FOSEE , MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY

(436821-T)
MELAKA CAMPUS, JALAN AYER KEROH LAMA, !4!" MELAKA, MALAYSIA#
T$% 6"6 2!2 3!&4 F'( 6"6 231 8&&
URL) *++,)--./0$$#112#$32#14-5603-
Computer Science Department
(CSD)
Centre for Foundation Studies and Extension Education
(FOSEE)
PCA 0015
Computer Applications
Foundation in Engineering
ONLINE NOTES
Chapter 1
The istor! and "asic o# Computing

Learning Outcomes / Objectives:
Upon completion of this topic, the students should be able to:
Define the term computer.
Identify the components of a computer.
Compare the computer technology since the first generation till
present.
Classify different types of computers and their uses.
1.0 Introduction to Computer Applications [explain in lecture]
1.1 What is computer
A computer is an electronic machine that can be
programmed to accept data input!, process it into useful
information output!, and store it in a secondary storage
de"ice for future use.
FOSEE , MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY
(436821-T)
MELAKA CAMPUS, JALAN AYER KEROH LAMA, !4!" MELAKA, MALAYSIA#
T$% 6"6 2!2 3!&4 F'( 6"6 231 8&&
URL) *++,)--./0$$#112#$32#14-5603-
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
#he processing of input is directed by the soft$are but
performed by the hard$are
Hardware is the physical e%uipment that you can see and
touch e.g. mouse, monitor, spea&ers
Software is program or electronic instructions that tell the
computer $hat to do, $hen and ho$ to do it.
C!" / !rocessor is the brain of the computer located in
the computer's system unit.
#emor$ or %A# is the computer $or&space
&torage 'evices or &econdar$ &torage are de"ices that
store data and programs permanently e.g. dis&ette, hard dis&
(n the left is an example of )C
specification sold online. *ou
$ill learn more about it in topic
+, , and -. .ost ad"ertisement
$ill sho$ the speed and type of
the C)U, the si/e of the
memory, hard dis& and monitor
and the (perating 0ystem used.
0ome computer components reside in the s$stem unit,
$hich are internal, and some are external de"ices that are
attached to a computer, $hich includes all input, output, and
secondary storage de"ices. #hose external de"ices are called
peripherals.
1or the larger computer system, the input, processing,
output, and storage functions may be in separate rooms or
building.
C0D 2ecturers $%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
1.( )he *istor$ and +volution o, Computer
(b3ecti"e: student must &no$ the important names and
milestones, do not try to memori/e any dates
#he in"ention of computers began before the disco"ery of
electricity.
#housands of years ago, people started see&ing easier $ays to
add and subtract.
It e"ol"es from simple calculation using fingers then papers,
mechanical de"ices and no$ electrical.
#he first tools used as aids to calculation $ere almost certainly
man's o$n fingers.
As the need to represent larger numbers gre$, early man
employed readily a"ailable materials li&e small stones or pebbles.
#hus, it is also no coincidence that the $ord 4calculate4 is
deri"ed from the 2atin $ord for pebble.
#hat $as +5555 6C, but as man becomes cle"er many
calculating tools $as created till today li&e:
Abacus - 1000 ..C
Used by people in 6abylon
and China to do calculation.
7as been called by some
8estern $riters 4the earliest calculating
machine in the $orld.4
Logarithmic .oo/ 0 1112
In"ented by 9ohn :apier
for sol"ing more complicated
calculation.

C0D 2ecturers &%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
#echanical Calculator 0 112(
In"ented by 6laise )ascal.
Able to subtract, multiply
and carry the remainder automatically.
#his machine $as the
beginning of the de"elopment of
calculators
Blaise Pascal.
C/,4789*+ (6) 1&&# M'(.8$%3 : M/;+7/0$ I;+$7'6+8<$ I;6#
#he first de"ice that might
It $as in"ented by the
6ritish mathematician, Charles
.abbage3 $ho is &no$n as the Father
of Computers.
