West Visayas State University – Janiuay Campus

School of Technology
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Janiuay, Iloilo

Lecture Notes
COMP 101: BASIC COMPUTER

History of Computer

In 19th century England, Charles Babbage, a mathematician, proposed the construction of a machine that he called the
Babbage Difference Engine. It would not only calculate numbers, it would also be capable of printing mathematical
tables. Babbage made a place for himself in history as the “father of computing”. Not satisfied with the machines
limitations, he drafted plans for the Babbage Analytical Engine. He intended for this computing device to use punch cards
as the control mechanism for calculations.

Babbage’s idea caught the attention of Ada Byron Lovelace who had an undying passion for math. She also saw
possibilities that the Analytical Machine could produce graphics and music. She helped Babbage move his project from
idea to reality by documenting how the device would calculate Bernoulli numbers. She later received recognition for
writing the “world’s first computer program”.

The computers that followed built on each previous success and improved it. In 1943, the first programmable computer
Turing COLOSSUS appeared. It was pressed into service to decipher World War II coded messages from Germany. ENIAC,
the brain, was the first electronic computer, in 1946. In 1951, the U.S. Census Bureau became the first government
agency to buy a computer, UNIVAC .

The Apple expanded the use of computers to consumers in 1977. The IBM PC for consumers followed closely in 1981,
although IBM mainframes were in use by government and corporations.

 8,500 BC Bone carved with prime numbers found

 1000 BC to 500 BC Abacus invented
 1642 Blaise Pascal’s invented adding machine, France
 1822 Charles Babbage drafted Babbage Difference Engine, England
 1835 Babbage Analytical Engine proposed, England
 1843 Ada Byron Lovelace computer program to calculate Bernoulli numbers, England
 1943 Turing COLOSSUS the first programmable computer, England
 1946 ENIAC first electronic computer, U.S.A.
 1951 UNIVAC first computer used by U.S. government, U.S.A.
 1969 ARPANET Department of Defense lays groundwork for Internet, U.S.A.
 1968 Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce found in Intel, U.S.A.
 1977 Apple computers for consumers sold, U.S.A.
 1981 IBM personal computers sold, U.S.A.
 1991 World Wide Web consumer Internet access, CERN, Tim Berners-Lee Switzerland/France
 2000 Y 2K Bug programming errors discovered
 Current Technologies include word processing, games, email, maps, and streaming

The development of network technology and increases in processing capabilities for microcomputers made consumer
Internet use possible by 1991. The computer evolution since then continues. New uses emerge every year.

Generally speaking, computers can be classified into three generations. Each generation lasted for a certain period of
time, and each gave us either a new and improved computer or an improvement to the existing computer.

First Generation Electronic Computers (1937-1953)

Three machines have been promoted at various times as the first electronic computers. These machines used electronic
switches, in the form of vacuum tubes, instead of electromechanical relays.

Second Generation (1954-1962)

The second generation saw several important developments at all levels of computer system design, from the technology
used to build the basic circuits to the programming languages used to write scientific applications. Electronic switches in
this era were based on transistor technology instead of vacuum tubes.
Third Generation (1963-1972)

The third generation brought huge gains in computational power. Innovations in this era include the use of integrated
circuits, or ICs.

Fourth Generation (1972-1984)

The next generation of computer systems saw the use of large scale integration (LSI - 1000 devices per chip) and very
large scale integration (VLSI - 100,000 devices per chip) in the construction of computing elements. At this scale entire
processors will fit onto a single chip, and for simple systems the entire computer (processor, main memory, and I/O
controllers) can fit on one chip.

Fifth Generation (1984-1990)

The fifth generation saw the introduction of machines with hundreds of processors that could all be working on different
parts of a single program. The scale of integration in semiconductors continued at an incredible pace - by 1990 it was
possible to build chips with a million components - and semiconductor memories became standard on all computers.

Sixth Generation (1990 - present)

Workstation technology has continued to improve, with processor designs now using a combination of RISC, pipelining,
and parallel processing. Networking technology is becoming more widespread than its original strong base in
universities and government laboratories as it is rapidly finding application in education, community networks and
private industry.

What is Computer?

 A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some
result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed.
 A programmable machine. The two principal characteristics of a computer are:
 It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.
 It can execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program).

Modern computers are electronic and digital. The actual machinery -- wires, transistors, and circuits -- is called hardware;
the instructions and data are called software.

All general-purpose computers require the following hardware components:

 memory : Enables a computer to store, at least temporarily, data and programs.

 mass storage device : Allows a computer to permanently retain large amounts of data. Common mass
storage devices include disk drives and tape drives.
 input device : Usually a keyboard and mouse, it is used to enter data and instructions on a computer.
 output device : A display screen, printer, or other device that lets you see what the computer has
accomplished.
 central processing unit (CPU): The heart of the computer, this is the component that actually executes
instructions.

Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though there is considerable overlap:

 personal computer : A small, single-user computer based on a microprocessor. In addition to the

microprocessor, a personal computers has a keyboard for entering data, a monitor for displaying
information, and a storage device for saving data.
 workstation : A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has
a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor.
 minicomputer : A multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of users
simultaneously.
 mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of
users simultaneously.
 supercomputer : An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of instructions
per second.
Types of Computer

All type of computer have processor, Memory, keyboard, mouse and screen to display output, But their are significant
difference how people or organizations use computes for their usage. We can divide all type of computers to 10
categories.

Personal Computer (PC): is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals,
and intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. People generally relate this
term with Microsoft’s Windows Operating system. Personal computers generally run on Windows, Mac or some version
of Linux operating system.

Desktop: is just another version of Personal Computer intended for regular use from a single use. A computer that can be
fit on a desk can also be called as desktop. Desktop computers comes in different form vertical tower cases to small form
factor.

Laptop: Laptop computer , Laptop or Notebook all are same. Laptop’s are generally small mobile computers run on a
single main battery or from an external power supply that will served as to run the laptop as well as charge the battery.
Laptop contains all the components of computer but all these are optimized for mobile users.

Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs): is a handheld computer, also known as small or palmtop computers. Newer PDAs also
have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web
browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless
Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Many PDAs employ touch screen technology.

Workstation: A computer that has a more power resources like Processing Power, Memory and additional capabilities to
perform special task refers to as workstation. Workstations are often optimized for displaying and manipulating complex
data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation results such as for computational fluid dynamics, animation
and rendering of images, and mathematical plots.

Server: is a computer dedicated to running a server application. A server application is a computer program that accepts
connections in order to service requests by sending back responses. Examples of server applications include web servers,
e-mail servers, database servers, and file servers.

Mainframe: In early days of computing Mainframes are big computers that can fill the entire room or entire floor.
Mainframes are mainly used by large organizations for critical applications, such as consumer statistics and financial
transaction processing.

Minicomputer: Minicomputers are lie between the Mainframe computer and small Personal Computers. Minicomputers
also refereed to Mid-Range Servers. Minicomputers are more powerful but still compatible version of a personal
computer.

Supercomputer: A computer which, among existing general-purpose computers at any given time, is superlative, often in
several senses: highest computation rate, largest memory, or highest cost. Predominantly, the term refers to the fastest
“number crunchers,” that is, machines designed to perform numerical calculations at the highest speed that the latest
electronic device technology and the state of the art of computer architecture allow.

Wearable : are computers that are worn on the body. They have been applied to areas such as behavioral modeling,
health monitoring systems, information technologies and media development. Government organizations, military, and
health professionals have all incorporated wearable computers into their daily operations. Wearable computers are
especially useful for applications that require computational support while the user’s hands, voice, eyes or attention are
actively engaged with the physical environment.