Introduction to

Computing
Module 1
Objectives
• Demonstrate knowledge on the concepts of
computers
• Discuss the different forms and types of
computers that emerged throughout history
• List key players in the history of computers
• Summarize key events in the history of
computers
• Manipulate the key events in the computer
history by creating a report
 What is Computing?
• Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring,
benefiting from, or creating computing machinery.
• It includes the study and experimentation of
algorithmic processes and development of both
hardware and software.
• It has scientific, engineering, mathematical,
technological and social aspects.
• Major computing disciplines include computer
engineering, computer science, cybersecurity,
data science, information systems, information
technology and software engineering
• The ACM Computing Curricula 2005 and
2020defined "computing" as follows:

• “We define computing to mean any goal-oriented

activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating
computers. Thus, computing includes designing
and building hardware and software systems for a
wide range of purposes; processing, structuring,
and managing various kinds of information; doing
scientific studies using computers; making
computer systems behave intelligently; creating
and using communications and entertainment
media; finding and gathering information relevant to
any particular purpose, and so on.
 What is a 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. These
programs enable computers to perform an extremely wide range
of tasks

What is Information Technology?

The use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit, and
manipulate data or information. IT is typically used within the
context of business operations as opposed to personal or
entertainment technologies. IT is considered to be a subset of 
information and communications technology (ICT)
What is a computing machine?

• used increasingly from the 1920s, refers to any machine that

does the work of a human computer, i.e., any machine that
calculates in accordance with effective methods
•  During the late 1940s and early 1950s, with the advent of
electronic computing machines, the phrase ‘computing
machine’ gradually gave way simply to ‘computer’, initially
usually with the prefix ‘electronic’ or ‘digital’
Functionalities of a computer

• Any digital computer carries out five functions in gross terms:

Characteristics of computer:
It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined
manner.
It can execute a pre-recorded list of instructions.
It can quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
• Earliest Computers originally calculations were computed
by humans, whose job title was computers.

• The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613,

referring to a person who carried out calculations, or
computations, and the word continued to be used in that
sense until the middle of the 20th century.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
a) Tally sticks
A tally stick was an ancient memory aid device to record and
document numbers, quantities, or even messages.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods

b) Abacus
An abacus is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in
performing mathematical calculations. The abacus was invented in
Babylonia in 2400 B.C. The abacus in the form we are most
familiar with was first used in China in around 500 B.C. It used to
perform basic arithmetic operations.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods

c) Napier’s Bones
• Invented by John Napier in 1614. • Allowed the operator to
multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots by moving
the rods around and placing them in specially constructed boards.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods

d) Slide Rule
Invented by William Oughtred in 1622. Based on Napier's ideas
about logarithms.Used primarily for – multiplication – division –
roots – logarithms – Trigonometry. Not normally used for addition
or subtraction
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods

e) Pascaline
• Invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642.
• It was its limitation to addition and subtraction.
• It is too expensive.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
. f) Stepped Reckoner
• Invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672.
• The machine that can add, subtract, multiply and divide automatically.

g) Jacquard Loom
• The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by
Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1881.
It is an automatic loom controlled by punched cards.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
h) Arithmometer
• A mechanical calculator invented by Thomas de Colmar in 1820,
• The first reliable, useful and commercially successful calculating
machine.
• The machine could perform the four basic mathematic functions.
• The first mass-produced calculating machine.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
i) Difference Engine and Analytical Engine
• It an automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial
functions.
• Invented by Charles Babbage in 1822 and 1834
• It is the first mechanical computer.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
j. First Computer Programmer
• In 1840, Augusta Ada Byron suggests to Babbage that he use the
binary system.
• She writes programs for the Analytical Engine.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
k. Scheutzian Calculation Engine
• Invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843.
• Based on Charles Babbage's difference engine.
• The first printing calculator.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
l. Tabulating Machine
• Invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890.
• To assist in summarizing information and accounting.
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
m. Harvard Mark 1
• Also known as IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator
(ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken in 1943
• The first electro-mechanical computer
History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
n. Z1
• The first programmable computer.
• Created by Konrad Zuse in Germany from 1936 to 1938.
• To program the Z1 required that the user insert punch tape into a
punch tape reader
and all output was also generated through punch tape.
 History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
o. Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)
• It was the first electronic digital computing device.
• Invented by Professor John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford
Berry at Iowa
State University between 1939 and 1942..
 History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
p. ENIAC
• ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
• It was the first electronic general-purpose computer.
• Completed in 1946.
• Developed by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.
 History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
q. UNIVAC 1
The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer 1) was the first
commercial computer.
• Designed by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.
 History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
r. EDVAC
• EDVAC stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
• The First Stored Program Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in 1952.
• It has a memory to hold both a stored program as well as data
 History of Computer: Basic
Computing Periods
s. The First Portable Computer
• Osborne 1 – the first portable computer.
• Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation.

