Introduction to

Computers
Program: BS (CS)-I

Course Code: CS-301

Course Objectives
 Computer is one of the most advanced and fast
growing technology of the world. Each and every day a
lot of improvement is emerging in both software and
hardware of the computer. In response to this trend
this course has been designed.
 It focuses on brief, introduction to computers
history and types of computer.
 It also provides students with hands-on use of
computer how to use the windows, word processing
and spreadsheet programs.
 Week-1

 Computer
 Introduction /Block Diagram
 Brief History/Generations
 Components
 Applications
 Computer
 The word computer comes from the Latin word “compute” which
means “to calculate”.
 A computer is normally considered as calculating machine that
can perform arithmetic operation at a very high speed.

An electronic device which is capable of performing series of

arithmetic and logical operations at a very high speed is called
computer.

 It is not only a machine which perform different functions on

numeric data but today more than 80% work perform by
computer is non numeric in nature.
 Nowadays computer is used for multiple purposes like play
games, translate languages, draw pictures and so on.
 Computer (Cont’d)
 So what will be the more elaborate definition of computer??

Computer is an electronic device which takes certain input

(Data), process that input, store it in memory or storage devices
and then gives the desired output (Information).

 Input refers to whatever is feed (given) to Computer system

 Data refers to the symbols that represent facts, objects, and
ideas
 Processing is the way that a computer manipulates data
 Memory is an area of computer which holds data that is
 Waiting to be processed
 Stored or
 output
 Computer (Cont’d)
Storage is the area where data can be left on a permanent basis
Computer output is the results produced by the computer
An output device displays, prints or transmits the results of
processing.

Computer Performs computations and makes logical decisions

Millions / billions times faster than human beings
 History of Computer
 The history of computer is very old.
 The first computer was developed approximatly 3000 BC.
 It was named as Abacus.
 Available in many cultures (China, Japan, Greece, Rome, etc)
 it was used for calculations.
 History of Computer (Cont’d)
 In 1642, Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist,
philosopher) invented a mechanical calculator called the
Pascaline
 The numbers (0 – 9) were marked on circumference of small
wheels which were connected by gears.

 It used to calculate result by the spinning (to turn around) of

those wheels.
 History of Computer (Cont’d)
 In 1671, Gottfried von Leibniz (German mathematician,
philosopher) extended the Pascaline to do multiplications,
divisions, square roots.

 None of these machines had memory, and they required human

intervention at each step.
 History of Computer (Cont’d)
 In 1822 Charles Babbage (Mathematician,
philosopher), sometimes called the “father of
computing” built the Difference Engine.
 Machine designed to automate the computation
(tabulation) of polynomial functions (which are
known to be good approximations of many useful
functions). Implements some storage.
 In 1833 Babbage designed the Analytical Engine,
but he died before he could build it.
 It was built after his death, powered by steam.
 In 1886 the American William introduced the first
commercially successful mechanical adding
machine.
 In 1930, Analog computer were introduced.
 In 1944, H. Aiken at Harward University USA,
developed Mark-1. It was the first digital
computer.
 Generation of a Computer System
 If we consider the history of computers till 1944, then
computer were mainly special purposes. They were usually
designed to do calculation work.
 After 1944, people concentrated on the development of general
purpose computers which could be used for multiple tasks and
this development can be divided in to many generations which
are discussed as follow.

 Generally in computer talk, Generation is a step in technology.

 Originally the term generation is used to distinguish between

varying hardware technology.
 Generation of a Computer System (Cont’d)
 Generation of Computers

 First Generation (1946-59) Mechanical Calculators

 Second Generation(1957-64) Vacuum Tube Computers

 Third Generation(1965-70) Transistor Computers

 Fourth Generation(1970-90) Integrated Circuits

 Fifth Generation(1990 till date) Microprocessors

 First Generation
 The first general purpose computer of this generation was
constructed in 1946, at the Moore School of Engineering of the
University of Pennsylvania, USA by Prof: Presper Eckert and
John Mauchly.
 The name of that computer was ENAIC(electronic numerical
integrator and computer).
 Work on ENAIC started in 1943 and the project was completed
in 1946.
 In this computer system Vacuum tubes were used. These tubes
were very large in size, due to which the size of computer of
that generation was large.
 First Generation (Cont’d)
 It was a very huge machine
 Weight 30 tons
 Occupying 15,000 square feet of floor
 Containing 18,000 vacuum tubes
 Consuming 140 KW of power

 It was faster than any of the previous special purpose

computers.
 It was capable of performing 5000 additions per second.
 First Generation (Cont’d)
 ENAIC was decimal rather than binary. i.e. number were
represented in decimal system rather then binary system.
 Arithmetic operations were also performed in decimal form.
 Its memory consist of 20 accumulator (registers). Each
accumulator was capable of holding ten digit numbers.
 Each number was represented in ten vacuum tubes.