)o$ered by steam and
could automatically calculate
mathematical tables.
Anal$tical +ngine 0 1450
#he Difference ;ngine $as
only partially completed $hen 6abbage
concei"ed the idea of another, more
sophisticated machine called an
Analytical ;ngine.
6abbage $or&ed $ith
Augusta Ada Lovelace, a splendid
mathematician and one of the fe$
people $ho fully understood 6abbage's
"ision.
0he created a program for
the Analytical ;ngine.
7ad the Analytical ;ngine
e"er actually $or&ed, Ada's program
$ould ha"e been able to compute a
mathematical se%uence &no$n as
6ernoulli numbers.
6ased on this $or&, Ada
is no$ credited as being the first
computer programmer
In <=>=, a modern
programming language $as named ADA
in her honor.
6abbage $or&ed on his
Analytical ;ngine from around <?,5
until he died, but sadly it $as ne"er
C0D 2ecturers 5%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
completed. It is often said that
6abbage $as a hundred years ahead of
his time and that the technology of the
day $as inade%uate for the tas&.
#ar/ I 0 1622
Considered to be the first digital
computer.
In"ented by 7o$ard Ai&en at
7ar"ard Uni"ersity
"7I8AC1 0 1691
#he first business computer
to ta&e a United 0tates census.
In"ented by 9ohn .auchly
and 9. ;c&ert.
&ilicon 8alle$ 0 1692
7e$lett and )ac&ard, $ho
met $hile both $ere 0tanford
Uni"ersity undergraduates, set up shop
in a one@car garage in 0ilicon Aalley,
California.
#his mar&s the birth of
0ilicon Aalley as the ma3or center of I#.
P's #ounders "il e(lett
and )a*e Pac+ard
Internet 0 1616
#he Internet started during the
Cold 8ar $here the U0 military created
a net$or& to enable data to be
transferred bet$een geographically
separated computers.
#he net$or& is called AB)Anet
Ad"anced Besearch Agency )ro3ects!
and it connects UC2A, UC 0anta
6arbara, 0tanford and Uni"ersity of
Utah
#icroso,t 0 16:9
.ill ;ates, a dropped out of 7ar"ard
founded .icrosoft $ith his boyhood
friend !aul Allen
C0D 2ecturers ,%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
World Wide Web 0 1646
)im .erners0Lee in"ented the 8orld
8ide 8eb $ith it's component li&e
html, http!
7e is the Director of the 8orld 8ide
8eb Consortium.
7etscape Communications 0 1662
9im Clar& and .arc Andreesen found
:etscape Communications.
:etscapeCs first bro$ser becomes
a"ailable in 0eptember and creates a
rapidly gro$ing number of 8eb surfers
About !C and #ac <!ersonal Computer vs. Apple #acintosh=
(ne of the most interesting chapters in computer history is the
competition bet$een the companies. #he big names in the early days
$hen computer started to be popular among home users are: I6.,
.icrosoft and Apple. In <=>D, t$o guys called &teve Wo>nia/ and
&teve ?obs formed the Apple Computer Company on April 1ools day.
Although it $as not tremendously sophisticated, the Apple < attracted
sufficient interest for them to create the Apple II, $hich many belie"e
to be the first personal computer that $as both affordable and usable.
#he Apple II, $hich became a"ailable in April <=>>, $as sold for
U0E<,,55. In <=>> they had an income of U0E>55,555 and 3ust one
year later this had soared tenfold to U0E> millionF #his $as a great
deal of money in those days!.
1or your interest: In <=>G, an I6. mainframe computer that could
perform <5,555,555 instructions per second cost around
U0E<5,555,555. In <==G only t$enty years later!, a computer "ideo
game capable of performing G55,555,555 million instructions per
second $as a"ailable for approximately U0EG55F
#he Apple .acintosh, or #ac, came years later, in <=?-. It $as
designed $ith ease of use in mind, something that $as missing in
early systems. #he .acintosh entered the mar&et at a cost of E+,-=G
ga"e many computer users their first glimpse of the mouse handheld
pointing de"ice, and the graphical user inter,ace <;"I=. Instead of
complicated commands, this interface contained pictorial
representations, or icons, and other user@friendly elements.
