History and Generation of Computer:First computer developed for calculation purpose in Abacus then in 17th century by Napier Bone

are used. General purpose electronic computers using valves were developed in 1940. In 1823 Charles Babbage an English mathematician designed for automatic computing machine for automatic computing of mathematical tables. That machine is called as Differential Engine. First Computer developed is known as ENIAC (Electronic Numeric Integrator and Calculator). Generation of Computer:The rapid growth and availability of improved electronic component have resulted in making computer smaller and enhanced their reliability and reduced their cost . High speed, large memory are special features in evolution of computer. 1) 1st Generation :The 1st electronic computer was completed in 1946 by a team lead by Prof.Eckert and Prof.Mauchly at university of Pennsylvania in U.S.A. This computer is called as ENIC (Electronic Numeric Integrator and Calculator.) It uses high speed vacuum tubes. It has small memory. It took about 200 microsecond to add two digits and 2800 microsecond to multiply. A idea to store machine instruction in memory of computer along with data was introduced by John Von Neumann in 1946. The first computer using this principle was introduced a Cambridge university called as EDSAC ( Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator.). In 1951 UNIVAC I built by Univac Division of Remington Rand and delivered in 1951. It also uses vacuum tubes. They have limited life. During 1 st generation computer programming was mainly done in machine language. 2) 2nd Generation :- ( 1955-1965) A big revolution in electronic took place with invention of transistor in 1946. Transistors are made up of germanium semiconductor material were highly reliable compared to tube. They occupy less space so size of computer become less and speed of computer gets increased. In this generation magnetic cores are invented for storage. Memory capacity in second generation is about 100 KB. Magnetic disks are also invented. The highly reliability of computer led to development of high level language. Fortran, Cobol, Algol, SNOBOL were developed during this generation. New profession in computing such as System Analysis and Programmers emerged during second generation. 2) 3rd Generation :- (1965-1975) It began in 1965 with germanium transistors being replaced silicon transistor i.e. IC (Integrated Circuits) consisting of transistors and capacitors growing on single chip of silicon eliminating wired interconnection. From small scale integrated circuits technology developed to medium scale integrated circuit. This increases speed of CPU which carry out 1 million instruction per second. The size of main memory reached to 4 MB. Magnetic disk technology improved rapidly and storage capacity become feasible. Many important online system storage capacity become feasible. Many important online system become feasible. High level languages become improved e.g. Fortran IV, COBOL 68, PL/1. 3) 4th Generation:Medium scale integration circuits developed to large scale integration and very large scale integration. Magnetic core memories are replaced by semiconductor memories. Floppy disk provide a low cost, high capacity backup. Network of computer and distributed computer system have been developed. A significant development in software is development of concurrent programming language. There is development of time shared interactive system. The effective cost of computing has become down. e.g. Intel 8080, Intel 8088, Intel 80286, Pentium I, II, III. 4) 5th Generation:It is estimated from 1990. It is now possible to go specialized VLSI chips at low cost. Thus an architecture in technology and allows an easier and more natural algorithm. Functional languages are developed. In this generation there is development of artificial intelligence. Cost of computer become very less. Speed, Storage, Capacity become very high.

History of Computer in Brief

Year 3000 years ago 1614 AD 1620 AD 1642 AD 1694 AD Machine / Device Abacus Napier's Bone Slide Rule Pascaline Stepped Reckoner Scientists

John Napier Mathematician - Scotland William Oughtred Mathematician Blaise Pascal Mathematician French Gottfried Wilhelm Mathematician German Joseph Marie Jacquaed Silk Weaver 1801 AD Jacquard's Loom French Joseph Marie Jacquaed Silk Weaver 1725 AD Bouchon's Loom French Charles Babbage Mathematics Professor, 1823 AD Difference Engine Cambridge University, England Charles Babbage Mathematics Professor, 1833 AD Analytical Engine Cambridge University, England Tabulating Machine with Dr. Herman Hollerith, American Census 1880 AD Punched Cards Statistician. 1937 AD MARK-I Howard Aiken1937-38 AD ABC Dr. John Atansoft & Clifford Berry 1946 AD ENIAC John Mauchly & J. P. Eckert 1945 AD EDSAC John Von Neuman John Mauchly & J. P. Eckert, Universal 1951 AD UNIVAC-I Accounting Company. 1952 AD EDVAC John Mauchly & J. P. Eckert 1938 AD MARK-II Dr. John V. Lady ADA Lovelace First female Programmer for Analytical Engine Binary Digit (Daughter of famous Poet Lord Byron) Charles Babbage is also known as "Father of Modern Computer Science"

