Generation of computer
1) FIRST GENERATION: VACUUM TUBES (1940–1956)
The first generation computer used vacuum tubes for circuitry
and magnetic drums for main memory, and they were often
enormous, taking up entire rooms.
These computers were very expensive to operate, and in
addition to using a great deal of electricity, the first computers
generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of
malfunctions. The maximum internal storage capacity was
20,000 characters.
First-generation computers relied on machine language, the
lowest-level programming language understood by computers,
to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem
at a time.
It would take operators days or even weeks to set up a new
problem. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape,
and output was displayed on printouts.
2) SECOND GENERATION: TRANSISTORS (1956–1963)
The second generation computer used transistors for circuitry. This
generation of computers also included hardware advances like
magnetic core memory, magnetic tape, and the magnetic disk.
The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing
computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient,
and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors.
Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that
subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over
the vacuum tube. A second-generation computer still relied on
punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers moved from machine language
to assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify
instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also
being developed at this time
3) THIRD GENERATION: INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (1964–1971)
The third generation computer used integrated circuit for
circuitry. It has high speed and efficiency than first and second
generation computer. Instead of punched cards and printouts, users would interact
with a third generation computer through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with
an operating system, which allowed the device to run many
different applications at one time with a central program that
monitored the memory. Computers, for the first time, became
accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and
cheaper than their predecessors. High level language were used in this generation
4) FOURTH GENERATION: MICROPROCESSORS (1971–PRESENT)
The fourth generation computer used microprocessor for
circuitry. Semiconductor memory storage units such as RAM, ROM, etc were introduced.
High-level languages are used as programming languages.
The sizes are smaller and the speed has improved.
The input/output devices are a monitor, mouse, keyboard,
printer, and so on.
5) The Fifth Generation of Computers- Biochips (present and the
future)
The fifth generation computer used biochips for circuitry.
Fifth generation computing devices, are based on artificial
intelligence. Are still in development, though there are some
applications, such as voice recognition. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality.The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.