Saturday, September 4, 2010

COMPUTER AND ITS HISTORY

Way to science





 Computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data//information, and provides output in a useful format.
While a computer can, in theory, be made out of almost anything (see misconceptions section), and mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). Originally, they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and can be powered by a small battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.








Artificial intelligence

A computers will solve problems in exactly the way they are programmed to, without regard to efficiency nor alternative solutions nor possible shortcuts nor possible errors in the code. Computer programs which learn and adapt are part of the emerging field of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Hardware

The term hardware covers all of those parts of a computer that are tangible objects. Circuits, displays, power supplies, cables, keyboards, printers and mice are all hardware.
History of computing hardware
First Generation (Mechanical/Electromechanical)CalculatorsAntikythera mechanismDifference engineNorden bombsight
Programmable DevicesJacquard loomAnalytical engineHarvard Mark IZ3
Second Generation (Vacuum Tubes)CalculatorsAtanasoff–Berry ComputerIBM 604UNIVAC 60UNIVAC 120
Programmable DevicesColossusENIACManchester Small-Scale Experimental MachineEDSACManchester Mark 1Ferranti PegasusFerranti MercuryCSIRACEDVACUNIVAC IIBM 701IBM 702IBM 650Z22
Third Generation (Discrete transistors and SSI, MSI, LSI Integrated circuits)MainframesIBM 7090IBM 7080IBM System/360BUNCH
MinicomputerPDP-8PDP-11IBM System/32IBM System/36
Fourth Generation (VLSI integrated circuits)MinicomputerVAXIBM System i
4-bit microcomputerIntel 4004Intel 4040
8-bit microcomputerIntel 8008Intel 8080Motorola 6800Motorola 6809MOS Technology 6502Zilog Z80
16-bit microcomputerIntel 8088Zilog Z8000WDC 65816/65802
32-bit microcomputerIntel 80386PentiumMotorola 68000ARM architecture
64-bit microcomputer[33]AlphaMIPSPA-RISCPowerPCSPARCx86-64
Embedded computerIntel 8048Intel 8051
Personal computerDesktop computerHome computerLaptop computerPersonal digital assistant (PDA), Portable computer,Tablet PCWearable computer
Theoretical/experimentalQuantum computerChemical computerDNA computing,Optical computerSpintronics based computer
Other Hardware Topics
Peripheral device (Input/output)InputMouseKeyboardJoystickImage scannerWebcamGraphics tabletMicrophone
OutputMonitorPrinterLoudspeaker
BothFloppy disk driveHard disk driveOptical disc drive, Teleprinter
Computer bussesShort rangeRS-232SCSIPCIUSB
Long range (Computer networking)EthernetATMFDDI








Software

Computer software
Operating systemUnix and BSDUNIX System VIBM AIXHP-UXSolaris (SunOS), IRIXList of BSD operating systems
GNU/LinuxList of Linux distributionsComparison of Linux distributions
Microsoft WindowsWindows 95Windows 98Windows NTWindows 2000Windows XPWindows VistaWindows 7
DOS86-DOS (QDOS), PC-DOSMS-DOSDR-DOSFreeDOS
Mac OSMac OS classicMac OS X
Embedded and real-timeList of embedded operating systems
ExperimentalAmoebaOberon/BluebottlePlan 9 from Bell Labs
LibraryMultimediaDirectXOpenGLOpenAL
Programming libraryC standard libraryStandard Template Library
DataProtocolTCP/IPKermitFTPHTTPSMTP
File formatHTMLXMLJPEGMPEGPNG
User interfaceGraphical user interface(WIMP)Microsoft WindowsGNOMEKDEQNX PhotonCDEGEMAqua
Text-based user interfaceCommand-line interfaceText user interface
ApplicationOffice suiteWord processingDesktop publishingPresentation programDatabase management system, Scheduling & Time management, SpreadsheetAccounting software
Internet AccessBrowserE-mail clientWeb serverMail transfer agentInstant messaging
Design and manufacturingComputer-aided designComputer-aided manufacturing, Plant management, Robotic manufacturing, Supply chain management
GraphicsRaster graphics editorVector graphics editor3D modelerAnimation editor3D computer graphicsVideo editingImage processing
AudioDigital audio editorAudio playback, Mixing, Audio synthesisComputer music
Software engineeringCompilerAssemblerInterpreterDebuggerText editorIntegrated development environmentSoftware performance analysisRevision controlSoftware configuration management
EducationalEdutainmentEducational gameSerious gameFlight simulator
GamesStrategy, Arcade, Puzzle, Simulation, First-person shooterPlatformMassively multiplayerInteractive fiction
MiscArtificial intelligenceAntivirus softwareMalware scannerInstaller/Package management systemsFile manager

Programming languages




The history of computer science began long before the modern discipline of computer science that emerged in the twentieth century, and hinted at in the centuries prior. The progression, from mechanical inventions and mathematical theories towards the modern concepts and machines, formed a major academic field and the basis of a massive worldwide industry.



Birth of computer science

Before the 1920s, computers (sometimes computors) were human clerks that performed computations. They were usually under the lead of a physicist. Many thousands of computers were employed in commerce, government, and research establishments. Most of these computers were women, and they were known to have a degree in calculus. Some performed astronomical calculations for calendars.
After the 1920s, the expression computing machine referred to any machine that performed the work of a human computer, especially those in accordance with effective methods of the Church-Turing thesis. The thesis states that a mathematical method is effective if it could be set out as a list of instructions able to be followed by a human clerk with paper and pencil, for as long as necessary, and without ingenuity or insight.
Machines that computed with continuous values became known as the analog kind. They used machinery that represented continuous numeric quantities, like the angle of a shaft rotation or difference in electrical potential.
Digital machinery, in contrast to analog, were able to render a state of a numeric value and store each individual digit. Digital machinery used difference engines or relays before the invention of faster memory devices.
The phrase computing machine gradually gave away, after the late 1940s, to just computer as the onset of electronic digital machinery became common. These computers were able to perform the calculations that were performed by the previous human clerks.
Since the values stored by digital machines were not bound to physical properties like analog devices, a logical computer, based on digital equipment, was able to do anything that could be described "purely mechanical." The theoretical Turing Machine, created by Alan Turing, is a hypothetical device theorized in order to study the properties of such hardware.






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