Name; BAGAPORO, KRISTINE JOY D.

Course & Year: BSME – 2A

Subject: Computer Fundamentals and Programming

Assignment No. 1

1. Brief history of computer

 A computer is a machine that can be instructed to carry

out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically
via computer programming. Modern computers have the ability to follow
generalized sets of operations, called programs. The computer as we
know it today had its beginning with a 19th century English mathematics
professor name Charles Babbage.
He designed the Analytical Engine and it was this design that the basic
framework of the computers of today are based on.

Generally speaking, computers can be classified into three

generations. Each generation lasted for a certain period of time and
each gave us either a new and improved computer or an improvement to
the existing computer.

 First generation: 1937 – 1946 - In 1937 the first electronic

digital computer was built by Dr. John V. Atanasoff and
Clifford Berry. It was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer
(ABC). In 1943 an electronic computer name the Colossus was
built for the military. Other developments continued until in
1946 the first general– purpose digital computer, the
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was
built. It is said that this computer weighed 30 tons, and had
18,000 vacuum tubes which was used for processing. When
this computer was turned on for the first time lights dim in
sections of Philadelphia. Computers of this generation could
only perform single task, and they had no operating system.
 Second generation: 1947 – 1962 - This generation of
computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes which
were more reliable. In 1951 the first computer for commercial
 use was introduced to the public; the Universal Automatic
Computer (UNIVAC 1). In 1953 the International Business
Machine (IBM) 650 and 700 series computers made their
mark in the computer world. During this generation of
computers over 100 computer programming languages were
developed, computers had memory and operating systems.
Storage media such as tape and disk were in use also were
printers for output.
 Third generation: 1963 - present - The invention of
integrated circuit brought us the third generation of
computers. With this invention computers became smaller,
more powerful more reliable and they are able to run many
different programs at the same time. In1980 Microsoft Disk
Operating System (MS-Dos) was born and in 1981 IBM
introduced the personal computer (PC) for home and office
use. Three years later Apple gave us the Macintosh computer
with its icon driven interface and the 90s gave us Windows
operating system.

As a result of the various improvements to the development of

the computer we have seen the computer being used in all areas of life.
It is a very useful tool that will continue to experience new development
as time passes.

2. Main components of a microcomputer

 Microcomputers are made possible by advances in electronics that led

to the development of large scale integrated circuits. These advances
made it possible to place the entire CPU of a computer on a single chip.
All computers share the same basic architecture. The main components
are: the central processing unit (CPU), input devices, output devices,
and memory.

3. Functions and characteristics of processor, memory and I/O devices

 Processor
 The four primary functions of a processor are fetch, decode,
execute and write back.

o Fetch- is the operation which receives instructions from

program memory from a systems RAM.

o Decode- is where the instruction is converted to understand

which other parts of the CPU are needed to continue the
operation. This is performed by the instruction decoder

o Execute- is where the operation is performed. Each part of

the CPU that is needed is activated to carry out the
instructions.

 The most notable characteristics of the processors are mentioned

below:

o It is composed of registers, control unit, arithmetic.

o It is made up of the core that is in charge of making the

computer perform processes with greater speed, fluidity and
time optimization.

o The cores are contained in a physical unit, but in reality, they

are individual processors.

o It has cache memory, which implies the capacity to increase

the performance of the applications that are installed in the
computer. It accelerates the RAM memory and the hard disk.

o The faster the processor, the faster the instructions will be

carried out.

o Processors that include two cores are called dual-core

processors, while those with four cores are called quad-core
processors.

o Today’s CPUs often include several processing cores, which

work together to process instructions.
  Memory

 The basic function of computer memory is essentially to store data.

Depending on the type of data it stores and the role it plays in
computer operation, however, memory performs several different
functions. Although all of these functions involve data storage, RAM,
ROM, flash memory and hard drives each perform a different and
necessary function to keep a computer and its peripherals working.
 Characteristics of a memory are as follows:
o Memory provides the CPU with a working storage area for
program instruction and data.
o Memory is located close to the CPU to decrease access time.
o The processor or the CPU directly stores and retrieves
information from it.
o CPU access this memory randomly. It means that the CPU to
either read information from it or store information in it.

 I/O devices
 An input device sends information to a computer system for
processing and an output device reproduces or displays the results
of that processing.
 Input devices only allow for input of data to a computer and output
devices only receive the output of data from another device.
 An input/output device can receive data from users, or another
device (input), and send data to another device (output).

4. Types of programs and basic input/output system (BIOS)

 BIOS (basic input/output system) is the program a

computer's microprocessor uses to start the computer system after it
is powered on. It also manages data flow between the
computer's operating system (OS) and attached devices, such as the
hard disk, video adapter, keyboard, mouse and printer. There are two
different types of BIOS:
 UEFI – UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) can
accommodate 2.2 TB or larger drives by using the Master Boot
Record (MBR) approach in place of the more modern GUID Partition
 Table (GPT) technology. Although Intel PCs migrate away from
Legacy BIOS and towards UEFI firmware, BIOS has never been
used by Apple’s Mac PCs.
 Legacy BIOS – Older motherboards have legacy firmware on the
BIOS to turn the PC on. Although it governs how the CPU and the
components communicate, like UEFI, Legacy BIOSes have other
limitations. These can’t identify drives bigger than 2.1 TB, and their
setup programs have text-only menus.

