- Accepts raw data as input in the form of digits or binary numbers (0 and 1).
 - All modern computers like laptops, desktops, including smartphones that we use at home are
digital computers.

3. Hybrid Computer
- Has features of both analogue and digital computers
- It is fast like an analogue computer and has memory and accuracy like digital computers.

On the basis of size, the computer can be of five types:

1. Supercomputer
- Can process trillions of instruction in a second
- Used in scientific and engineering applications
- Developed by Roger Cray in 1976

2. Mainframe Computer
- Designed to support hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously.
- Can support multiple programs at the same time.

Applications of mainframe computer:

- In health care
- In the field or defence
- In the field of education
- In the retail sector

3. Mini frame or Mini computer

- Midsize multiprocessing computer.
- Can support 4 to 200 users at one time.
- Lies between the mainframe and microcomputer as it is smaller than mainframe but larger than
a microcomputer.
 Applications of minicomputers:

- Process control
- Data management
- Communication Portal

4. Workstation
- Single user computer

Characteristics of Workstations computer:

- It is a high-performance computer system designed for a single user for business or professional
use.
- It has larger storage capacity, better graphics, and more powerful CPU than a personal
computer.
- It can handle animations, data analysis, CAD, audio and video creation and editing.

Any computer that has the following five features, can be termed as a workstation or can be used as a
workstation.

- Multiple Processor Cores: It has more processor cores than simple laptops or computers.
- ECC RAM: It is provided with Error-correcting code memory that can fix memory errors before they
affect the system's performance.
- RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks): It refers to multiple internal hard drives to store or
process data. RAID can be of different types, for example, there can be multiple drives to process data or
mirrored drives where if one drive does not work than other starts functioning.
- SSD: It is better than conventional hard-disk drives. It does not have moving parts, so the chances of
physical failure are very less.
- Optimized, Higher end GPU: It reduces the load on CPU. E.g., CPU has to do less work while processing
the screen output.
 5. Microcomputer
- Also known as personal computer
- It has a microprocessor as a central processing unit, memory, storage area, input unit and
output unit.
- Laptops and desktop computers are examples of microcomputer.

Computer Components

There are 5 main computer components that are given below

- Input Devices
- CPU
- Output Devices
- Primary Memory
- Secondary Memory

The operations of computer components are given below:

1. Inputting
- It is the process of entering raw data, instructions and information into the computer.
- It is performed with the help of input devices.
 2. Storing
- The computer has primary memory and secondary storage to store data and instructions.
- It stores the data before sending it to CPU for processing and also the processed data before
displaying it as output.

3. Processing
- it is the process of converting the raw data into useful information.
- This process is performed by the CPU of the computer.
- It takes the raw data from storage, process it and then sends back the processed data to
storage.

4. Outputting
- It is the process of presenting the processed data through output devices like monitor, printer,
and speakers.

5. Controlling
- This operation is performed by the control unit that is part of CPU.
- The control unit ensures that all basic operations are executed in a right manner and sequence.

Input Devices

- Enables the user to send data, information, or control signals to a computer

- The Central Processing Unit or the CPU of a computer receives the input and process it to
produce the output.

Some of the popular input devices are:

1. Keyboard
 - Basic input device that used to enter data into a computer or any other electronic device by
pressing keys.

Types of keyboards

- There can be different types of keyboard based on the region and language used. Some of the
common types of keyboards are as follows:

i. QWERTY keyboard
- It is the most commonly used keyboard with computers in modern times.
- Named after the first six letters of the top row buttons.
- Popular in countries that do not use Latin-based alphabet.

ii. AZERTY keyboard

- Considered the standard French keyboard.
- Mainly used in France and other European countries.
- It gives emphasis on accents, which is required for writing European languages like French.

iii. DVORAK keyboard

- This type of keyboard layout was developed to increase the typing speed by reducing the finger
movement while typing.
- The most frequently used letters are kept in a home row to improve typing.