Generations of computer

GGeneration of computer

Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology, generation includes both hardware and software, which together make up an entire computer system.

Five generations of computer

There are five computer generations known till date. 

Five generations of computers.

First Generation of computers
The period of first generation was from 1940-1956. The computers of first generation used vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, its a difficult task to maintain and repair. They produced a lot of heat, They can be cooled by large air conditioner(AC). Therefore, they were very expensive and used only big organization's.

Characteristics/features of First Generation

Computer use vacuum tubes speed was slow and memory was very small.

They were huge in size taking up entire room.  

First generation computers were very expensive and unreliable

They consumed a lot of power and generated a lot of heat.(Non-volatile electricity)

Input was based on punched cards

Output was obtained on printouts through electric type witer

Machine language was used in these computers (machine code as its programming language)

Examples of first generation computers

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer)

EDSAC. (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator)

IBM 604

Mark-l

IBM-701
IBM-650

Second Generation Computer:

The second generation period is between 1959 and 1963. In 1947, three scientists, William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain invented transistor.

It replaced the vacuum tubes in the second generation computers. Transistor was faster, more reliable, smaller and much cheaper than vacuum tube.

characteristics of second generation computers

Transistors were used instead of vacuum tubes. 

Transistors reduced the size of computers and increased the speed and memory storage capacity.

Computers became more reliable and cheaper.

Second generation computers used punch card readers, magnetic tapes, magnetic disks

Assembly language was used in these computers.

High level programming languages, FORTRAN and COBOL were introduced in this generation of computers.

batch processing on the computer and multi-program operating system

Examples of second generation computers

UNIVAC II

UNIVAC 1108

IBM 7030

IBM7780

IBM 1620

IBM 7094
CDC 1604(Control Data Corporation's)
CDC 3600(Control Data Corporation's)

NCR 300 series

General Electric GE 635

Third generation computer
The third generation period was between 1963 and 1971. IC was invented by Jack Kilby. Integrated Circuits (ICs), also known as semiconductor chips were used in third generation of computers instead of transistors. IC chips were developed in early 1960s. A single IC chip contains a large number of transistors. IC chips increased the power and decreased the cost of computers. Invention of IC chips was a great breakthrough in advancing computer technology.

These advances made computers smaller, more reliable, and more efficient

characteristics of third generation of computers

Third generation computers used IC chips

IC chips improved the speed and memory of computers.

Computers consumed less electricity,less heat, became smaller, cheaper and more reliable than second generation computers.

Keyboard and monitor were used with the computer.

Low maintenance price.

These computers could run different application programs at the same time.

This generation uses a remote, time-sharing, multi-program operating system.

High-level languages​​(FORTRAN-II TO IV. COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68, etc.) are used in this generation.

Examples of third generation computers

Burroughs 6700

IBM System/380

IBM System 3

IBM-370/168

IBM-360

TDC-316

CDC 3300 Control Data Corporation's

CDC 6600 Control Data Corporation's

Honeywell-6000 Series
PDP (Personal Data Processor)

Fourth generation computer
The fourth generation period is between 1971 and 1980. In this generation of computers LSI (Large Scale Integration) and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) VLSI circuits with approximately 5,000 transistors and other circuit elements on one chip. Microprocessor was developed which resulted in the development of microcomputers

Characteristics of fourth generation computer

Fourth generation computers are very fast, have large storage capacity and use advanced input/output devices

Microcomputers are very small in size, very reliable, consume less power and are affordable.

The fourth generation of computers has become more powerful, compact, reliable and affordable.

This ultimately led to the personal computer (PC) revolution.

Large variety of software is available for use in microcomputers.

Operating system having Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed in this generation,

These computers support multimedia software that combines text, image, sound and video.

This generation is used for time sharing, real time networks, distributed operating systems.

These computers support modem programming languages such as Visual Basic, C++, Java and Python for developing powerful software.

Fourth generation computers support a large variety of portable and wireless input/output devices.

Examples of microprocessors developed in fourth generation of computers are Intel Pentium series, Dual Core, Core2 Duo, Core 13, 15, 17 and AMD Athlon.

C, C++, vBASE, etc. such language is used in this generation.

Examples of fourth generation computers

IBM ThinkPad series,

HP Pavilion series,

Dell Inspiron series

Apple's MacBook Pro

Apple's MacBook Air series.

PDP 11

CRAY-1 (Supercomputer)
CRAY-X-MP (Supercomputer)

Fifth generation computer
The period of the fifth generation until 1980. In the fifth generation, VLSI technology changed to ULSI technology (Ultra Large Scale Integration), resulting in the production of microprocessor chips with tens of millions of electronic components.

Characteristics of fifth generation computer
Developing true artificial intelligence
Advances in Natural Language Processing
Advances in parallel processing in superconducting technology
More user-friendly interfaces and multimedia features
Availability of powerful and compact computers at low prices

This generation is based on parallel processing software and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. AI is an emerging field in computer science that describes ways and means of making computers more human-like. This generation includes C and C++, Java, .Net, etc. All high level languages ​​like

The goal of/fifth generation of computers is to develop devices that can understand natural languages and have thinking power. This is a big challenge for computer developers and programmers to design such systems and software for them. Characteristics of fifth generation of computers.

Fifth generation computes are based on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In the fifth generation of computers, Al will minimize the need to write programs.

These computers will allow users to give commands in any natural language such as English.

Examples of fifth generation computers

robots and expert systems.

Robotic neural networks
Play games
Developing Expert Systems for Real-Life Decision Making Natural Language Understanding and Generation
Some of the computer models of generation
desktop

laptop
Ultrabook
CHROMEBOOKS
MAC BOOK