Classification of Digital Computers

Digital computer can be classified into the following two categories.

According to Size. According to Purpose.

According to Size.

According to size we can sub-categorize digital computers as Supercomputer, Mainframe Computer, Minicomputer, Workstation & Microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC).
According to Purpose

According to purpose we can sub-categorize digital computers as General Purpose Computer & Special Purpose Computer.
According to Size.

Supercomputer A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s and were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems involving quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion). Mainframe Computer Mainframes are powerful computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing. The term originally referred to the large cabinets that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. Later the term was used to distinguish high-end commercial machines from less powerful units. Mainframes are measured in (millions of) integer operations per second (MIPS), Examples of integer operations include adjusting inventory counts, matching names,

indexing tables of data, and making routine yes or no decisions. Floating point operations are mostly addition, subtraction, and multiplication with enough digits of precision to model continuous phenomena such as weather. Mainframes are built to be reliable for transaction processing as it is commonly understood in the business world: a commercial exchange of goods, services, or money. A typical transaction would include the updating to a database system for such things as inventory control (goods), airline reservations (services), or banking (money). A transaction could refer to a set of operations including disk read/writes, operating system calls, or some form of data transfer from one subsystem to another. Minicomputer A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). Mini computers were also known as midrange computers. They had relatively high processing power and capacity that mostly fit the needs of mid range organizations. They were used in manufacturing processes or handling email that was sent and received by a company. Workstation A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also been used to refer to a mainframe computer terminal or a PC connected to a network. Historically, workstations had offered higher performance than personal computers, especially with respect to CPU and graphics, memory capacity and multitasking capability. They are optimized for the visualization and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation (e.g. computational fluid dynamics), animation and rendering of images, and mathematical plots. Consoles consist of a high resolution display, a keyboard and a mouse at a minimum, but also offer multiple displays, graphics tablets, 3D mice etc. Workstations are the first segment of the computer market to present advanced accessories and collaboration tools. Workstations tended to be very expensive, typically several times the cost of a standard PC. The systems that come out of workstation companies often feature SCSI or Fibre Channel disk storage systems, high-end 3D accelerators, single or multiple 64-bit processors, large amounts of RAM, and well-designed cooling.

Microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC). A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also called personal computers (in the generic sense). The term "Microcomputer" came into popular use after the introduction of the minicomputer, although Isaac Asimov used the term microcomputer in his short story "The Dying Night" as early as 1956 (published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in July that year). Most notably, the microcomputer replaced the many separate components that made up the minicomputer's CPU with a single integrated microprocessor chip. The abbreviation micro was common during the 1970s and 1980s, but has now fallen out of common usage.
According to Purpose

General purpose computer A computer designed to perform, or that is capable of performing, in a reasonably efficient manner, the functions required by both scientific and business applications is called general purpose computer. A general purpose computer has four main components: the arithmeticlogic unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory, and the input and output devices (collectively termed I/O). These parts are interconnected by busses, often made of groups of wires. A general purpose computer is often understood to be a large system; capable of supporting remote terminal operations, but it may also be a smaller computer, e.g., a desktop or workstation.
When we type some letters or words, the computer translates them in numbers as computers can understand only numbers. A computer can understand positional number system where there are only a few symbols called digits and these symbols represent different values depending on the position they occupy in the number. A value of each digit in a number can be determined using:

The digit

The position of the digit in the number

The base of the number system (where base is defined as the total number of digits available in the number system).

Decimal Number System

The number system that we use in our day-to-day life is the decimal number system. Decimal number system has base 10 as it uses 10 digits from 0 to 9. In decimal number system, the successive positions to the left of the decimal point represent units, tens, hundreds, thousands and so on. Each position represents a specific power of the base (10). For example, the decimal number 1234 consists of the digit 4 in the units position, 3 in the tens position, 2 in the hundreds position, and 1 in the thousands position, and its value can be written as (1x1000)+ (2x100)+ (3x10)+ (4xl)

(1x10 )+ (2x10 )+ (3x10 )+ (4xl0 ) 1000 + 200 + 30 + 4 1234 As a computer programmer or an IT professional, you should understand the following number systems, which are frequently used in computers.

S.N. Number System & Description

Binary Number System Base 2. Digits used: 0, 1

Octal Number System Base 8. Digits used: 0 to 7

Hexa Decimal Number System Base 16. Digits used: 0 to 9, Letters used: A- F

Binary Number System

Characteristics

Uses two digits, 0 and 1.

Also called base 2 number system.

0

Each position in a binary number represents a 0 power of the base (2). Example, 2 . Last position in a binary number represents a x power of the base (2). Example, 2 where x represents the last position - 1.
x

EXAMPLE
Binary Number: 101012 Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step

Binary Number

Decimal Number

Step 1 101012

((1 x 2 ) + (0 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ) + (0 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ))10

Step 2 101012

(16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1)10

Step 3 101012

2110

Note: 101012 is normally written as 10101.

Octal Number System

Characteristics

Uses eight digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Also called base 8 number system.

0

Each position in a octal number represents a 0 power of the base (8). Example, 8 . Last position in a octal number represents a x power of the base (8). Example, 8 where x represents the last position - 1.
x

EXAMPLE
Octal Number: 125708

Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step

Octal Number

Decimal Number

Step 1 125708

((1 x 8 ) + (2 x 8 ) + (5 x 8 ) + (7 x 8 ) + (0 x 8 ))10

Step 2 125708

(4096 + 1024 + 320 + 56 + 0)10

Step 3 125708

549610

Note: 125708 is normally written as 12570.

Hexadecimal Number System

Characteristics

Uses 10 digits and 6 letters: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F.

Letters represent numbers starting from 10. A = 10. B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F = 15.

Also called base 16 number system.

0

Each position in a hexadecimal number represents a 0 power of the base (16). Example, 16 . Last position in a hexadecimal number represents a x power of the base (16). Example, 16 where x represents the last position - 1.
x

EXAMPLE
Hexadecimal Number: 19FDE16 Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step

Binary Number

Decimal Number

Step 1 19FDE16

((1 x 16 ) + (9 x 16 ) + (F x 16 ) + (D x 16 ) + (E x 16 ))10

Step 2 19FDE16

((1 x 16 ) + (9 x 16 ) + (15 x 16 ) + (13 x 16 ) + (14 x 16 ))10

Step 3 19FDE16

(65536+ 36864 + 3840 + 208 + 14)10

Step 4 19FDE16

10646210