History of Development

Evolution of Computers

Generation of Computers

Evolution of Computers
Necessity is the mother of Invention

Computer was inventedMans search for fast and Accurate

Calculating Device.
Blaise Pascal 1st Mechanical adding Machine in 1642
1671 1st Calculator for Multiplication
1880 Keyboard Machines
1970 Herman Hollerith Concept of Punch Cards as
input medium
The Business Machines and Calculators at end of 19th
Century

Continue..

Charles Babbage Father of Modern Digital Programmable

Computers

Major Drawback with early Machines programs wired on

boards difficult to change programs

In 1940 Dr. John Von Neumann Concept of Stored

Program Instruction and Data can be stored in memory of

a computer that automatically direct flow of operations
This programs loaded and executed on a single computer
Due to this Modern Digital Computers=Stored Program
Digital Computers

Computer Generation

Generation provides a framework for the growth of

computer industry based on key technologies developed

Includes both H/w and S/w Aspects
5 Generations known until today

Lets See.

1st generation

Important Terms
What is Vacuum Tube?

A sealed glass tube containing a near-vacuum that allows the free

passage of electric current.

Vacuum tubes contain electrodes for controlling electron flow in
early computers that used them as a switch or an amplifier.
Vacuum is space that is empty of matter

 A Filament is the little wire you see inside of a light bulb that

glows normally reddish or orangish when you supply

electricity to it such as when you turn on the "Light Switch".
Amplifier::is an electronic device that increases the power of
a signal. It does this by taking energy from a power supply and
controlling the output to match the input signal shape but with
a larger amplitude. In this sense, an amplifier modulates the
output of the power supply.
Electronic Switching Device:An electronic device in
which one or more input signals can be routed to one or more
outputs by the application of the appropriate electrical control
signals.

First Generation (1942-1955)

First generation computer were manufactured using

Vacuum Tubes as Switching devices.

A Vacuum tube is a fragile glass device using filaments as
a source of electronics
It could control and amplify electronic signals
It was the only high-speed electronic switching device
available in those days
These vacuum tube computers could perform
computations in milliseconds.

working
These computers work on the principle of storing program

instructions along with data in memory of computer (stored

program concept)
They could automatically execute a program without human
intervention.
Memory of these computers used electromagnetic relays
Users fed all data and instructions into the system using punched
cards.
Punched Card: A medium for feeding data into a computer,
essentially a card punched with holes or notches to represent
letters and numbers or with a pattern of holes to represent
related data. Also called Hollerith card.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g.knott/elect129.htm

 Early method of data storage used with early computers.

Punch cards also known as Hollerith cards and IBM

cards are paper cards containing several punched holes that

where originally punched by hand and later by computers
that represents data.
These cards allowed companies to store information and be
able to access that information by entering the card through
the computer.

 Programmers wrote instruction in machine and Assembly

language because lack of high level programming language in

those days
Machine and Assembly language difficult to work with so only
few specialists understood its working

Characteristics
Bulky in size

Highly unreliableBook point 5th

Limited commercial use---- Maintenance and heavy Power

consumption
Commercial production difficult and costlyPoint 7th
Difficult to use Point 8th

Summary
Key Hardware Technologies
Vacuum Tubes
Electromagnetic relay memory
Punched card secondary memory

 Key Software Technologies

Machine and Assembly Languages

Stored Program Concept
Mostly Scientific Applications

 Some Well-Known Systems

ENIAC
UNIVAC
http://www.comsci.us/history/gen1.html

2nd Generation

Switching Device is the Transistor

Proved to be a better Electronic Switching Device than Vacuum

Tubes Due to:

1. They are more strong and easier to handle than the tubes
2. They are highly reliable as compared to tubes because they had
no parts such as filament that could burn out
3. They could switch much faster than tubes
4. They consumed almost one-tenth the power consumed by the
tube
5. Smaller than tubes
6. Less expensive to produce
7. They dissipated much less heat as compared to vacuum tubes

Transistor

Hardware

2nd Generation computers were manufactured using Transistors

More powerful
2. More reliable
3. Less expensive
4. Smaller
Also change in the Storage Technology
Memory was composed of Magnetic Cores
1.

Magnetic Core: small rings made of ferrite than can be

magnetized in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction

 Large random access memory had several magnetic cores strung on

mesh of wires
Magnetic tape faster and more convenient secondary storage
medium
Magnetic disk storage n tape main secondary storage media in
this generation
Still users used punch cards for preparing and feeding programs
and data to a computer

Software
High level languages (FORTRAN , COBOL) and Batch Operating

System
Batch Operating System: A program takes a set of data files as
input, processes the data, and produces a set of output data files.
This operating environment is termed as "batch processing"
because the input data are collected into batches of files and are
processed in batches by the program.

