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THE COMPUTER MACHINE: DEVELOPMENT AND CLASSIFICATION

The word computer and computerization have come to mean difference things to
various people. Some see it as a machine for executing or implementing algorithm,
others see it as machines for automation of procedure particularly data processing
procedure. But by definition the computer is an electronic machine that has the ability
to automatically accept data, store data, process the data using some internal instruction
and give out the result of processing in the form understand by the user..
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically
carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of
operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind
of problem. The first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century
(1940–1945). Originally, they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power
as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).
Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more
capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space Simple computers
are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be powered by
small batteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information
Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded
computers found in many devices from mp3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to
industrial robots are the most numerous.
The computer’s main advantage is its speed and accuracy. Though it performs the same
functions as human endeavor entails, the fact that it does so with much speed and
accuracy and with a very minimal supervision or intervention, makes it desirable.
Today, the computer is viewed as an indispensable machine that has made the life easier
and more convenient.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER

Assignment
1. Mention any 10 personalities that has contributed to the development of computer
machine and their contributions
2. Mention any ten machines that were used before computer machine to aid computation

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER
Generally, advances in computer technology since the development of the digital
system in 1944, is classified into categories called computer generation. What
distinguishes any generation is the technology used at the time to construct the main
electronic logical element. The change in this technology led to changes in the internal
memory and any other memory in use, the programming language requirements and

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other facilities used with the system. The term “Logical Element” refers to the electronic
component used to facilitate the circuit function within the computer (The CPU). The
development of new logical element led to improvements that made the computer faster,
smaller, more reliable and less expensive than those of the earlier generation. The
computer is generally put into five generations namely first to fifth and recently the
sixth generation
1 The First Generation (1944-56)
The first generation, which began with the Mauchly and Eckert’s ENIAC, is considered
to span the period between 1944 and 1956. The vacuum tube is employed in the design
and constructing of the logical element. It The first generation computers are mostly
very huge and generate a lot of heat and noise therefore required a special cooling
system. The magnetic drums were used as storage facilities. First generation computers
relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by
computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time.
Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on
printouts.
The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing
devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business client,
the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951.

2 The Second Generation (1956-63)

The second generation of computer was between 1956 and 1963. The vacuum tube was
replaced with the Solid State Transistor which was discovered in 1947 but did not gain
widespread in the construction of electronics until the year 1854. The Solid State
Transistor was a major break through that allowed the computer to have reasonable size,
power and more energy conservation. Second-generation computers still relied on
punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to
symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions
in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time,
such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers
that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to
magnetic core technology.
3. The Third Generation (1964 – 71)
The introduction of the Integrated Circuit (IC) in 1964 saw the beginning of the 3 rd
generation of computer. With this technological advancement, a circuit board
containing one or more transistors, resistors and connecting wires are placed on a single
chip. This advancement meant greater reliability and compartment with lower cost and

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lower power requirement and general miniaturization of the circuitry and hence the
entire system. The generation also ushered in the use of Higher Level Languages and
general system compatibility. This generation lasted till 1971.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers
through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which
allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program
that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass
audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

4. Forth Generation (1971 – 1990’s)

The forth generation of the computer began in 1971 and extended till the late 80’s. or
early 90’s (Some text have this as the present generation) The generation is
characterized by a Large-Scale Integration (LSI) and Very Large Scale Integration
(VLSI). The integrated Circuits experienced further integrations. The generation also
witnessed the development of personal computers; user’s friendly data recording
equipment and density parked chips as well as the proliferation of Higher Level
Languages.

5. The Fifth Generation (1990’s to date)

The beginning of the fifth generation of computer cannot be accurately stated as it is for
other generation. This is because the generation does not start with a break through in
technology or the invention or introduction of a new hardware technology. Some writers
are still of the opining hat the fifth generation of computer refers to a future generation,
The fifth generation defined around some concepts of advancement in the development
and use of certain applications. The logical element remain largely as it as in the forth
generation, though there is advancement in networking and communication leading to
Internet, resource sharing paradigm, out sourcing etc. The generation is particularly
characterized by the development of expert system and artificial intelligence. Hence in
this generation a system or machine is thought of as having intelligence to take decisions
(artificial intelligence) and equally seen to be performing the functions expected of an
expert (expert System). Other paradigm may include voice recognition, natural
language processing, image processing and parallel computing,

6. The sixth generation (The future of computing)

The sixth generation is used to refer to the future of the computer development. This
generation shall be termed as the age of Quantum Computing where the systems are
expected to use the quantum phenomena like super imposition etc for its operations.
Researches are at advance stage for the development of this future system. The other

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focus of computing in the next generation is what is called DNA computing where the
design of the logic element shall be made to mimic the DNA operations.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER
There are various parameters used in the classification of computer. But the three major
parameters are: size, type and purpose.

