You know that the evolution of computers started in the 16th century and resulted in the form that we see today. The present-day computer, however, has also undergone rapid change ‘ during the last fifty years. This period, during which the evolution of computers took place, can be divided into five distinct phases known as Generations of Computers. Each phase is distinguished ‘from others on the basis of the type of switching circuits used
 FIRST GENERATION OF COMPUTERS
‘First generation computers used Thermion valves. These computers were large in size and Writing programs on them was difficult. Some of the computers of this generation were
ENIAC: It was the first electronic computer built in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania, ” ‘The USA by John Eckert and John Mauchly. It was named Electronic Numerical Integrator•and Calculator (ENIAC). The ENIAC was 30 and 50 feet long, weighed 30 tons, contained 18.000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 registers, 10,000 capacitors, and required 150,000 watts of electricity. Today your favorite computer is many times as powerful as ENIAC still size’s very small
‘EDVAC: It stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer and was developed in 1950. The concept of storing data and instructions inside the computer was introduced here. This allowed much faster operation since the computer had rapid access to both data and instructions. The other advantage of storing instruction was that computers ‘could do logical decisions internally.
Other Important Computers of First Generation :
EDSAC: It stands for Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer and was developed by M.V. Wilkes at Cambridge University in 1949’UNIVAC-1: Ecker and Mauchly produced it in 1951 by Universal Accounting Computer
‘setup• Limitations of First Generation Computer: Followings are the major drawbacks of First generation computers.
1. The operating speed was quite slow.
2. power consumption was very high
 3. It required a large space for installation.
4. The programming capability was quite low.
Second Generation Computer
Around 1955 a device called Transistor replaced the bulky electric tubes in the First Generation Computer. Transistors are smaller than electric tubes and have higer operating speed.They have no filament and require no heating. Manufacturing cost was aso very low. Thus the size of the computer got reduced considerably.
 It is the second Generation that the concept of Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory. Programming language and input and output units were developed. The programming languages such as COBOL and FORTRAN were developed during this period. Some of the computes of the Second Generation, were
 1. IBM 1620 its size was smaller as compred to First Generation computer and mostly used for scientific purpose. 2.1BM 1401: its size was small to medium and used for business aplications
 3. CDC 3600: its size was large and is use for scientific purposes
 THIRD GENERATION COMPUTERS
 The third generation computers were introduced in 1964. They used integrated Circuits (ICs). These ICs are popularly known as Chips. A single IC has many transistors, Registers, and capacitors built on a single thin slice of silicon. So it is quite obvious that the size of the computer got further reduced, Some of the computers developed during this period IBM-360, ICL-1900 IBM-370, and VAX-750. Higher-level language such as BASIC (Beginners All-purpose
 Symbolic Instruction Code) was developed during this period. Computers of this generation were small in size, low cost, large memory and processing speed is very high.
 FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTERS
 The present-day computers that you see today are the four-generation computers that started around 1975. It uses large-scale Integrated Circuits (LSIC) built on a single silicon chip called a microprocessor. Due to the development of microprocessors, it is possible to place computers’ central procssng unit(CPU)on single chip. These computers are called microcomputers. Later
 very large scale Integrated Circuits (VLSIC) replaced LSICs.
 Thus the computer which was occupying a very large room in earlier days can now be placed on a table. The personal computr(PC) that you see in your school is a Fourth Generation Computer.
 FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTER
 The computers of the 1990s are said to be Fifth Generation computes. The speed is extremely high in fifth-generation computers, Apart form this it can perform parallel processing. The
concept of Arificial intelligence has been introduced to allow the computer to take its own decision. It is still in the developmental stage.
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