5. Personal computers, clones, servers and workstations

 Personal Computer – a general-purpose computer whose size,

capabilities and original sale price make it useful for individuals, and is
intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening
computer operator.
 Clone – a hardware or software that is designed to function in exactly
the same way as another system. A specific subset of clones
are remakes (or remade), which are revivals of old, obsolete, or
discontinued products.
 Server – a computer or system that provides resources, data, services,
or programs to other computers, known as clients, over a network. In
theory, whenever computers share resources with client machines they
are considered servers. There are many types of servers, including web
servers, mail servers, and virtual servers.
 Workstation – a special computer designed for technical
or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person
at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and
run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also been
used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe
computer terminal to a PC connected to a network, but the most
common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several
current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon
Graphics, Apollo Computer, DEC, HP, NeXT and IBM which opened the
door for the 3D graphics animation revolution of the late 1990s.
6. Chronological events for the developments of microcomputer

 Computer History
 In 1834, Charles Babbage announces the analysis engine
 o Unbelievable, did you think that the furthest we could go back
in time in terms of computing was the 1980s, right? Not at
all. British mathematics teacher Charles Babbage woke up
one morning to start creating the analytical machine! A
modern general-purpose computer that was a major
breakthrough in the history of computer science.
Its general purpose was a machine that could be
programmed by the user, capable of executing the desired
instructions and commands. It was mechanical in nature, and
already had many parts of a modern computer. It could
store 1000 numbers of 50 digits each, and although it could
never be built by its inventor, Babbage, because the necessary
technology was not yet available, it was one of the first
milestones of computer science.
 1943: The birth of Mark I Colossus
o More than 70 years ago, this top secret project arrived and
helped to win a war. It sounds like a science fiction story,
doesn’t it? The Colossus machines were the first electronic
calculating devices. They were used by the British to read
German encrypted communications during World War II. This
means that the Colossus, originally designed by Tommy
Flowers, was one of the first digital computers.
 1954: First prototype of desktop calculators
o As a former student I can say that calculators have saved my
exams on more than one occasion, not only by learning how to
spell the word “pocket” with numbers on its small screen, by
giving me hours of fun while others were doing the written
test, but also because they helped me hide a lot of cheat
sheets on its back and cover.
Back in 1954, IBM presented the world’s first electronic
calculator in the United States, made with transistors,
something highly revolutionary and technological for the time.
It was quite large and could cost around $80,000. But, after
a short time, more commercial models were launched, which
thanks to the development were more reliable and affordable.
 1969: The creation of ARPANET
o ARPANET was just a small network of computers that was
created on behalf of the United States Department of
 Defense. They did so as a way of communication for the
various agencies in the country. We are witnessing the seminal
net that would become what we now know as the Internet. In
1990, ARPANET ended its existence.
 1971: The first e-mail is sent
o The first e-mail was sent by Ray Tomlinson. What kind of
verse did he put for posterity? Well, nothing more and nothing
less than the first few letters of the computer keyboard. An
indecipherable text without much meaning.
As a curiosity, he used for the first time the @ symbol
between the user name and the machine. This fact is now a
thing of the past, as you can imagine. He chose this symbol
because, he explained, “it certainly wasn’t in a real name”.
Ray’s heart must have been broken because he received no
response…. The innovation was so innovative that since it was
the only program installed, there was no opportunity for
dialogue.
 1981: IBM launches a PC
o IBM achieved a milestone in the history of humanity in general
and of computing in particular: with the commercialization of
the personal computer, or PC, it managed to turn computing
from being a hidden mystery for the majority, to becoming
something useful and practical for everyone.
I assure you that neither prophets nor seers could have
imagined the revolution that this would entail today.
 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first website
o It was exactly on December 20, 1990, when Berners-Lee, a
British scientist, uploaded this page to CERN’s servers, with
the mission of explaining the basic principles of what the
modern web was going to be.
As you can see, it is a simple page with rudimentary text
and hyperlinks. This is a modest guide on how his project
would work.
 1997: The machine defeats the man, in chess
o Such a prick to our ego resonated beyond the limits of the
board, to spread beyond the confines of the pedestal on which
the human being thought he was standing.
 The event took place in two parts, the first in Philadelphia
on February 10, 1996, where the IBM Deep
Blue supercomputer faced the then champion, Garry
Kasparov. In the first game, after an initial fright, the great
master ended up winning. Humanity could continue to breathe
in peace. But IBM prepared the rematch. It was held shortly
thereafter in New York City in 1997. In that historic duel the
machine won. Though by an adjusted outcome, man’s
intellectual supremacy on Earth was defeated.
 1998: Google was founded
o In 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin met as colleagues at
Stanford. Already as computer students, they collaborated
on a search engine called BackRub that operated on
Stanford’s servers until it was too bandwidth-intensive to
cope with the university.
In 1997, they decided that the BackRub search engine
needed a new look and feel and considered some ideas,
including a game of the word “googol”, a mathematical term
represented by the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
In 1998, the then co-founder of Sun, Andy Bechtolsheim,
prepared a check for about $100,000 for a newly registered
company, a certain Google Inc. that would make us all happy.
 2018: You get to meet Pandora FMS
o Pandora FMS is a flexible monitoring software, which is
capable of monitoring devices, infrastructures, applications,
services and business processes.