Computer Basics: By: Ramesh Babu

Computer Basics
By: Ramesh Babu

History of the Computer
Abacus
The period 2700–2300
John Napier (1617)
William Oughtred (1622)
Blaise Pascal(1642)
Blaise Pascal, a french
mathematician and philosopher,
invents the first mechanical
calculator using gears, called the
Pascaline. Although this machine
could perform addition and
subtraction on whole numbers, it
was too expensive and only Pascal
himself could repair it.
AN 8-GEARED
PASCALINE
A 6-GEARED PASCALINE
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
(1671)
Stepped Reckoner
a calculating machine
designed (1671) and built
(1673) by the German
mathematician-
philosopher Gottfried
Wilhelm von Leibniz.
Leibniz Machine
Joseph Marie (1804)
Joseph Marie Jacquard used punch cards to automate a
weaving loom.
Mechanical Calculating Devices
Punch cards
First used in the Jacquard Loom
Charles Babbage(1822)
Charles P. Babbage, the “father of
the computer”, discovered that
many long calculations involved
many similar, repeated operations.
He designed the difference engine
which would be steam powered,
fully automatic and commanded by
a fixed instruction program.
Babbage Difference
Engine
In 1833, Babbage quit working on the difference engine

to concentrate on the analytical engine.
Babbage Analytical
Engine
Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace(1840)
Lady Augusta Ada , the
“first programmer”
suggested that a binary
system should be used
for storage rather than
a decimal system.
George Boole (1850)
George Boole developed Boolean Logic which would
later be used in the design of computer circuitry.
Dr. Herman Hollerith 1888-1890
Dr. Herman Hollerith introduced

the first electromechanical
punched card data processing
machine which was used to compile
information for the 1890 U.S.
Census.
Hollerith’s tabulator became so successful that he
started his own business to market it.
His company would eventually become

International Business Machines (IBM).
John W.
1947 Mauchly
The giant ENIAC (Electrical

Numerical Integrator and
Calculator) was developed by John
W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert
Jr. at the University of
Pennsylvania.
It used 18,000 vacuum tubes,
punch card input, weighed 30 tons
and occupied a 30x50 foot space.
ENIAC
It wasn’t programmable but was productive from 1946

to 1955 and was used to compute artillery firing
tables/artillery trajectory.
1947
W. Shockley
William Shockley, John Bardeen, & Walter Brattain of

Bell Labs invented the transistor.
It would rid computers of vacuum tubes and radios.
1949
Maurice V. Wilkes built
the EDSAC (Electronic
Delay Storage
Automatic Computer),
the first stored-program
computer.
1949
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer), the second stored-program computer was
built by Mauchly, Eckert Jr., and Von Neumann.
First Generation (1940–1956): Vacuum Tubes
Second Generation (1956–1963): Transistors
Third Generation (1964–1971): Integrated
Circuits
Fourth Generation (1971–1989):
Microprocessors
Fifth Generation
Artificial Intelligence
GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS
There are five generations of computers.
They are:
First Generation Computers
Second Generation Computers
Third Generation Computers
Fourth Generation Computers
Fifth Generation Computers
First Generation Computers: (1940-1956)
Advantages:
They were the fastest calculating devices of their time.
Disadvantages:
Generates lot of heat
Consume a lot of electricity
Very big in size
Vacuum tubes have limited life
Difficult to program
Very expensive
Second Generation Computers: (1956-
1963)
Advantages:
Generates less heat than first generation.
Less consumption of than first generation
Faster, cheaper , smaller and more reliable than first
generation computers
Faster primary memory and larger secondary memory.
Disadvantages:
This generation of computer are made up of
transistors, which had to be assembled manually. This
made commercial production of computers difficult
and expensive.
Third Generation Computers: (1964-1971)
Advantages:
Faster than second-generation computers and could perform
one million transactions per second
Smaller, cheaper and more reliable than previous generations.
Widely used for scientific and business applications.
New high-level languages were developed
Implemented time-sharing operating systems.

