Cprogramming Module1
Cprogramming Module1
Course Outcomes:
Integrated circuits
Third. Keyboard, monitor and operating system
(ICs)
ULSI Nano
Fifth Mainly unclear
technology.
VACUUM TUBES
THE FIRST GENERATION (1946-1959)
Vacuum tubes as circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, very big in
size they were taking entire room, produces more heat like bulbs.
They also consumed enormous amounts of power and generated a lot of
heat. In spite of housing these computers in air-conditioned enclosures,
frequent breakdowns were common.
Main Features:
Vacuum tube technology
Unreliable and Not portable
Supported machine language only
Consumed lot of electricity Hence Cost is high
Huge size and Generate lot of heat
Slow Input/Output device
TRANSISTORS
THE SECOND GENERATION (1959–1965)
Transistors were faster, smaller and consumed less power smaller
magnetic cores also replaced the first- generation magnetic drums.
Even though transistor generated less heat, second-generation
computers still needed air-conditioning.
The computers also implemented the stored program concept which
allowed both program and data to reside in memory.
Main Features:
Transistor technology
Support machine language, assembly language
Reliable, Smaller in size, Generate less heat, consumed less
electricity, fast compared to First generation.
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
THE THIRD GENERATION (1965 –
1971)
Transistors were now being miniaturized and put on silicon chips (called
semiconductors).
This generation adopted a keyboard and monitor to interact with
the user. Memory capacity increased substantially and the magnetic hard
disk was used for secondary storage.
Third-generation computers also had an operating system, which is
a special program meant to control the resources of the computer.
Main Features:
IC used
Support high level programming languages like FORTRAN, COBAL,
PASCAL, BASIC, ALGOL C, C++ and Java.
More reliable, smaller size, generate less heat, consumed less
electricity, fast compared to Second generation.
High cost
THE MICROPROCESSOR
THE FOURTH GENERATION (1971 –
1990)
Using VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated circuit) technology, it is
now possible to have the entire CPU, its associated memory and
input/output control circuitry on a single chip.
Microprocessors have invaded our homes to drive desktops, laptops,
smartphones, microwave ovens and washing machines.
Laptops and smartphones offer gigabytes (GB) of memory
Operating systems have moved from MSDOS to a mouse based
Graphical User Interface (GUI) like Windows. More advanced
systems like Linux are now available for desktops and laptops, and
a variant of it (Android) powers most of our smartphones.
Main Features:
VLSI Technology
Very cheap, Portable, reliable, small size
Networking and Internet
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE FIFTH GENERATION (1990 TO TILL
DATE)
The fifth generation represents a vision of the computers of the
future.
Fifth-generation systems should be capable of producing human-like
behaviour. These systems expected to interact with users in natural
language and learn from experience.
Speech recognition and speech output should also be possible with
these systems.
Main Features:
ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integrated circuit) technology
Development of Artificial Intelligence
Perform parallel processing
User friendly interface with multimedia features
Available at very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rate
COMPUTER TYPES
Classification of computer
based on size and speed
1. Supercomputers
2. Mainframes
3. Minicomputers
4. Microcomputers
5. Smartphones and
Embedded Computers
SUPER COMPUTERS
These are huge machines having the most powerful and fastest
processors.
A supercomputer uses multiple CPUs for parallel data processing.
Used for weather forecasting, analysis of geological data, nuclear
simulation and space exploration.
They are also used to solve complex scientific problems.
Supercomputers have enormous storage, with huge amounts of
power and generate a lot of heat.
Because of their exorbitant cost, they are mainly used by
government agencies
MAINFRAMES COMPUTERS
These are multi-user machines that can support hundreds or thousands
of users.
Users interact with this system using a terminal and keyboard.
Mainframes can concurrently run multiple programs even with a
single CPU.
The processor speed in a mainframe is measured in mips (million
instructions per second).
Mainframes are generally used to handle data and applications related to
the organization as whole.
The mainframes are employed to handle online transactions (stock
exchange transactions, for instance).
The capability to handle large amounts of data makes the mainframe
suitable for use in government, banks and financial institutions, and large
corporations.
MINI COMPUTERS
Minicomputers or midrange computers as they can be considered
as downsized mainframes since they have the essential features
of mainframes.
Minicomputers can serve hundreds of users and are small enough
to partially occupy a room. But they are not affordable enough to
be used in the home.
The minicomputer, which Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
introduced in the 1970s.
Minicomputers are used in smaller organizations by running
specialized software.
MICRO COMPUTERS OR PERSONAL
COMPUTERS
This computer is a single-user machine powered by a single microprocessor;
Today's PCs are very powerful machines having gigabytes of memory and a
terabyte or two of disk storage.
They are used both in the standalone mode (at home) and in a network (in
office).
A microcomputer takes the form of a desktop, notebook (laptop) or a
netbook (smaller Laptop).
PCs today are powered by three types of operating systems: Windows, Mac
OS and Linux.
Businesses and individuals use the PC for word processing, spread sheet
handling and desktop publishing.
PCs also support Internet browsing software like Firefox and Google Chrome.
All PCs are multimedia ready, they can handle images, audio and video files.
PC is also an entertainment device.
A variant of the microcomputer is the workstation which essentially a
microcomputer with a more powerful processor, high resolution terminal and
high quality graphic capabilities (like CAD/CAM).
COMPUTERS FOR INDIVIDUALS
Classification of computer
based on purpose
1. Desktop
2. Laptop
3. Tablets
4. Handheld (PDA)
5. Smartphones and
Embedded Computers
COMPUTERS BASED ON FUNCTIONING
Classification of computer
based on its operation and
function
1. Analog Computer
2. Digital Computer
3. Hybrid Computer
BITS, BYTES AND WORDS
Bit (Abbreviated as Binary Digit) is defined as a smallest unit of
data on a binary computer or digital system. It can hold either 0 or
1.
Bytes is defined as a group of 8 bits is called byte. Bits in a byte are
represented from 0 to 7.
Bit 0 is the low order bit or least significant bit.
Bit 7 is the high order bit or most significant bit.
Word is a group of 16 bits, bits in a word are numbered starting
from 1 to 15.
BITS, BYTES AND WORDS
Unit Equivalent to Remarks
1 petabyte (PB) 1024 terabytes Space used for rendering of film Avatar
THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
(CPU)