 The second computer of this generation was EDSAC (Electronic

Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) prepared by Prof: Maurice
Wilks in 1949.
 Those computers were the fastest calculating device of that
time, but the size of those computers were large because of
electronic tubes.
 Needs for ENAIC

 United States Army Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) was

responsible to develop range and trajectory tables for new
weapons. They were facing difficulty in supplying these tables
accurately and timely.
 John Mauchly and John Eckert proposed the idea of ENAIC to
meet the requirements of BRL for the development of new
weapons.
 Second World War (WWII) ended before its completion.
 It helped BRL in determining the feasibility of Hydrogen-Bomb
(Atomic Bomb) by solving complex equations.
 It was used by BRL for the first time in 1955.
 VON NEUMANN Machine
 ENAIC was first general purpose computer but it lacked the ability
to store programs in the memory. Due to this programming was
tedious job.
 Von Neumann was a consultant on ENAIC project.
 He proposed the idea of stored programs in the form of EDVAC
(Electronic Discrete Variable Computer).
 Von Neumann and his colleagues work to design stored computers
(IAS computers) at Princeton Institute of Advance Studies.
 Work on IAS (Institute of Advance Studies) computers completed
in 1952 which is a prototype of all the general purpose computers
up till now.
 Unlike ENAIC,
 It was binary rather than decimal. CPU Memory

I/O
System
 Second Generation
 In second generation a new device was discovered, which is called
transistor.
 Transistor is a small electronic device used in computers, radios,
televisions, etc for controlling an electronic current as it passes
along a circuit.
 Transistor were prepared by a British Scientist William Shockly.
These transistor were able to move an electronic charge.
 During this generation two programming languages were prepared.
i.e.
 FORTRAN which prepared in 1956 by an American Scientist John
Backus.
 COBOL which was prepared by an American women Grace Hopper
in 1959.
 Computer of second generation are smaller in size then 1st
generation computer.
 Second Generation (Cont’d)
 IBM7094

 In 2nd generation,
 Increase the performance and capacity was found
 Lowered cost
 Speed increase as well
 All this improvement was the result of use of transistor in place
of vacuum tubes.
 Third Generation
 In this generation microelectronics were introduced which was
the invention of Integrated Circuits (IC’s).

 The 3rd generation was based on IC technology.

 IC is a small Microchip that contains a large number of electrical

connections and performs the same function as a larger circuit
made from separate parts.

 IC was an advance electronic technology, when a large number of

circuit elements are integrated into a very small surface of silicon
known as “Chip” then it is called an IC.
 Third Generation (Cont’d)
 Computer of 3rd generation is smaller in size as compared to
previous generation computer.
 Maintenance cost was low because the chance of hardware
failure was minimum in those computers.
 The disadvantage of 3rd generation computer was, a very costly
technology required for the manufacturing of IC chip.

 Seymour Cray created the Cray Research Corporation

 Cray-1: $8.8 million, 160 million instructions per seconds and 8
Mbytes of memory
 Forth Generation
 In 1975 LSI, VLSI and ULSI circuits were used at the place of
IC’s. They are also a single silicon chips.

 In Large Scale Integration (LSI) circuit more than thousand

components can be grouped on a single Integrated Circuit Chip
(IC chip).
 In Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) more than hundred
thousand (100.000) components can be grouped and place on a
single integrated circuit chip. (IC chip).
 Ultra Large Integration (ULSI) can place even more components
on a single integrated chip than the VLSI.
 Forth Generation (Cont’d)
 So 4th generation computers are those which uses LSI
technology, due to this technology the size of computers
becomes very small but highly costly technology is required for
the manufacturing of LSI chips.

Micro Computer
 Fifth Generation
 The computers that used today belongs to the fifth generation
computers which performs parallel processing, multi-tasking
simultaneously.
 Voice recognition
Artificial intelligence
Bio computing
Learning
Natural languages