Disadvantages:
Difficult to maintain
Heat very quickly
Fourth Generation Computers(1971-1989)
Advantages:
Smaller, Cheaper , faster and more reliable than
previous generations.
Less consumption of electricity and heat.
GUIs were introduced
Implementation of networks were done
Disadvantage:
They were not intelligent systems
Fifth Generation Computers: (Present and
Beyond)
Robot Sophia speaks at Saudi Arabia's Future
Investment Initiative
BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A COMPUTER
TYPES OF COMPUTERS
Computers can be classified into various ways depending
upon the following two things Based on principle of
operation
Based on principle of operation
 Analog Computers
 Digital Computers
 Hybrid Computers
Based on size and processing speed
Super Computers
Main Frame computers
Mini Computers
Micro Computers
INPUT DEVICES
Input Devices
Audio /
Pointing Handheld Optical
Keyboard Visual
Devices Devices Devices
Devices
Input Devices
Keyboard
Input: Pointing Devices
Mouse
Tracker ball
Touchpad
Input: Handheld Devices
Joystick
Stylus light pen
Touch Screen
Input: Optical Devices
Barcode Reader
OCR
OMR
MICR
Input: Audio –Visual Input Devices
Microphone
Input: Audio –Visual Input Devices
Digital Cam & Web Cam
Output Devices: Monitor
LED Monitor
( light-emitting diode)
Output Devices: Printers
Impact Printers
Output Devices: Printers
Non-impact Printers
Compute System
Software
Software is a set of instructions, data or
programs used to operate computers and
execute specific tasks. Opposite of hardware
, which describes the physical aspects of a
computer, software is a generic term used to
refer to applications, scripts and programs
that run on a device.
Classification of Computer Software:
Application Software:
A software that is designed to perform user tasks is called
“Application software”. Examples of application software
include: spreadsheets, database systems, web browsers etc.


System Software:
A software that is used control the system resources is called
“System software”. The system software act as an interface
between the hardware of the computer and the application
software that users need to run on the computer.
Differences between system so
ftware and application softwar
e
Some common system software examples
are:
Operating System: It is the most prominent example of System
Software. It is a collection of software that handles resources and
provides general services for the other applications that run over them.
Operating systems given below:
 Android
 CentOS
 iOS
 Linux
 Mac OS
 MS Windows
 Ubuntu
 Unix
Device Drivers: It is a type of software that controls particular
hardware which is attached to the system. Hardware devices that
need a driver to connect to a system include displays, sound cards,
printers
User Device Driver. Some examples of device drivers are:
BIOS Driver
Display Drivers
Motherboard Drivers
Printer Drivers
ROM Drivers
Sound card Driver
USB Drivers
USB Drivers
VGA Drivers
VGA Drivers
Virtual Device Drivers
Firmware: Firmware is the permanent software that is
embedded into a read-only memory. It is a set of
instructions permanently stored on a hardware
device.
examples of firmware are:
BIOS
Computer Peripherals
Consumer Applications
Embedded Systems
Programming Language Translators: These are mediator
programs on which software programs rely to translate high-
level language code to simpler machine-level code.
Utility: Utility software is designed to aid in analyzing,

optimizing, configuring and maintaining a computer system.
Some examples of utility tools are:
Avast Antivirus
Directory Opus
McAfee Antivirus
Piriform CCleaner
Razer Cortex
Windows File Explorer
WinRAR
WinZip
Operating System
Operating System is an interface between the user
and the hardware and enables the interaction of a
computer’s hardware and software.
Functions of OS
DEVICE MANAGEMENT –
FILE MANAGEMENT –
MEMORY MANAGEMENT –
PROCESS MANAGEMENT –
STORAGE MANAGEMENT –
Types of Operating System (OS) –
All different operating system types are listed below –
Windows
iOS
MAC OS
Ubuntu
Novell Netware
Unix
Linux
Mobile Operating System

These are some of Mobile Operating System –
 iOS
 Symbian
 Blackberry
 Windows
 Android OS
 Bada
Memory
Memory: Computer memory is any physical device
capable of storing information temporarily or
permanently.
A computer memory can be classified into 2 types:
Primary Memory
 ex: RAM (Random Access Memory) , ROM (Read-only
Memory)
Secondary Memory
ex: Magnetic Disks , Tapes etc.
TYPES OF RAM
RAM stands for “Random Access Memory”. It is a
primary memory where data and instructions are held
temporarily while the program being executed.
Types of RAM:
There are mainly 2 types of RAM.
Static RAM
Dynamic RAM
DRAM (Dynamic RAM):
Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM):
Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM
Double data rate SDRAM (DDR):
DDR2:
Rambus DRAM (RDRAM)
Synchronous link dynamic RAM (SLDRAM):
TYPES OF ROM
Programmable ROM [PROM]
Erasable PROM [EPROM]
Electrically EPROM [EEPROM]

Computer Basics: By: Ramesh Babu

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computer Basics: By: Ramesh Babu

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computer Basics: By: Ramesh Babu

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computer Basics

By: Ramesh Babu

In 1833, Babbage quit working on the difference engine

Dr. Herman Hollerith introduced

His company would eventually become

The giant ENIAC (Electrical

It wasn’t programmable but was productive from 1946

William Shockley, John Bardeen, & Walter Brattain of

Utility: Utility software is designed to aid in analyzing,

Mobile Operating System

You might also like