 Batch OS help reducing human intervention

+
Processing Multiple Jobs faster processing , Enhanced
throughput (is the amount of transactions produced over time)
and easier operation
In addition to Scientific computations , business and industry
users used 2nd G computers commercial data processing app
like:
1. Payroll
2. Inventory Control
3. Marketing
4. Production Planning

 Ease of use new profession of programmers and system

analysts
Oriented towards usage rather than design

Characteristics

Ten times more faster than 1st G computers

Smaller and required smaller space

Consumed less power dissipated less heat but still

required to be properly air conditioned

More reliable and less prone to hardware failures
Faster and larger primary and secondary storage
Easy to program wide commercial use
Thousands of individual transistors had to be assembled
manually by hand into electronic circuits commercial
production costly and difficult

Videos
Punch card

ENIAC

3rd Generation Computers

1958- 1st Integrated Circuits

ICs circuits consisting of several electronic components like:

Transistors
2. Resistors and
3. Capacitors
Grown on a single chip of silicon
Eliminated wired interconnection between components
IC technology also known as Microelectronics made it
possible too integrate large no. of circuit components into
very small surface of silicon known as chip
1.

 Initially IC 10-20 Components known as SSI(Small Scale

Integration)
With advancement in technology ICs up to 100
components on single chip MSI (Medium Scale Integration)
ICs were:
1. Smaller
2. Less Expensive to produce
3. More Powerful
4. More Reliable
5. Faster in Operation

Storage Technology

Advancement allowed construction of larger Magnetic

core based Random Access Memory

Also larger capacity magnetic disks and tapes

Software Front

Standardization of high-level programming languages

Time Sharing Operating Systems

Unbundling of s/w from h/w creation of independent

s/w industry

What is time sharing OS?

In Batch Processing users prepare data submit to

computer for processing operator collects this user jobs

fed in batches at scheduled intervals
Users then collect output from computer centre
Inevitable delay time
To rectify it the concept of TIME SHARING OS came.
It let user use computer resources simultaneously
This concept has improved the productivity of programmers
and made online system flexible
This had resulted in new online applications like:
1. Airline Reservation system
2. Interactive Query System

System 360

IBM introduced a family of computers with Backward

Compatibility
Different sizes of Mainframe Systems same Machine Language
This enabled businesses to upgrade computers without extra
costs of equipment replacement or modifying programs
to run on new systems.

Mini Computers

Early 1960 Mainframe Only large companies could afford

to purchase Bigger, Faster and Costlier

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) introduced 1st
commercially available Minicomputer
PDP-8 (Programmed Data processor):
1. Easy to fit
2. No need to have a full time computer operator
3. Used Time sharing OS
4. Cost was one fourth of the Traditional Mainframe System
affordable to small companies

Characteristics
More powerful than 2nd G 1million instructions per sec
Smaller than 2nd G

Less power consumption dissipated less heat but still required

A.C. rooms
More reliable less chances of h/w failure lower Maintenance cost
Faster and larger primary and secondary storage
General purpose machine suited for both scientific and commercial
applications
Commercial production easier and cheaper
Standardization of high-level programming languages allowed programs
written for one computer to be easily ported to and executed on
another computer
Affordable by small companies also

 Interactive usage and simultaneous use of system by multiple users

Unbundling of s/w
from h/w

Time Sharing OS

Online system feasible new online app

Improve productivity
of programmers
cutting down time and
cost of program
development

Drawbacks

Highly sophisticated technology and expensive setup was

required for the manufacture of IC chips

4th Generation Hardware Specific

ICs with VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)technology
Microprocessors
Semiconductor Memory :: Large random access memories with

very fast access time

Larger capacity hard disks as in built secondary storage
Magnetic tapes and floppy disks as portable storage media
Personal computers
Spread of high-speed computer networks

Microprocessor:: it contains all the circuits needed to perform

arithmetic logic and control functions. Core activities of all

computers on a single chip

Software Specific

Operating system for PCs such as MS-Dos, MS-Windows and MAC

OS.
GUI-Provides icons and Menus
Multiple windows on a single terminal screen
Multiprocessor OS
Concurrent programming Languages
UNIX , C, C++ OS
PC- based applications
Network based applications
Object Oriented software design
Multiprogramming: Allows Programmers to write their
applications in such a way that different processors could execute parts
of the application in parallel.
It was easy to port program from one computer to another.