 Computers of fifth generation are nearly capable to behave like

human beings.
 These machine are usually equipped with a large main memory.
 Software and hardware components have become cheaper
 The size of computer in 5th generation has become surprisingly
small.
 Fifth Generation (Cont’d)
 Fifth generation devices
Basic Components of Computer
Components of Computer System
Hardware
Hardware are the physical components of a
computer – e.g. the input devices, output devices,
primary storage (memory) and secondary storage
(backing store), Central Processing Unit etc. Note
that input and output devices are collectively known
as peripherals.
External Hardware Internal Hardware
Monitor Hard drive
Printer CPU
Keyboard Fan
Mouse Motherboard
Microphone Sound card
 Input Devices
 The process of entering data and instruction to a computer is
called input.
 A user requires certain dedicated devices to enter data to the
computer.
 Such devices are called as INPUT Devices.
 For example keyboard, mouse etc.
 It has the following functions
 It accepts data from the outside world
 It converts data in to machine readable form
 It supplies data to the Central Processing Unit (CPU) for
processing
 Memory
 This is warehouse of the computer system
 The component which provides storage capability for short time
to a computer is called Memory.
 It enables a computer to store data and instructions which are
necessary for the processing.
 It stores information in binary form which is processed by ALU
to produce the result.
 This information may be programs, input data, intermediate
results and final results.
 Include
 RAM
 Cache
 Registers
Components of Computer System
Storage
A storage device is hardware that allows
data to be saved, long-term, after it has
been inputted into the computer. Examples
include;
 Hard drive
 DVD
 CD
 Flash memory (USB)
 CPU
 Central Processing Unit is the combination of ALU & CU.
 ALU is responsible for actual processing
 CU is responsible for the overall supervision
 Output Devices
 After the processing, computer calculates and generates a result
which is needed to be shown to the user.

 The devices that are used to show the results or output of some
processing work to the user are called OUTPUT devices. For
example Monitor, Printer etc.
 Applications of Computer
 It is true that computers are useful to a wide range of people
because they can serve many purposes. Let us see how computers
have helped people of the following fields:
 Computer in Offices:
 In many offices computers are used for word processing instead of
a type writer.
 The keypunch operator or secretaries type the letter, report or
document.
 Once the changes are made in the existing document, they can be
stored in the document instead of retyping the whole document.
The printer attached can print as many copies as required.
 Computers in office can be used as stand alone or networked
computers.
 Computers produce fast and accurate work to the employees
working in an office.
 Applications of Computer (Cont’d)
 Computer in Banks:
 Banks keep most of their records and data on computers.
 Bank accounts are usually maintained on computers to avoid
duplication and any chance of errors.
 Cheques are read by MICR (a device to allow the data on
cheques to be read by machines), the numbers and special
characters along the bottom of each cheque are printed in a
magnetized ink so they can be read by MICR.
 In this way computers are used to keep track of customer’s
accounts, deposits, withdrawals, loan and interest etc.
 It also helps in the transactions of accounts from one bank to
another bank even the banks are not located in the same city.
Components of Computer System
Software
Software are the sets of instructions/
programs that are loaded into the memory
of the computer in order to perform a task
or to control the operation of the computer.

Systems Software Application Software

Operating systems Word processors
Utilities Web browsers
User interface Game applications
 Applications of Computer (Cont’d)
 Computer in Industries:
 Computers are used to control manufacturing systems and
continuous running of the machinery.
 Computers are also helpful in monitoring temperature and
pressure measurements needed in the manufacturing process.
 In many industries computers are used in the form of ROBOTs.
These ROBOTs are used for tasks which are dangerous for
human beings.
 Computer in Education:
 Computers are used in schools in many different ways.
 These are used to help students in their studies. For example, in
solution of mathematical expression etc.
 Applications of Computer (Cont’d)
 Computer Simulation for Training:
 Computer models can be used to train people such as pilots. These
under training pilots use these models which are approximately
same to the actual aero plane to understand how to fly and
control an aero plane.
 Computer Aided Design (CAD):
 Computers can assist Engineers, Architects and designer to
develop the models for large, complex, and enormous jobs. e.g.
designing car models, designing large office buildings etc.
 Computer in Stores:
 Now-e-days approximately all the products are labeled with
Universal Product Code in the form of black and white strips.
 The bar codes represent data that identify manufacturer and
product when scanned by a computer having Bar Code Reader
(BCR). After reading the bar code the computer automatically
prints the price of the product on the bill for the customer.
 Applications of Computer (Cont’d)
 Computers in Health Care:
 Doctors also diagnose illness of a patient by entering the
symptoms in computer and prescribe medicines automatically.
 Today almost all the doctors use to check eye sight of patients
through computers.
 Computers in Law:
 In law chamber there use to be a data bank that stores records
of all the cases that have been solved or decided.
 So a lawyer finds it easy to find references for upcoming cases.
 Computers in Police Department:
 Computers can be used to store records of criminals and
suspects.
 All the laws can also be stored in the computers to make them
available to every officer.
 Applications of Computer (Cont’d)
 Computer in Airlines:
 Computers can be used in airlines for reservation and flight
timings etc. passengers can reserve seats in any flights easily and
with the use of computers there will be less chance of errors.
 Computer in Arts:
 We can say that computers are working in the field of science and
technology only. Instead they are taking part in the field of arts
as well.
 It helps authors, cartoonists to their work with ease. E.g. it is
easy to design graphical pictures for cartoonists using computers.
 Computers in Home:
 Computers have become a basic necessity for almost all the
people at home use to watch movies and use internet through
their personal computers.
 Also children use to play games on computers to entertain
themselves.