C0D 2ecturers -%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
!C @ 6efore Apple entered the home@user mar&et $ith the .acintosh,
I6., firmly established as a de"eloper of office e%uipment, made its
first mo"e into the personal computer industry. In <=?<, I6.
introduced a small computer for use in the home or office called the
I6. )ersonal Computer, or !C. #he name )C caught on and soon came
to mean any computer that $as comparable to, or compatible $ith,
the original I6. )C. #oday, $e refer to I6. and compatible )Cs as a
particular class of computers.
#he original I6. )C $as succeeded by upgrades, such as the )ersonal
Computer H# )CIH#!, the )ersonal Computer A# )CIA#!, and the
)ersonal 0ystemI+ )0I+!.
;"en though .acintoshes are personal computers, they are not $idely
referred to as )Cs. Instead, they are simply called .acs. #he term )C
is used by most people to indicate I6. or compatible personal
computers.
1.5 )he @ive ;enerations o, Computers
@irst ;eneration <1622 0 1694= - 8acuum tubes
#he first computers used "acuum tubes for circuitry or sometimes@
magnetic drum
<
for memory. Aacuum tubes are electronic tubes about
the si/e of light bulbs. #he computers $ere not reliable because the
"acuum tubes generated a lot of heat and easily burnt. .ost input and
output media $ere punched cards and paper tapes. 1irst generation
computers relied on machine language to perform operations, and they
could only sol"e one problem at a time. #he U:IAAC and ;:IAC
computers are examples of first@generation computing de"ices.
&econd ;eneration <1696 0 1612= 0 )ransistors
#he era of miniaturi/ation begins. #ransistors replaced the "acuum
tubes. A transistor is an electronic s$itch that alternately allo$s or
disallo$ electronic signal to pass. #ransistors are much smaller than
"acuum tubes, dra$ less po$er, and generate less heat, $hich made
the computer smaller and more efficient than the first generation
computers. 0econd@generation computers mo"ed from machine
language to assembly, languages and still relied on punched cards for
input and printouts for output.
1
also referred to as drum, is a metal cylinder coated $ith magnetic iron@oxide material on
$hich data and programs can be stored.
C0D 2ecturers /%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
.inicomputers $ere de"eloped during this generation, and the first
successful minicomputer $as Digital ;%uipment Corporation's <+@bit
!'!04, $hich cost from U0E<D,555 up$ards $hen launched in <=D-.
)hird ;eneration <1612 0 16:0= 0 Integrated Circuit <IC=
Integrated circuit is an electronic circuit that pac&ages transistors and
other electronic components on one small silicon chip, called
semiconductor. It drastically increased the speed and efficiency of
computers. Instead of punched cards and printouts, &eyboards and
monitors $ere used to interact $ith the operating system. 0agnetic
dis&s $ere used $idely as secondary storage.
@ourth ;eneration <16:10!resent= - #icroprocessors
It co"ers the 2arge@scale integrated 20I! and Aery 2arge@scale
integrated A20I! circuits. A microprocessor is a single and tiny silicon
chip on $hich hundreds to millions of integrated circuits transistors!
$ere built onto it. In other $ords $e could say that $hat in the first
generation filled an entire room could no$ fit in the palm of the hand.
1ourth generation computers also sa$ the de"elopment of JUIs, the
mouse and handheld de"ices.
@i,th ;eneration <!resent and .e$ond= @ Arti,icial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence or AI is one of the branches of computer science
that concerns $ith ma&ing computers beha"e and thin& li&e humans.
AI studies include robotics, neural net$or&s, natural language, expert
systems and games playing.
1.2 )he )hree 'irections o, Computer 'evelopment
<. &maller si>e: ;"erything has become smaller.
