Generation of Computers

Computer Generation

          The evolution of modern digital computer is often divided into generation. Evolution of modern computer is classified into five generations based on their speed, capacity, and reliability, technology used and programming languages.

First Generation Computer (1946-1958)

          The first generation computers were developed during 1946 to 1958. They used vacuum tubes and valves as the memory devices. They were large in size, very slow in speed, had very low capacity but were very expensive. They consumed a lot of power and produced a lot of heat. They used machine language programs. This made programming extremely difficult and time consuming.

Second Generation of Computer (1959-1964)

          The second generation computers were developed during 1959-1964. They used transistors as the electronic circuits. Second generations of computers were faster, more reliable, easier to operate, less expensive, smaller, required less electricity than of the first generation computers. The used Assembly language and the high level languages such as COBOL, ALGOL, FORTRAN etc.

Third Generation of Computer (1965-1974)

          The third generation computers were developed during 1965 to 1974. They used integrated circuit (IC) as electronic circuit. IC circuit consists of a large number of electronic components placed on a single silicon chip by a photolithography process. Jack Kilby developed the IC in 1958.

         

          This new technology made the third generation computers more reliable, faster, smaller, easier to operate, high capacity, less expensive than previous generation computers. Third generation computers included the use of an operating system for automatic processing and multi programming.

Fourth Generation of Computer (1975-1990)

          The fourth generation computers were developed during 1975 to 1990. The present day computers are included in this generation. They use large scale integrated circuit (LSI) and very large scale integrated circuit (VLSI) known as microprocessor chip as electronic circuits. In this generation, the use of microprocessor made computer very fast, capable of very high memory, small in size and less expensive than previous computers. Fourth generation computer used graphical devices and language interfaces to graphics system.

Fifth Generation of Computer (1991-incomplete)

The fifth generation computers were developed after 1991 and still moving towards the advanced technologies such as Artificial intelligence, very high speed, parallel processing etc.

          Fifth generation computers combine hardware and software to produce artificial intelligence (AI). They are able to process non-numerical information such as picture and graphs and are able to understand natural languages. They incorporate Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI).