Computer Generations

Work in Progress

This section still contains missing information.
Please contribute by sending your notes here!
For details in contributing to this note, go here.

Computer Generation

• It is a developmental period in the electronic computing technology.
• Each generation describes the evolution of the computer technology ever since the day of its invention.
  • It can be also described as the type of technology a computer had.
• The history of the computer technology is divided into 5 generations.

The First Generation

First Generation Computer

• It arose from 1940-1956
• It uses vacuum tube and diode valve technology as its chief components.
  • This was invented by John Ambrose Fleming in 1904

Features and Characteristics

• It uses the lowest level of machine language.
  • This means it has little to no resemblance to actual human language we speak.
  • Programs are encoded as a long string of raw binary digits, or bits.
• It uses magnetic drums as storage.
• It also uses punch cards and magnetic tapes for input and output function.
• They are based on 8-bit microprocessors.

Uses

• They are often used in:
  • weather forecasting
  • solving mathematical problems
  • space research
  • energy tasks
  • military
  • some other academic or scientific purposes.

Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages

• It has a fast computing time of milliseconds (500,000 calculations/second)

Disadvantages

• Very enormous in size and weight.
• Very complex to use
  • They are composed of many switches and cables
• They are very expensive to operate.
  • It requires a lot of electricity.
  • This in turn produces a lot of heat.
  • Then, it requires an air conditioning unit to cool the machine down
• It does not produce 100% reliable or accurate results.

Examples

• Examples are:
  • Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)
    • It is also the first general purpose computer.
    • It is composed of 18,000 vacuum tubes.
    • It occupies more than 1,000 square feet.
    • It weighs 30 tons.
    • It was designed by J. P, Eckert, W. Mosley, J. W. Mauchly
  • Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC)
  • Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer (EDSAC)
  • Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC)
  • IBM-701
  • IBM-650

The Second Generation

Second Generation Computer

• It arose from 1956-1964
• Instead of vacuum tubes, it utilizes a component called the transistor.
  • This component was invented by William Shockley

Features and Characteristics

• It now uses a high-level programming language.
  • Example: COBOL, ALGOL, SNOBOL, FORTRAN
• It now uses memory to store instructions.
• It replaces the magnetic drum with magnetic core technology as storage.
• It is the time when these concepts were introduced:
  • Central Processing Unit (CPU)
  • multiprogramming,
  • operating systems,
  • programming language
  • memory
  • input/output (I/O) units

Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages

• It has increased performance and operating speed.
• It was much cheaper to operate
  • This is because it decreased electricity consumption per use.
  • It also reduced heat production
• It reduced the size of the computing equipment.

Disadvantages

• It still relies on punch cards as input and hard copies as output.
• It is still difficult to move the computers
  • This is because they are still large enough.
• Some computers still produce enough.
  • These computers still needed air conditioning to cool down.

Examples

• Some examples include:
  • IBM-1620
  • CDC-1604
  • IBM-7094
  • UNIVAC-1108
  • IBM-620
  • CDC-3600
  • IBM-4044
  • Honeywell 400
  • IBM-1401
  • Mainframe
  • PDP-1

The Third Generation

• It came into action in 1964-1971
• Their main component is the integrated circuit.
  • This component was invented by Jack Kilby.
  • It consists of many small transistors mounted on chips called semiconductors.

Features and Characteristics

• It had widely implemented multiprogramming
  • This allowed several executable programs to run at the same time.
  • This allowed the expansion of processing capacity and memory of the machine.
• Users can now interact with the computer via the keyboard and the monitor.
  • This replaces punch cards and prints in older generations
• This generation also implemented the use of an operating system.
  • It is a central program that monitor the memory which allows you to run various programs at once.
• It also marks the initial move to miniaturization of the computer.
  • This is one of the the main reasons on why computers were mass marketed to the greater audience and for general purpose use.
• It also had greatly expanded its uses to control, automation, data transmission and its use in radios, TV, and other devices.
• It is much reliable, accurate, inexpensive, faster, and lightweight than previous generation computers.