Computer Basics and Functions Quiz

Computer Definition and Functions

• A computer is an advanced electronic device that takes raw data as input from the user and processes it under the control of a set of instructions (called a program).
• It can process both numerical and non-numerical (arithmetic and logical) calculations.
• The term "computer" is derived from the Latin term "computare", which means to calculate.
• Four basic functions of a computer: input, process, output, and storage.

History of Computer and Pioneer Inventors

• Early times: Primitive humans used their fingers as a natural counting instrument.
• The Abacus: The first manual data processing device, used for mathematical computations.
• John Napier: Invented Napier's Rod or Bones in 1617, allowing users to multiply large numbers.
• Blaise Pascal: Built a calculating machine called "Pascaline" in 1642, which could add and subtract.
• Baron Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibnez: Designed the "Stepped Reckoner" in 1694, which could add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
• Joseph-Marie Jacquard: Invented a machine called "Jacquard's Loom" in 1790, which used punch cards to create patterns on fabric.
• Charles Babbage: Invented the "Analytical Engine" in 1832, a device that could solve differential equations, and is considered the "Father of Computers".
• Herman Hollerith: Invented the "Tabulating Machine" in the 1880s, used for the Census Bureau, and founded IBM (International Business Machines).

The Modern Computer

• 1944: The age of the Modern Computer began.
• Howard Aiken: Headed a group of scientists that completed "Mark I" in 1943, a modern computer equivalent to Babbage's Analytical Engine.
• John Atanasoff: Designed and built the first Electronic Digital Computer, the ABC (Atanasoff Berry Computer), in 1942, which used binary logic circuitry and had regenerative memory.
• John Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert: Completed the "ENIAC" (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) in 1946, the first general-purpose computer, programmable and used for calculating ballistic tables.
• UNIVAC 1: The first commercial computer built by Mauchly and Eckert.
• John Von Neumann: Helped realize the concept of "Stored Program" with Mauchly and Eckert for the "EDVAC" Computer.

Classification of Computers

• Supercomputer: The most powerful computers, used to process huge amounts of data, model complex processes, and simulate processes.
• Mainframes: Large computers used where many people in a large organization need frequent access to the same information, organized into one or more huge databases.