GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS

Computer is an electronic machine, At 16th Century when the evaluation of Computer started, From that time to present time Computer faced many changes to improve in terms of Accuracy,Speed,size and price. The time taken by Computer to Improve itself is Called Generations of Computer. We will discuss about Generations of Computers in this article.

Their are Following Generations of Computers-

• First Generation Computers (1940-1956)
• Second Generation Computers (1956-1963)
• Third Generation Computers (1964-1971)
• Fourth Generation Computers (1971-Present)
• Fifth Generation Computers (Present and Beyond)

First Generation Computers 1940-1956 Vaccum Tubes

The technology behind the primary generation computers was a fragile glass device, which was called vacuum tubes. These Computers are heavy and large in  size.

1. The main memory storing units were magnetic tapes and magnetic drums.

2. The machine language was used as the programming language.

3. The sizes used to be very large which could take up entire rooms and the speed was very slow.

4. The only input/output devices were paper tape and punched cards.

5. Around 100 different vacuum tubes were used in order to produce the computers.

6. Examples are UNIVAC1, ENIAC, IBM 701 and IBM 650, etc.

Main first generation computers are: 

• ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, built by J. Presper Eckert and John V. Mauchly was a general-purpose computer. It had been very heavy, large, and contained 18,000 vacuum tubes.
• EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer was designed by von Neumann. It could store data also as instruction and thus the speed was enhanced.
• UNIVAC: Universal Automatic Computer was developed in 1952 by Eckert and Mauchly.

Examples	IBM 650, IBM 701, ENIAC, UNIVAC1, etc.

The Second Generation of Computers- Transistors (1950s-1960s)

1. The main electronic component used in the computers of the 1950s to 1960s era were transistors.

2. The main memory storing units were magnetic tape or disk and magnetic core.

3. The assembly language was used as the programming language.

4. The sizes were smaller as compared to those of the first generation and they used to consume low power and generate less heat.

5. There was an improvement in speed.

6. The input/output devices were magnetic tape and punched cards.

7. Examples are IBM 1401, IBM 7094 AND IBM 7090, UNIVAC 1107, and so on.

Examples	PDP-8, IBM1400 series, IBM 7090 and 7094, UNIVAC 1107, CDC 3600 etc.

The Third Generation of Computers- Integrated Circuits ( 1960s-1970s)

1. The main electronic components used in the computers of the era 1060s to 1970s were integrated circuits ICs.

2. The memory storing units were the magnetic disk or take and a large magnetic core.

3. High-level languages such as BASIC, COBOL, Pascal were used as the programming language.

4. The sizes were smaller and efficient and the computers were called minicomputers.

5. There was an improvement in reliability and speed as compared to the second generation of computers.

6. The input/output devices were keyboards, magnetic tape monitor, printer, etc.

7. Examples are IBM 370, IBM 360, UNIVAC 1108 and so on.

Examples	IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP-11, NCR 395, B6500, UNIVAC 1108, etc.

The Fourth Generation of Computers- Micro-processors(1970s-present)

1. The main electronic components used in the fourth generation of computers are microprocessors and very large scale integration (VLSI).

2. When thousands of transistors are attached to a single microchip, it is known as VLSI.

3. Semiconductor memory storage units such as RAM, ROM, etc were introduced.

4. RAM (random-access memory)- Temporarily stores the programs and data and the contents are lost when the computer is shut down.

5. ROM (read-only memory)- Permanently stores the data and programs and the contents are retained even after shutting down the computer.

6. High-level languages such as C#, JAVA, Python, JavaScript are used as programming languages.

7. The sizes are smaller and the speed has improved.

8. The input/output devices are a monitor, mouse, keyboard, printer, and so on.

9. Examples are STAR 1000, APPLE II, IBM PC, and so on.

Examples	IBM PC, STAR 1000, APPLE II, Apple Macintosh, Alter 8800, etc.

The Fifth Generation of Computers- (present and the future)

 

1. The main electronic components that are used in the present generation of computers is Artificial Intelligence which uses the parallel processing method and the Ultra-Large Scale Integration (ULSI).

2. The fifth generation of computers understands the natural human language.

3. The speeds are really fast and the sizes are also small.

4. The fifth-generation computers are portable and have a huge storage capacity.

5. The input/output devices are keyboards, monitors, touchscreen pens, printers, light scanners, and so on.

6. Examples are laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, etc.

Example	Desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.

Also Read Computer Basic Knowledge

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