Sizes of Computer
In terms of sizes, we refer to the dimensions of the computer machine, the cost of
acquiring it, the capacity of the machine and the number of users it can support at a
time. There are four sizes of computer. These are:
1 The Super Computer: -The supper computer is the most powerful and the largest
computer machine available. It is capable of performing thousands of million of
arithmetic operations per second. Because of its size and power it requires a
special cooling environment and a special support staff for it to function. It costs
over thousands of millions of dollars. It can support thousands of users at a time.
Hence it is said to be multi-user system. Supercomputers are mostly special
computers that work on a single task only. Supercomputers are used for highly
calculation-intensive tasks such as problems involving quantum physics,
weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling (computing the
structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules,
polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in
wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into
nuclear fusion).
2 The Mainframe: -The mainframe is next in size and cost to the super computer.
As the super computer it requires a special support staff and a special physical
environment. They are generally used in large business, Government academic
institution. It supports 100s of users at a time. Mainframe computers are often
shared by multiple users connected to the computer via terminals. Nearly all
mainframes have the ability to run (or host) multiple operating systems, and
thereby operate not as a single computer but as a number of virtual machines. In
this role, a single mainframe can replace dozens or even hundreds of smaller
servers. While mainframes pioneered this capability, virtualization is now
available on most families of computer systems, though not always to the same
degree or level of sophistication.
3 Mini Computer:- A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in
the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user
systems (mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems

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(microcomputers or personal computers). The class at one time formed a distinct
group with its own hardware and operating systems, but the contemporary term
for this class of system is midrange computer, such as the higher-end SPARC,
POWER and Itanium -based systems from Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-
Packard.it is equally a large and expensive systems but not as the mainframe. It
requires a special environment and support staff. It is a multi-user system too. It
can support up to 20 users at time. It is of the size that can fit into a hall or a big
room. Mini computers were also known as midrange computers. They had
relatively high processing power and capacity that mostly fit the needs of mid
range organizations. They were used in manufacturing processes or handling
email that was sent and received by a company. In the 70's they were the
hardware that was used to launch the computer aided design, CAD, industry and
other similar industries where a smaller dedicated system was needed.
4 Microcomputer:- It is a system that support only one user at a time. They are
small inexpensive systems that do not require special environment, to an extent
or a special knowledge to operate, though a well-ventilated environment is
required for longevity. It is a product of the forth generation technology of
computer. The microcomputer comes in desktops, mini and midi towers, laptops,
palm tops etc.

Types Of Computer
The classification of computer by type refers to the classification of computer based on
the way the internal logical element views its data or the type of data it can handle. To
the logical element, there are two types of data that. These are the discrete and the
continuous data. A discrete data is the data that does not assume an intermediate value.
It is always in whole number form. The continuous data is the type of data that can
assume intermediate values. it has fractional parts. According to these two types of data
there are three types of computer. These are:
1 An Analogue Computer:-The analogue computer handles or see its data as
continuous entity It is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable
aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic
quantities to model the problem being solved. Mechanical analog computers
were very important in gun fire control in World War II and the Korean War;
they were made in significant numbers. In particular, development of transistors
made electronic analog computers practical, and before digital computers had
developed sufficiently, they were commonly used in science and industry.
Analog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and
nomographs are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large
hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Analogue

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computers are used for physical measurements and converting physical measures
to value.
2 The Digital Computer:- The Digital computer handles or views its data as
discrete values. It can be seen as a counting machine. A digital computer
represents number, letters and instruction as digits and it preserves the digits of
data and instruction. Digital refers to the processes in which the computers
manipulate binary numbers. Most of the modern day computer machines in the
range of microcomputers are all digital systems. There data representation and
instruction are all in binary digits. In some text the words “computer” and “digital
computer” are used interchangeably rather than a type of the former.
3 Hybrid Computer:- Hybrid Computer is an intelligent and complex combination
of the above two types. It combines the capabilities of an analogue system with
the Power of the digital system. They are computers that exhibit features of
analog computers and digital computers. The digital component normally serves
as the controller and provides logical operations, while the analog component
normally serves as a solver of differential equations. It is a very powerful
computer system and as such they are mostly used to solve rather sophisticated
problems such as those of process control and optimization

Purpose Of Computer
The purpose of computer refers to the use of the computer system, There are two types
of computer according to purpose. These are:
1 A special/Single Purpose Computer:- A special computer is a computer system
designed for just one function and that is the only function it performs. The
computer used for guiding NASA”S space shuttles is an example of special
purpose computer. The input and output system are special and specific to the
purpose of the system.
2 A General-Purpose Computer: A general-purpose computer is a computer
system that is used for many purposes. Examples are the Microcomputers
designed to handle anything depending on availability of the software it requires.
A general-purpose computer is equipped with conventional input and output
facilities like the keyboard mouse VDU etc.