+. #ore poAer: .iniaturi/ation allo$ed computer ma&ers to cram
more po$er into their machines, pro"iding faster processing
speeds and more data storage capacity.
,. Less eBpensive: #he price of the hard$are is getting cheaper
1.9 )$pes o, computer users
+nd user is the indi"idual $ho uses the product after it
has been fully de"eloped and mar&eted. #he term end user usually
implies an indi"idual $ith a relati"ely lo$ le"el of computer
expertise. Unless you are a programmer or engineer, you are
almost certainly an end user. 0ome boo&s also use the term high0
end users that refer to sophisticated and discerning user and loA0
end user for normal user li&e students and home users.
C0D 2ecturers 1%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
&mall .usiness "sers 0 small business or sometimes
&no$n as 0(7( small officeIhome office! is any company $ith less
than G5 employees. Usually this type of user $ill use )C $ith
net$or&ing capabilities &no$n as 2ocal Area :et$or& 2A:!.
#obile "sers 0 tra"eling people prefers laptops and )DA
1.: Classi,ication o, Computers
#he ma3or categories of computers are: supercomputer, mainframes,
$or&station, personal computer, mobile computing, and ser"ers. #he
differences are si/e, speed, processing capabilities, price and user.
&upercomputers
7igh@capacity computers that occupy special air@conditioned
rooms, and are often used for research.
#he most expensi"e computers that can process billions of
instructions per second.
.ost modern supercomputers are no$ running using parallel
processing systems $ith thousands of 4ordinary4 C)Us.
#he speed of a supercomputer is generally measured in 412()04
FLoating Point Operations Per Second!K
Used for tas&s that re%uires mammoth data manipulation such
as $orld$ide $eather forecasting, oil exploration and $eapons
research.
#ain,rames
2ess po$erful than supercomputers
1ast, large@capacity computers also occupying specially $ired,
air@conditioned rooms.
Used by large organi/ations@ban&s, airlines, insurance
companies, mail@order houses, uni"ersities @ to handle millions of
transactions.
#he C)U speed of mainframes has historically been termed as
.I)0 #illion Instructions !er &econd!.
#ypical mainframes ha"e from <+? .6 to - J6 of memory and
hundreds of gigabytes of dis& storage
Wor/stations
C0D 2ecturers 10%11
PCA0015 Computer Applications Topic 1
;xpensi"e, po$erful des&top machines used mainly by engineers
and scientists for sophisticated purposes such as engineering
applications CADICA.!, des&top publishing, soft$are
de"elopment, and other types of applications that re%uire a
moderate amount of computing po$er and relati"ely high %uality
graphics capabilities.
!ersonal Computers
#he most common for home users, computers that can fit on a
des&top or in one's briefcase.
Can perform all of its input, processing, output, and storage
acti"ities by itself.
0ome are called des&top , some are called to$er unit standing
"ersion!
#he term microcomputers are including des&top computers,
"ideo game consoles, laptop computers, tablet )Cs, and many
types of handheld de"ices.
#obile Computing
A generic term describing the application of small, portable,
and Aireless computing and communication de"ices.
#his includes de"ices li&e laptops $ith $ireless 2A:
technology, mobile phones, Aearable computers and
!ersonal 'igital Assistants )DAs! $ith 6luetooth or IBDA
interfaces, and U06 flash dri"es.
&ervers
0er"er computers are designed to support a computer net$or&
that allo$s you to share files, application soft$are, hard$are,
such as printers and other net$or& resources. *ou can use
mainframes, minicomputers and e"en microcomputer to be a
ser"er
0er"er computers usually ha"e follo$ing characteristics:
o Designed to be connected to one or more net$or&s
o #he most po$erful C)Us a"ailable
o .ultiple C)Us to share the processing tas&s
o 2arge memory and dis& storage
o 7igh@speed internal and external communications
capabilities
C0D 2ecturers 11%11