History Of Computer By Adrien Abacus The abacus

History Of Computer By Adrien

Abacus The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in Europe, China and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu–Arabic numeral system. [1] The exact origin of the abacus is still unknown. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of wood, stone, or metal. Abaci come in different designs. Some designs, like the bead frame consisting of beads divided into tens, are used mainly to teach arithmetic, although they remain popular in the post-Soviet states as a tool. Other designs, such as the Japanese soroban, have been used for practical calculations even involving several digits. For any particular abacus design, there usually are numerous different methods to perform a certain type of calculation, which may include basic operations like addition and multiplication, or even more complex ones, such as calculating square roots. Some of these methods may work with non-natural numbers (numbers such as 1. 5 and 3⁄4). Although today many use calculators and computers instead of abaci to calculate, abaci still remain in common use in some countries. Merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africa use abaci, and they are still used to teach arithmetic to children. [1] Some people who are unable to use a calculator because of visual impairment may use an abacus.

Napier bones Napier's bones is a manually-operated calculating device created by John Napier of Merchiston for calculation of products and quotients of numbers. The method was based on Arab mathematics and the lattice multiplication used by Matrakci Nasuh in the Umdet-ul Hisab[1] and Fibonacci's work in his Liber Abaci. The technique was also called Rabdology. Napier published his version in 1617 in Rabdology. , printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, dedicated to his patro Alexander Seton.

Slide rule The slide rule, also known colloquially in the United States as a slipstick, [1][2] is a mechanical analog computer. [3][4][5][6][7] The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but typically not for addition or subtraction. Though similar in name and appearance to a standard ruler, the slide rule is not meant to be used for measuring length or drawing straight lines.

pascaline Pascal's calculator (also known as the arithmetic machine or Pascaline) is a mechanical calculator invented by Blaise Pascal in the early 17 th century. Pascal was led to develop a calculator by the laborious arithmetical calculations required by his father's work as supervisor of taxes in Rouen. [2] He designed the machine to add and subtract two numbers directly and to perform multiplication and division through repeated addition or subtraction.

Punched cards A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. The information might be data for data processing applications or, in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery. Punched cards were widely used through much of the 20 th century in what became known as the data processing industry, where specialized and increasingly complex unit record machines, organized into semiautomatic data processing systems, used punched cards for data input, output, and storage. [1][2] Many early digital computers used punched cards, often prepared using keypunch machines, as the primary medium for input of both computer programs and data. While punched cards are now obsolete as a recording medium, as of 2012, some voting machines still use punched cards to record votes. [3]

Difference engiene A difference engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. The name derives from the method of divided differences, a way to interpolate or tabulate functions by using a small set of polynomialcoefficients. Most mathematical functions commonly used by engineers, scientists and navigators, including logarithmic and trigonometric functions, can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful tables of numbers. The historical difficulty in producing error-free tables by teams of mathematicians and human "computers" spurred Charles Babbage's desire to build a mechanism to automate the process.

Analytical engiene A difference engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. The name derives from the method of divided differences, a way to interpolate or tabulate functions by using a small set of polynomialcoefficients. Most mathematical functions commonly used by engineers, scientists and navigators, including logarithmic and trigonometric functions, can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful tables of numbers. The historical difficulty in producing error-free tables by teams of mathematicians and human "computers" spurred Charles Babbage's desire to build a mechanism to automate the process.

eniac ENIAC (/ˈiːniæk, ˈɛ-/; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)[1][2] was amongst the earliest electronic general-purpose computers made. It was Turingcomplete, digital and able to solve "a large class of numerical problems" through reprogramming. [3][4] Although ENIAC was designed and primarily used to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory, [5][6] its first programs included a study of the feasibility of thermonuclear weapon. [7] ENIAC was formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania on February 15, 1946 and was heralded as a "Giant Brain" by the press. [8] It had a speed on the order of one thousand times faster than that of electro-mechanical machines; this computational power, coupled with general-purpose programmability, excited scientists and industrialists alike. This combination of speed and programmability allowed for thousands more calculations for problems, as ENIAC calculated a trajectory that took a human 20 hours in 30 seconds (a 2400× increase in speed). [9]

univac UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) is a line of electronic digital storedprogram computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and successor organizations. The BINAC, built by the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation, was the first general-purpose computer for commercial use. The descendants of the later UNIVAC 1107 continue today as products of the Unisys company.

transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material usually with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits. The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is ubiquitous in modern electronic systems. Julius Edgar Lilienfeldpatented a field-effect transistor in 1926[1] but it was not possible to actually construct a working device at that time. The first practically implemented device was a pointcontact transistor invented in 1947 by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. The transistor revolutionized the field of electronics, and paved the way for smaller and cheaper radios, calculators, and computers, among other things. The transistor is on the list of IEEE milestones in electronics, [2] and Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their achievement. [3] Most transistors are made from very pure silicon or germanium, but certain other semiconductor materials can also be used. A transistor may have only one kind of charge carrier, in a field effect transistor, or may have two kinds of charge carriers in bipolar junction transistor devices. Compared with the vacuum tube, transistors are generally smaller, and require less power to operate. Certain vacuum tubes have advantages over transistors at very high operating frequencies or high operating voltages. Many types of transistors are made to standardized specifications by multiple manufacturers.