t. The First Computer Company

• The first computer company was the Electronic Controls Company.
• Founded in 1949 by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.
 Basic Computing Periods - Ages

a. Pre-mechanical
The pre-mechanical age is the earliest age of
information technology. It can be defined as the
time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D. We are
talking about a long time ago. When humans first
started communicating they would try to use
language or simple picture drawings known as
petroglyths which were usually carved in rock.
Early alphabets were developed such as the
Phoenician alphabet.
Basic Computing Periods - Ages

b. Mechanical
The mechanical age is when we first start to see
connections between our current technology and its
ancestors. The mechanical age can be defined as
the time between 1450 and 1840.
A lot of new technologies are developed in this era
as there is a large explosion in interest with this
area. Technologies like the slide rule (an analog
computer used for multiplying and dividing) were
invented. Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline
which was a very popular mechanical computer.
Charles Babbage developed the difference engine
which tabulated polynomial equations using the
method of finite differences.
 Basic Computing Periods - Ages

c. Electromechanical The first large-scale automatic digital

Now we are finally getting close to some computer in the United States was the
technologies that resemble our modern-day Mark 1 created by Harvard University
technology. The electromechanical age can be around 1940. This computer was 8ft high,
defined as the time between 1840 and 1940. 50ft long, 2ft wide, and weighed 5 tons -
HUGE. It was programmed using punch
These are the beginnings of telecommunication. The cards.
telegraph was created in the early 1800s. Morse
code was created by Samuel Morse in 1835. The
telephone (one of the most popular forms of
communication ever) was created by Alexander
Graham Bell in 1876. The first radio developed by
Guglielmo Marconi in 1894. All of these were
extremely crucial emerging technologies that led to
big advances in the information technology field.
Basic Computing Periods - Ages

d. Electronic
The electronic age is what we currently live in. It
can be defined as the time between 1940
and right now. The ENIAC was the first high-
speed, digital computer capable of being
reprogrammed to solve a full range of
computing problems. This computer was
designed to be used by the U.S. Army for
artillery firing tables. This machine was even
bigger than the Mark 1 taking up 680 square
feet and weighing 30 tons - HUGE. It mainly
used vacuum tubes to do its calculations.
Generations of Computer
Generations Used Year

First generation – Vacuum tube based. 1946 to 1958

Second generation Transistor based. 1959 to 1964

Third generation Integrated Circuit based. 1965 to 1970

Fourth generation VLSI microprocessor 1971 to Today

based.

Fifth generation ULSI microprocessor Today to future

based.
Artificial Intelligence
Modern Computing

• Applying general systems theory to the evolution of computing

gives the computing levels, where a computing system can be
studied as a mechanical system, a software system, a human
system or a social system, by engineers, computer scientists,
psychologists and sociologists respectively.
• Computing began at the mechanical level, added an
information level (software), then a human level and finally a
community level; it is an example of general system evolution.
The Level of Modern Computing
The Flower of Computing
Timeline of Computers
Pre to Current
 DATE NOTES
Era of early Chinese Dynasties Abacus
Gutenberg Press (Johannes
1450
Gutenberg)
1617 Napier's Bones (John Napier)
Blaise Pascal, at age 18,
Invented hand-powered
1642
commercial calculator machine,
the Pascaline.
Mechanical Calculators are
1640's
Manufactured for sale.
- attempts to multiply
mechanically were made by
1670's Gottfried von Liebniz
(1646-1716) or Gottfried
Wilhelm Liebniz
Principia Mathematica by
1687 Isaac Newton
 Industrial Revolution in England,
1750's-1850's through 1900
Europe, United States
Jacquard Loom (Joseph Marie
Jacquard) used wooden slat "punch
1801
cards" to make patterns on the
loom.
Charles Babbage originated the
concept of programmable computer
and started work on the
Difference Engine, through funding
from the British Government. While
he did produce prototypes of
1823
portions of the Difference Engine, it
was left to Georg and Edvard
Schuetz to construct the first
working devices to the same design
which were successful in limited
applications.
Photography (in France) Niepce
1826
(Joseph Nicephore Niepce).
Charles Babbage founded the
1831 British Association for the
 In this year, Charles Babbage
1833 began his work on his Analytical
Engine.
Ada Byron Lovelace computer
1843 program to calculate Bernoulli
numbers, England
Telegraph line established, sent
code between Philadelphia and
1843 Washington (Morse)(Morse Code)
(Samuel FB Morse, Joseph Henry
and Afred vail)
James Clerk Maxwell's
1864
electromagnetic wave theory.
Phonograph or recording player or
1877
gramophone(Thomas Edison)
Image Scanner for scanning and
transmitting images (Paul Nipkow
1884
in Germany) Moving Pictures and
Telephony
1885 Cathode Ray Tube
1887 Motion Picture Camera
1888 Gramophone by Emile Berliner
Developed Mechanical Tabulator
using Punch cards on computer
1890
used for the US Census (Herman
Hollerith)
Telegraphone, a magnetic wire
1898 recording device.-magnetic tape
(Valdemar Poulsen)
Electron Tube or vacuum tube(Sir
1905
John Ambrose Fleming)
Theory of Relativity ( Albert
1905
Einstein)
1926 First television (John Logie Baird)
1928 80-column punch card (Hollerith)
BBC (British Broadcasting
1929
Corporation begins broadcasting
 Turing COLOSSUS the first
1943 programmable computer, England
(Great Britain) (Alan Turing)

ENIAC first electronic computer, in

1946
United States of America.
(Electronic Numerical Integrator
and Computer) designed to
calculate artillery firing table for US
Army Ballistic Research
laboratory.

UNIVAC, first computer U.S.A.

Government used. (Universal
1951
Automatic Computer) and first
commercialized computer.
 Sputnik I successful satellite
launch by Russia on October
4 began the Space
Race, the Space Age, and
ushered in a panel of
1957
scientists for the White
House's Panel on Science and
Technology called for by U.S.
President David
D. Eisenhower

1968
Gordon Moore and Robert
Noyce are founders of Intel, to
make semiconductors,
processors, aka "computer
chips".
1977 Apple computers are first sold commercially to
home consumers. United States.
THANK YOU.