Fundamental of Computer
Today’s world is an
information-rich world and it has become a necessity for everyone to know about
computers. A computer is an electronic data processing device, which accepts
and stores data input, processes the data input, and generates the output in a
required format. The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you to Computers
and its fundamentals.
.jpg)
Fundamental of Computer
Functionalities of a Computer
If we look at it in a very
broad sense, any digital computer carries out the following five functions:
Step 1 - Takes data as
input.
Step 2 - Stores the data/instructions
in its memory and uses them as required.
Step 3 - Processes the data and converts it
into useful information.
Step 4 - Generates the
output.
Step 5 - Controls all the above four steps
Computer-
C-Commonly O-Operated
M-Machine P-Particularly
U-Used for T-Technology
E-Education
and R-Research
Advantagesof Computers
Following are certain
advantages of computers.
High Speed
• Computer is a very fast device.
• It is capable of performing calculation of very large
amount of data.
• The computer has units of speed in microsecond,
nanosecond, and even the picosecond.
• It can perform millions of calculations in a few
seconds as compared to man who will spend many months to perform the same task.
Accuracy
• In addition to being very fast, computers are very
accurate.
• The calculations are 100% error free.
• Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided
that the input is correct•
Storage Capability
•Memory is a very important characteristic of
computers.
•A computer has much more storage capacity than human
beings.
•It can store large amount of data.
•It can store any type of data such as images, videos,
text, audio, etc
Diligence
•Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony,
tiredness, and lack of concentration.
•It can work continuously without any error and
boredom.
•It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and
accuracy.
Versatility
A computer is a very
versatile machine. A computer is very
flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
This machine can be used to solve the problems
related to various fields.
At one instance, it may be solving a complex
scientific problem and the very next
moment it may be playing a card game
Reliability
A computer is a reliable
machine.
Modern electronic components
have long lives.
Computers are designed to make maintenance
easy.
Automation
Computer is an automatic machine.
Automation is the ability to perform a given
task automatically. Once the computer• receives a
program i.e., the program is stored in the computer memory, then the program
and instruction can control the program execution without human
interaction.
Reduction in Paper Work and Cost
The use of computers for
data processing in an organization leads to reduction in paper work and results in speeding up the
process.
As data in electronic files
can be retrieved as and when required, the problem of maintenance of large
number of paper files gets reduced.
Though the initial
investment for installing a computer is high, it substantially reduces the cost
of each of its transaction.
Disadvantages of Computers
Following
are certain disadvantages of computers. No
I.Q.
A computer is a machine that has no
intelligence to perform any task.
Each instruction has to be
given to the computer.
A computer cannot take any decision on its
own.
Dependency
It functions as per the user’s instruction,
thus it is fully dependent on humans.
Environment
The
operating environment of the computer should be dust free and suitable. No Feeling
Computers have no feelings or emotions.
It cannot make judgment based on feeling,
taste, experience, and knowledge unlike
Generation Of Computer 1st To 5th With Pictures
All the five generations of
the computer and the advances in the technology that led to the development of
many devices which everybody uses today. Our computer journey started in 1940
with the vacuum tubes and goes to the AI (artificial intelligence) system which
we use today. Let’s discuss the generation of computer 1st to 5th with pictures.
First Generation Of Computer: Vacuum Tubes (1940–1956)
Vacuum Tube
The first
generation of the computer used
Vacuum tubes for the circuitry and the Magnetic drums for the memory and taking up the big rooms. It was very expensive
to Operate and uses a great amount of
electricity and produced a large amount
of heat.
The first generation of the
computer relied on
the machine language, the lowest level
programming language which was understood by the computers to perform the
various functions and operations. It can solve the one problem at a time can’t
do the multitasking work. The input was based on the punched cards and the
paper tape and the output was displayed on the printouts. ENIAC and UNIVAC are
examples of the first generation of the computer. The first commercial computer
was UNIVAC which was delivered to the business client.
Advantages Of The First Generation Of The Computer
•The computer was very fast
to calculate.
•The vacuum tube technology
made possible the advent of electronic computers.
•Those days this was the
only electronic.
Disadvantages Of The First Generation Of The
Computer
•The first generation of
computer is not portable.
•It is not reliable devices.
•An air-conditioned is
required.
Second Generation Of Computer: Transistors (1956–1963)
Transistors
were used in the second generation of the computer and transistors replaced the
vacuum tubes. The first transistor was invented in 1947 but didn’t use in the
computer till 1950. Transistors are superior to the vacuum tube because due to
the transistors computer becomes smaller, cheaper and faster. It is very
reliable than the first generation of the computer. Transistors were also
produced the large amount of heat that subjected the computer to damage. But
some improvement was shown that in the second generation of the computer. The
input was based on the punched cards and paper tapes and outputs were displayed
on the printouts which were the same as the first generation of computer. The
second generation of computer moved to the symbolic or assembly language from
the cryptic binary machine language. This language allowed the programmers to
specify the input or instructions in words. High-level programming languages
were also developed at the same time. The first computer of the second
generation was developed for the atomic energy industry.
Advantages Of The Second Generation Of The
Computer
•
More reliable than the
first generation.