* Generation of Computer *
Computers are classified into five major development stages known as generation of computer. They are classified in term of speed, storage, size, reliability and the components used for manufacturing the machine. Let us now discuss each generation more closely and their distinct features. Generation
Period Technical Components Used Speed Examples

1st
1946 1958 Vacuum Tube & Valves Milli Second ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC-I, MARK-I IBM 650, LEO, IBM -701 etc.

2nd
1959 - 1964 Transistor Milli Second IBM 1620, IBM 7000, , CDC 3600, UNIVAC 1108, LEO MARK III, RCA 501, etc

3rd
1965 - 1974 IC (Silicon Chip) Micro Second IBM 360, IBM 370, ICL 1900, UNIVAC, PDP-11/45, NCRCS, CDC 1700 etc.

4th
1975 - 1990 VLSI Microprocessor Nano Second IBM PC, XT Apple/ Macintosh, IBM System 370, SUPER Brain. etc.

5th
1991 till now Bio-Chips (Parallel Processing) Pico Second IBM PC AT, Pentium I, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV etc. Incomplete.

First Generation:The first Generation of computer were developed between 1946 to 1958. The development of Vacuum Tubes signaled the beginning of the first generation. Vacuum Tubes was developed by Lee DeForest in 1908. The vacuum tubes consumed great amount of electrical energy and the tubes heated quickly, and therefore caused many problems concerning temperature control. Also the tubes burnt out often, and had to be constantly. Features of 1st Generation Computer: The central processor was made up of a Vacuum Tube. They were very big in size. They were slow. The power consumption was very high and generated much heat. These computers were less accurate. Second Generation:The second generation computers were developed between 1959 to 1964. The invention of the Transistor by three scientists of Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1974 greatly changed the computer's development. The three Bell Lab Scientists are John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockely. Transistor were made up of a semiconducting material and controlled the flow of electricity through the circuits. They also allowed computers to become smaller and more powerful and faster at the same time. The features of 2nd Generation Computer: Transistors were used instead of Vacuum Tubes. They were smaller in size that first generation. The power consumption and heat generation was slow. They were more reliable and accurate. They were faster compared to first generation. Third Generation:The 3rd Generation computer were developed during 1965 ot 1974. Integrated Circuit (IC) were used in these machines. IC is an electronic circuit put on Silicon Chip. IC was developed by Jack Kilby at Texas Instrument in 1958. A new program, an operating system was also introduced for automatic processing and multiprogramming. The features of 3rd Generation Computers: Integrated Circuits were used instead of Transistor. The size was much smaller. The speed of operation was faster than the second generation. They have a large storage capacity. They were reliable and better in performance. Fourth Generation:The fourth generation computers were developed during 1975 to 1990. These computers used Large Scale Integration (LSI) and Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) in the memory unit. The first microprocessor called Intel 4004 was developed by American Intel Corporation in 1971. The features of 4th Generation Computer: These computer use LSI and VLSI microprocessor. These computers were highly reliable and accurate. The operating speed was excellent, measured in Pico Second. Smaller in size compared to other generations.

 Micro Computers are also introduced. Magnetic disk is the common source of external storage. Application software for microcomputers has become popular. Fifth Generation:The fifth generation computers were produced after 1991. These computer will use Bio-Chips or Gallium Arsenide and ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) as switching devices. Japan has been working on to develop such computers, which will have artificial intelligence. They will be able to understand human language and speak, think and make decision. The fifth generation computer that is under the development is also known as Knowledge Information Processing System (KIPS). Features of 5th Generation Computer: These computers will have a very high speed. These computers will be using ULSI. These computers will have artificial intelligence. They will process non-numerical information such as picture and graphs. These computers will contain computers that can learn logic and reason.