Key Characteristics

Small, affordable, reliable and easy to use PCs

More powerful and reliable mainframe systems

Easier to produce commercially

Less power Consumption then 3rd generation

Faster and Larger Primary and Secondary Storage

Standard High Programming Language
GUI- made Easy to use Computer

Network of Computers enabled sharing of resources like

disks, printers etc among multiple users and computers

5th Generation
ICs with ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology
Multi core Processor ChipsMore work in Parallel

Larger Capacity main memory, hard disk

RAID-Redundant Array of Inexpensive DisksBunch of Disks as

Single Large Disk.

This supported larger hard Disk and better Reliability
Optical Disks as portable Mass Storage Media
Notebooks, Powerful computers, Powerful Desktops PC and
Work stations
Powerful Mainframes
Parallel Processing-Supercomputers
InternetE-Mails, WWW, E-Commerce, Virtual Libraries etc

 Parallel Processing Uses Multiple Processors Systems use

Parallel Programming technique Break a problem into smaller

problems Execute them in parallel on Multiple Processors
Shared Memory

1. Processors uses
memory access
mechanism
2. Less Scalability

Distributed Memory

1. Processors uses
message-Passing
mechanism
2. Better Scalability
3. Using high-speed
Commodity switched
Network
Clustering Powerful
Work stations

Clustering
Technology

Software Specifications
WWW

Multimedia applications

Internet Based applications

Micro kernel Modular Design Makes OS easy to:

Design

Implement

Modify or Add new services

Multi Threading leads to faster execution and better system

performance
Multi core operating system runs multiple programs at
same time
Programming Language and Parallel Programming Libraries

Key Characteristics
Portable Computers

More powerful, cheaper, reliable and easier to use desktop

machines
Very powerful mainframes
General purpose machines
Consume Less Power
Easier to produce commercially
User-Friendly interfaces with Multimedia Applications

Combined View

Classification or Types of
Computers

Analog Computers

Analog Computer is a computing device that

works on continuous range of values.
The results given by the analog computers will
only be approximate since they deal with
quantities that vary continuously.
It generally deals with physical variables such as
voltage, pressure, temperature, speed, etc.

Digital Computers

A digital computer operates on digital data such as

numbers. It uses binary number system in which
there are only two digits 0 and 1. Each one is called a
bit.
The digital computer is designed using digital circuits
in which there are two levels for an input or output
signal.
These two levels are known as logic 0 and logic 1.
Digital Computers can give more accurate and faster
results.
Digital computer is well suited for solving complex
problems in engineering and technology.
Hence digital computers have an increasing use in the
field of design, research and data processing.

Based on the purpose, Digital computers can be

further classified as,
General Purpose Computers
Special Purpose Computers
Special purpose computer is one that is built for a
specific application.
General purpose computers are used for any type
of applications.
They can store different programs and do the jobs
as per the instructions specified on those programs.
Most of the computers that we see today, are
general purpose computers.

Hybrid Computers

A hybrid computer combines the

desirable features of analog and digital
computers.
It is mostly used for automatic operations
of complicated physical processes and
machines.
Now-a-days analog-to-digital and digitalto-analog converters are used for
transforming the data into suitable form
for either type of computation.

For example, in hospitals ICU, analog devices

might measure the patients temperature,
blood pressure and other vital signs.
These measurements which are in analog
might then be converted into numbers and
supplied to digital components in the system.
These components are used to monitor the
patients vital sign and send signals if any
abnormal readings are detected.
Hybrid computers are mainly used for
specialized tasks.

Super Computers

They are the best in terms of processing capacity and also the most
expensive ones.
These computers can process billions of instructions per second.
Normally, they will be used for applications which require intensive
numerical computations such as stock analysis, weather forecasting
etc.
Other uses of supercomputers are scientific simulations, (animated)
graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research,
electronic design, and analysis of geological data (e.g. in petrochemical
prospecting).
Perhaps the best known super computer manufacturer is Cray
Research.
Some of the "traditional" companies which produce super computers
are Cray, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
Note: Refer Notes and Super Computers Presentation by
Saumil

Applications that need Super

Computers for processing

Petroleum Industry
Aerospace Industry
Automobile Industry
Meteorological centers
Film and TV industries

Mainframe Computers

Mainframe computers can also process

data at very high speeds i.e., hundreds of
million instructions per second and they
are also quite expensive.
Normally, they are used in banking,
airlines and railways etc for their
applications.
Note: Refer Notes and Main frames Presentation by
Hardik

Components

Host, Front-End and Back-End Computers

Console
Storage Devices
User Terminals
Output Devices

Mini Computers

A step down from mainframes,

minicomputers are multi-user machines
that first became available in the 1960s
with the arrival of the integrated circuit.
Mini computers are lower to mainframe
computers in terms of speed and storage
capacity.
They are also less expensive than
mainframe computers.