IC An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, normally silicon. The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, cheaper, and faster than those constructed of discrete electronic components. The IC's mass production capability, reliability and building-block approach to circuit design has ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other digital home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of ICs.

ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was an early packet switching network and the first network to implement the protocol suite TCP/IP. Both technologies became the technical foundation of the Internet. The ARPANET was initially funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense. [1][2][3][4][5]

AUTOMATED TELER MACHINE An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, transfer funds, or obtaining account information, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff. ATMs are known by a variety of names, including automatic teller machine in the United States[1][2][3] (ATM, American, British, Australian, Malaysian, South African, Singaporean, Indian, Maldivian, Hiberno, Philippines and Sri Lankan English), often redundantly ATM machine, automated banking machine (ABM, Canadian English[4][5]). In British English, the terms cash point, cash mashine and "hole in the wall" are most widely used. [6]Other terms include cashline, nibank, cash machine, tyme machine, cash dispenser, bankomat or bancomat. Many ATMs have a sign above them, indicating the name of the bank or organisation that owns the ATM, and possibly including the networks to which it can connect. In Canada, ABM that are not operated by a financial institution are known as "white-label ABMs".

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor which incorporates the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit (IC), [1] or at most a few integrated circuits. [2] The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock driven, registerbased, digital-integrated circuit which accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system. The integration of a whole CPU onto a single chip or on a few chips greatly reduced the cost of processing power, increasing efficiency. Integrated circuit processors are produced in large numbers by highly automated processes resulting in a low per unit cost. Single-chip processors increase reliability as there are many fewer electrical connections to fail. As microprocessor designs get better, the cost of manufacturing a chip (with smaller components built on a semiconductor chip the same size) generally stays the same.

PC A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. PCs are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or technician. Computer time-sharing models that were typically used with larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems, to enable them be used by many people at the same time, are not used with PCs.

GUI The graphical user interface (GUI /ɡuːiː/), is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devicesthrough graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, instead of text-based user interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), [1][2][3] which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard. The actions in a GUI are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements. [4] Beyond computers, GUIs are used in many handheld mobile devices such as MP 3 players, portable media players, gaming devices, smartphones and smaller household, office and industrial controls. The term GUI tends not to be applied to other lower-display resolution types of interfaces, such as video games (where head-up display (HUD)[5] is preferred), or not including flat screens, like volumetric displays[6] because the term is restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center

Types of computers By Adrien

laptop A laptop, often called a notebook computer or just notebook, is a small, portable personal computer with a "clamshell" form factor, having, typically, a thin LCD or LED computer screen mounted on the inside of the upper lid of the "clamshell" and an alphanumeric keyboard on the inside of the lower lid. The "clamshell" is opened up to use the computer. Laptops are folded shut for transportation, and thus are suitable for mobile use. [1] Although originally there was a distinction between laptops and notebooks, the former being bigger and heavier than the latter, as of 2014, there is often no longer any difference. [2] Laptops are commonly used in a variety of settings, such as at work, in education, in playing games, Internet surfing, for personal multimedia and general home computer use.

PC A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. PCs are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or technician. Computer time-sharing models that were typically used with larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems, to enable them be used by many people at the same time, are not used with PCs. Early computer owners in the 1960 s, invariably institutional or corporate, had to write their own programs to do any useful work with the machines. In the 2010 s, personal computer users have access to a wide range of commercial software, free software ("freeware") and free and open-source software, which are provided in ready-to-run form. Software for personal computers is typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or OS manufacturers. [1] Many personal computer users no longer need to write their own programs to make any use of a personal computer, although end-user programming is still feasible. This contrasts with mobile systems, where software is often only available through a manufacturer-supported channel, and end-user program development may be discouraged by lack of support by the manufacturer.

Minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller computers that was developed in the mid-1960 s[1][2] and sold for much less than mainframe[3] and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, the New York Times suggested a consensus definition of a minicomputer as a machine costing less than US$25, 000, with an input-output device such as a teleprinter and at least four thousand words of memory, that is capable of running programs in a higher level language, such as Fortran or BASIC. [4] The class formed a distinct group with its own software architectures and operating systems. Minis were designed for control, instrumentation, human interaction, and communication switching as distinct from calculation and record keeping. Many were sold indirectly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for final end use application. During the two decade lifetime of the minicomputer class (1965– 1985), almost 100 companies formed and only a half dozen remained. [5]

Mini frame Computer Mainframe computers (colloquially referred to as "big iron"[1]) are computers used primarily by large organizations for critical applications; bulk data processing, such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning; and transaction processing. They are larger and have more processing power than some other classes of computers: minicomputers, servers, workstations, and personal computers. The term originally referred to the large cabinets called "main frames" that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. [2][3] Later, the term was used to distinguish high-end commercial machines from less powerful units. [4] Most large-scale computer system architectures were established in the 1960 s, but continue to evolve. Mainframe computers are often used as servers.

Supercomputers A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer. Performance of a supercomputer is measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS). As of 2017, there are supercomputers which can perform up to nearly a hundred quadrillions of FLOPS, [3] measured in P(eta)FLOPS. [4] As of November 2017, all of the world's fastest 500 supercomputers run Linuxbased operating systems. [5] Additional research is being conducted in China, United States, European Union, Taiwan and Japan to build even faster, more powerful and more technologically superior exascale supercomputers. [6]