Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is /was being used. Initially, the generation term was used to includes both hardware and software, which together make up an entire computer system. There are five computer generations known till date. Each generation has been discussed in detail along with their time period and characteristic. In the following table, approximate dates against each generation have been mentioned, which are normally accepted . following are the main five generations of computers.
S.N. Generation & Description
2 Second Generation The period of second generation : 1959-1965. Transistor based.
3 Third Generation The period of third generation : 1965-1971. Integrated Circuit based.
4 Fourth Generation The period of fourth generation : 1971-1980. VLIC (Very Large Integrated Circuit) microprocessor based.
5 Fifth Generation The period of fifth generation : 1980-onward. ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integrated) or AI (Artificial Intelligence) microprocessor based.
1. First Generation: The period of first generation as 1942 -1955. First generation of computers started with using vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit). These tubes like electric bulbs produced a lot of heat and were prone to frequent fusing of the installations. there form were very expensive and could be afforded only by very large organizations. In this generation, mainly batch processing operating systems were used . In this generation, Punched cards, Paper tape, Magnetic tape Input & Output device were used. there were machine codes and electric wired board languages used.
The main features of First Generation are:
• Unreliable
• Supported Machine languages only
• Very costly • Generate lot of heat
• Slow Input/output device • Huge size
• Need of A.C.
• Not-portable
• Consume lot of electricity
Some computers of this generation were :
• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer)
• EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
• UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer)
• IBM -701 (International Business Machine-701)
• IBM -650 (International Business Machine- 650)
2. Second Generation
The period of second generation was 1956-1964 these generations using the transistor were cheaper, consumed less power, more compact in size, more reliable and faster generation machines made of vacuum tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores were used as primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks as secondary storage devices. In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming language like FORTRAN, COBOL were used. There we Batch processing and Multi-programming Operating system used.
The main features of Second Generation are :
• Reliable as compared to First generation computers
• Smaller size as compared to First generation computers
• Generate less heat as compared to First generation computers
• Consumed less electricity as compared to First generation computers
• Faster than first generation computers
• Still very costly
• A.C. needed
• Support machine and assembly language
• IBM 1620 (International Business Machine-1620)
• IBM 7094 (International Business Machine-7094)
• CDC 1604 (Centers for Disease Control-1604)
• CDC 3600 (Centers for Disease Control-3600)
• UNIVAC 1108 (Universal Automatic Computer-1108)
3. Third Generation:
The period of third generation was 1965-1972. The third generations of computer is marked by the use ....... ......... ........ resistors and .......... with the associated circuitry. the IC was invented by jack Kilby. This development made computers in this generation, Remote processing system were used . Highlevel language (FORTRAN-11 TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68, etc.) were used during this generation.
• IC used
• Generation less heat
• Faster
• Lesser maintenance
• Still costly
• A.C. needed
• Consumed lesser electricity
• Support high-level language
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