Lecture-3

Introduction to Computers

22-Feb-10

Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU.

The Computer Generations

The term generation is used to distinguish between varying hardware technologies. There are total five computer generations:
First Generation (1942-1955) Second Generation (1955-1964) Third Generation (1964-1975) Fourth Generation (1975-1989) Fifth Generation (1989-Present)

22-Feb-10

Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU.

First Generation (1942-1955)

Too bulky in size, requires large rooms. Thousands of vacuum tubes were used to store data & instructions.So it produces large heat. Vacuum tubes are unreliable & inefficient in operations. Power consumption is very high. Each tube half a watt. Requires constant maintenance. Programs were written in machine language. Difficult to program and use, had limited commercial use. Example: ENIAC(Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator), EDVAC, IBM 701 etc.

22-Feb-10

Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU.

Second Generation (1955-1964)

Made of semiconductor materials (Transistors). More reliable than 1st tube glass. Smaller in size and less expensive. Less power consumption. One-tenth of tube. Less heat produced. Faster and large primary and secondary storage and IO devices. Programs are written in machine & assembly languages. Example: IBM 7030, CDC 1604 etc.
22-Feb-10 Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU. 4

Third Generation (1964-1975)

General purpose machine for scientific and commercial applications. IC technology is used. Smaller in size and less expensive than 2nd generation. Less power consumption than 2nd generation Faster and large primary and secondary storage than 2nd generation. Example: IBM 360/370, PDP-8, PDP-11 etc.

22-Feb-10

Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU.

Fourth Generation (1975-1989)

Totally General purpose machine . Smaller in size and less expensive than 3rd generation. More powerful and reliable. Faster and large primary and secondary storage than 3rd generation. Semiconductor storage devices were introduced. Example: IBM PC and its clones, Apple II, CRAY-1 etc.
22-Feb-10 Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU. 6

Fifth Generation (1989-Present)

Will be capable of reasoning, learning, making inferences and behaving like human. It will be equipped with massive primary storage capabilities. Voice recognition, the ability to understand and obey spoken words.

22-Feb-10

Lafifa Jamal, CSE, DU.