Some of the features of mainframes will not

be available in mini computers.
Hence, their performance also will be less
than that of mainframes.
In size and power, minicomputers lie
between Workstations and Mainframes
A Minicomputer is a multiprocessing
system capable of supporting 4 to 200
users simultaneously

It was the integrated circuit that enabled

computer manufacturers to build
computers that were much cheaper than
mainframes while still boasting tremendous
processing power.
Minicomputers were considered the
middle of the computing spectrum, and
are commonly referred to as midrange
computers.

Note: Refer to Mini Computers Presentation by Devyol

Micro Computers

The invention of microprocessor (single

chip CPU) gave birth to the much
cheaper micro computers. They are
further classified into:
Desktop Computers
Laptop Computers
Handheld Computers(PDAs)

Desktop or Personal
Computers(PC)

Today the Desktop computers are the most popular computer systems.
These desktop computers are also known as personal computers or simply
PCs.
They are usually easier to use and more affordable.
They are normally intended for individual users for their word processing and
other small application requirements.

Note: Refer Notes for the above topic

In short, PC is a non-portable , general

purpose computer used for computing
needs either at work place or home
Pc Several Chips RAM Chips, ROM
Chips, I/O Handling Chips assembled
on the main circuit called the System
Board or Motherboard
Two commonly used models Desktop
model and Tower model

Expansion Slots

Network Interface Card

Fax Modem Card
Color and Graphics Adapter Card
Motion Video Card

System Unit of PC Input/Output Ports

for connecting storage devices
Popular OS MS-DOS, MS-Windows,
Linux, Unix.
Lenovo, Apple, Dell, HCL are some of the
major manufacturers

Laptop
Laptop computers are portable computers.
They are lightweight computers with a thin screen.
They are also called as notebook computers because of
their small size.
They can operate on batteries and hence are very
popular with travelers.
The screen folds down onto the keyboard when not in
use.
Keyboard, trackball, Hard Disk, CD Drive, I/O Ports etc
are the units

Note: Refer to Notebooks Presentation by Jeet

Handheld

A portable computer that is small enough

to be held in one's hand.
Although extremely convenient to carry,
handheld computers have not replaced
notebook computers because of their
small keyboards and screens.
The most popular hand-held computers
are those that are specifically designed to
provide PIM (personal information
manager) functions, such as a calendar and
address book.

1.PDA
Personal Digital Assistants a type of Hand
held Computer (PDAs) are pen-based and also
battery-powered.
They are small and can be carried anywhere.
They use a pen like stylus and accept
handwritten input directly on the screen.
They are not as powerful as desktops or
laptops but they are used for scheduling
appointments, storing addresses and playing
games.
They have touch screens which we use with a
finger or a stylus.

Note: Refer to PDAs Presentation by Ayush

II .Tablet PC

Light Weight
Screen Flip
Handwriting Recognition
Voice Recognition
Special Design for Tablet use

III. Smart Phones

Fully functional Mobile phones with

computing power
While PDA is mostly a computing
platform with optional phone capability,
Smartphone is a cell phone with PDAlike capability
PDA-Data Centric while SmartphoneVoice centric
Smartphones are smaller than PDA

Work Stations

Powerful desktop computers designed to

meet computing needs of Engineers,
Architects and other professionals who
need greater processing power , large
storage and better graphics display facility
Eg: used in CAD(Computer-aided design),
Simulation of complex scientific problems
etc.
They are quite costlier
Major manufacturers are Sun systems,
IBM, HP etc

Characteristics

Processing power
Storage Capacity
Display Facility
Processor Design
Operating System
Expansion Slots

Client - Server

Interconnected computers that can

communicate with each other over a
network
Multiple users share resources and
services for cost effective usage
This shared resources can be managed
centrally

Services such as..

File Server
Database server
Print server
Name server

Server Process that owns a resource and

accept and manages requests
The computer on which this process runs
is Server Computer
Client process send service requests
Computer on which client processes run
is Client computer
There can be multiple client computers
sending service requests to the same
server computer
A server can use the services of another
server also

Important Terms
Multiprogramming:
In the early days of computing, CPU
time was expensive, and peripherals were
very slow.
When the computer ran a program that
needed access to a peripheral, the Central
processing unit (CPU) would have to stop
executing program instructions while the
peripheral processed the data.
This was deemed very inefficient

Several different programs in batch were

loaded in the computer memory, and the
first one began to run.
When the first program reached an
instruction waiting for a peripheral, the
context of this program was stored away,
and the second program in memory was
given a chance to run.
The process continued until all programs
finished running.

The use of multiprogramming was

enhanced by the arrival of virtual
memory and virtual machine technology,
which enabled individual programs to use
memory and operating system resources
concurrently.