A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions. Although mechanic

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions. Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computer developed clyde vet group in the mid-20th century (1940-1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). [1] Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions of billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy part of the space. [2] Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch and be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers clyde vet group in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". clyde vet group The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous to however. The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile with contrast calculators. Church-Turing clyde vet group thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.
History computingThe first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to the person who performs calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. clyde vet group From the late 19th century onward, though, the word began to learn more about its meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations. The history of the modern computer begins clyde vet group with two separate technologies-automated calculation and programmability-but no single device can be identified as the earliest clyde vet group computer, partly clyde vet group due to abuse of the use of this term. Examples of calculating clyde vet group the beginning of mechanical devices include the abacus, the slide rule and certainly the astrolabe and Andikitera mechanism (which dates from about 150-100 BC). Heron of Alexandria (about 10-70 AD) built a mechanical theater performed play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system clyde vet group of ropes and drums that might be considered as a way of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed Stock and when. This is the essence of programmability. The "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented clyde vet group by Al-Jazari in 1206, is considered an early programmable analog computer. It shows the zodiac, the solar and lunar orbits, a crescent moon-shaped pointer traveling through a door causes the door to open automatically every hour, and five robotic musicians who played music when struck by levers operated by independent camshaft water wheel. The length of day and night could be re-programmed to compensate for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year. Renaissance saw re invigoration of European mathematics and engineering. Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers, clyde vet group but none fit the modern definition of a computer, clyde vet group because clyde vet group they can not be programmed. clyde vet group In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made improving the textile loom by introducing a series of punched paper cards as a template which allowed his loom to weave intricate patterns automatically. The resulting Jacquard loom was an important step in the development of computers because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns can be viewed as an early, albeit limited, form of programmability. It was the fusion of automatic calculation with programmability that produced the first recognizable clyde vet group computers. In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design clyde vet group a fully programmable mechanical computer, his analytical engine. Limited finances and Babbage's clyde vet group inability to resist tinkering with the design meant that the device was never completed. In the late 1880s, Herman Hollerith invented the recording of data on a machine readable medium. Before using the machine readable media, clyde vet group above, was about control, not data. "After some initial clyde vet group trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards ..." To process these punched cards he invented Select clyde vet group and keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of modern information processing industry. Large-scale automated data processing clyde vet group of punched cards was performed for the 1890 United States Census by Hollerith company, which later became the core of IBM. By the late 19th century, a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of practical computers had begun to appear: the punched rental