•
Good speed and can
calculate the data in the microseconds.
•
Also used assembly
languages.
•
Smaller in the size as compared
to the first generation.
•
Use less amount of energy.
•
Portable
•
Accuracy is improved than
its predecessor.
Disadvantages Of The Second Generation Of The
Computer
•
Constant maintenance is
required to work properly.
•
Commercial production was
very difficult.
•
Still punched cards were
used for input.
•
The cooling system is
required.
•
More expensive and
non-versatile.
•
Used for specific purposes.
Third Generation Of The Computer: Integrated Circuits (1964–1971)
 |
| integrated circuits |
The integrated circuits were used in the third generation of the computer. Transistors were placed on the silicon chips known as semiconductors which increases the speed and efficiency of the computer drastically. In the third generation of computer user used the keyboards
and monitors and interfaced with an OS (operating
system) instead of the punched cards and printouts. In this generation, the
computer can run many applications at one
time. This generation of the computer is small, cheaper and reliable than its
predecessors.
Advantages Of The Third Generation Of The Computer
•More portable.
•Consume less energy.
•Maintenance cost is lo than its predecessor.
Disadvantages Of The Third Generation Of The
Computer
• Highly sophisticated production was
cheaper and easier.
Fourth Generation Of Computer: Microprocessors (1971–2010)
 |
| microprocessor |
Advantages Of The Fourth Generation Of The Computer
•The air conditioner is not
required.
•Totally used for general
purposes.
•Small and compact in size.
•Heat generated is
negligible which is good.
•Faster than its
predecessor.
Disadvantages Of The Fourth Generation Of The Computer
• Highly sophisticated technology is
used for the manufacture of LSI chips.
Fifth Generation Of Computer: Artificial Intelligence (2010 — Present)
 |
| artificial intelligence |
The fifth generation of
the computer is based on artificial intelligence and still in development.
There are many applications which are used in this generation like voice
recognition which is being used today. The use of superconductors and parallel
processing helps to make the AI a reality. The goal or target of this
generation is to develop the devices that respond to natural languages.
Advantages Of The Fifth Generation Of The Computer
•More reliable and faster
than its predecessor.
•Easily available in
different sizes with unique and different features.
Disadvantages Of The Fifth Generation Of The Computer
• Disadvantages of the fifth generation of the computer have yet to be agreed upon
Types Of Computer
Analog computers
 |
| analog computer |
• Analog
computers always take input in form of signals.
• The input data is not a number infect a physical quantity
like temp., pressure, speed, velocity.
• Signals are continuous of (0 to 10 V).
• Accuracy 1% Approximately.
• Example: Speedometer.
Digital Computers
 |
| digital Computer |
•These computers take the input in the form of digits &
alphabets & converted it into binary format.
• Digital computers are high speed, programmable electronic
devices.
•Signals are two level of (0 for low/off 1 for high/on).
•Accuracy unlimited.
•Examples: Computer used for the purpose of business and education is also an example of digital computers.
Hybrid Computer
•The main examples are central national defence and
passenger flight radar system.
•They are also
used to control robots.
Super Computer
 |
| super computer |
The biggest in size.
•Most Expensive
•It can process trillions of instructions in seconds.
•This computer is not used as a PC in a home neither by a
student in a college.
•Used by Govt. for different calculations and heavy jobs.
•Supercomputers are used for the heavy stuff like weather
maps, construction of atom bombs, earthquake prediction etc.
Mainframes
•It can also process millions of instruction per second.
•It can handle processing of many users at a time.
•Less expensive
than Supercomputer • It is commonly
used in Hospitals, Air Reservation Companies as it can retrieve data on a huge
basis.
•This is normally too expensive and out of reach from a
salary-based person.
•t can cost up to thousands of Dollars.
Mini Computer
•These computers are preferred mostly by small type of
business personals, colleges etc.
•These computers are cheaper than above two.
•Its an intermediary between microcomputer and mainframe.
Micro Computer/
Personal Computer
•It is mostly
preferred by Home Users.
•Cost is less compared to above.
•Small in size.
•A microcomputer contains a central processing unit on a
microchip in the form of read-only memory and random access memory, and a
housed in a unit that is usually called a motherboard.
Notebook Computers
•Notebook computers typically weigh less than 6 pounds and
are small enough to fit easily in a briefcase.
•The principal
difference between a notebook computer and a personal computer is the display
screen.
•Many notebook display screens are limited to VGA resolution
Hardware and software
1.Hardware-Computer
hardware is any physical device used in or with your machine
Ex;- Mouse, Keyboard ,
Monitor ,Modem etc.
2.Software- software is
a collection of programming code installed on your computer's hard drive. In
other words,
Ex:- Office, Excel, Word,
PowerPoint, Outlook, etc
Input devices
and output devices
3. Input devices :- Input devices are used to give the
input to the computer systems. With the help of input devices we interact with
the computer and give the instructions to it.
Ex:- Keyboard, Mouse etc
input and output devcie
1. Output devices :- Output
devices are used to give the final result to the user which is given by the
computer processor.
Ex:-Monitor, Printer,
speakers etc.
Read Also :
