Definition and History of the Computer System

DEFINITION, HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM

A computer system is a connection of electro-mechanical devices that link together forming a system in order to perform automatic electronic data processing (EDP) using software. It can manipulate and store data for the user’s retrieval . It has the capacity to manipulate data to meaningful information . This data can also be stored for later use or further manipulation . It is different from other processing machines such as punched cards, calculators etc, because it can also store instructions that will direct the machine to carry out the steps accordingly.

FEATURES OF COMPUTERS

There are certain qualities possessed by the computer that tend to make it advantageous over other means of data processing. Some of these advantageous include:

High Speed: Computers are electronic devices and as such, can operate at the speed of electricity. This makes the computer so fast in operation that in a matter of seconds ,the computer can accomplish what will take human being days to accomplish.

Accuracy: Computers do not make mistakes in so far as they are accurately programmed and are not faulty in terms of components . Because computers can operate error-free , they can be trusted to produce accurate results, which is very vital the user.

Reliability: Just as they are accurate, computers are reliable and consistent in the information produced by it. Given the same program and same data, the result produced should be the same at all times . That is why computer-type devices like microprocessors are introduced into the household appliances and automobiles to increase their longevity and reliability. This does not mean that the computer cannot break down. When the computer breaks down, it is no longer operational and it is said to be down. The amount of time that the computer stays in an inoperable condition is referred to as downtime.

Versatility: Computers are versatile. They can be used in many fields . Some areas in which the computer can be used include payroll, exam marking, accounting, military, teaching and learning, designing and manufacturing, entertainment, airline seat reservation, etc.

Mass Storage Capability: Computers can store very large amounts of data for long periods of time.

Precision : It is possible to represent information, especially numerical quantities , to any (reasonable) desired degree of magnitude. This quality is very useful in scientific and engineering applications.

Security: Because data and information in computer systems are stored in machine-readable forms, they are protected to some extent from people who have no access to the computer by the use of passwords or some other form of identification. Thus, we can say that the computer provides a measure of security for data and information stored in it.

HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER

The history of computer is really as antique as the history of man. The first form of computing was counting, adding other arithmetic operations which were performed by the aid of the human body, Human parts such as the foes and fingers were used in counting while the eyes acted like the present day computer monitor. The human brain acts as the processor for processing of raw data. Other objects used were drawings of lines, sticks, stones etc

‘Who invent the computer?” is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention. No one person may be credited with the invention of computers, but several names stand proud in the crowd.

IN the 7th century B.C in China the ABACUS was said to have originated. The ABACUS is made of beads strewn on iron rods. Through various manipulations the ABACUS is used for addition and subtraction.

ADDING MACHINE

The first true adding machine was invented in 1642 by the Frenchman Blaise Pascal. He was nineteen at the time and was motivated by a desire to reduce the numerical labor involved in his father’s work. In Pascal’s machine, numbers to be added were entered on dials, and the result was read from dial positions.

Between 1663 and 1666, Sir Samuel Morland in England, probably quite independent of Pascal, invented three calculating machines. The first of these was used for the adding and subtracting of pounds, shillings, pence and farthings. Morland’s other machines, were not calculating machines in the actual sense, but devices which provided access to pre-calculated tables.

In 1671, the great German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz devised a calculator in which sliding gears could be set to mesh with a variable number of steeped teeth mounted on a drop. This development facilitated multiplication and division.

CHARLES BABBAGE (1791-1871)

The first attempt to design a computer distinct from a hand calculator was made by an Englishman, Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage was born in Devonshire in 1792 and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. The nineteenth century was the time when most of the standard astronomical and navigational tables were compiled and Babbage, with others, were interested in devising some methods of computing the tables rapidly and accurately by machinery. Babbage developed his so-called difference Engine for this purpose. The machine was started in 1823 under the promise of government funds, and was never completed because Babbage’s idea continued to develop beyond the original concept and he had started work on his second invention, which he later referred to as the Analytical Engine. However, parts of the difference engine were made: and one section can be seen in the Science Museum in South Kensington, England.

Babbage’s next invention, the analytical Engine was quite close to the concept of modern computer. It differed from the Advanced Studies at Princeton by John von Neumann and his collaborator, Herman Goldstine and Arthur W. Burks, all whom were earlier, associated with the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) project, the first all-electronic digital computer. In historic reports, they laid a designed plan that incorporated most of the essential features found in modern day machines. The reports encompassed the design of a machine called EDVAC (Electronic Discrete variable Computer). They emphasized the idea of a stored programmed, in contrast to a programmed supplied by an input device as required. The programmed was to be stored within the machine in the same form as the data except by the context in which it would be encountered. This would permit one part of a Programme to perform arithmetic operations and hence modify another part of a Programme, an ability which distinguishes a true computer from a calculator. Following the Neumann report, a number of computers were designed in the United States and elsewhere, the first of which was the 1948 prototype machine at Manchester. Later, companies like IBM, Remington Rand Corporation, ICL and many others joined in producing computers in commercial quantities.

Babbage worked on his Analytical Engine from around 1830 until he died, but sadly it was never completed. It is often said that Babbage was a hundred years ahead of his time and that the technology of the day was inadequate for the task. refuting this is the fact that in 1834, two Swedish engineers called George and Edward Schertz built a small Difference Engine based on Babbage’s description. Further supporting this theory was the fact that, in 1876, only five years after Babbage’s death, an obscure inventor called George Banard Grant exhibited a full-sized difference engine of his own devising at the Philadelphia centennial fair. Grant’s machine was 8 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and contained over 15,000 moving parts. The point is that, although Babbage’s Analytical Engine was intellectually far more sophisticated that his difference Engine, constructing an Analytical Engine would not have been beyond the technology of the day.