History of Computing: What have been the most important events and events since its birth?

Computing is one of the most useful areas today, its use not only limited to our homes, Also, it has reached industries, education and even for official use by governments.

We know what their utilities are, also the benefits they bring us, but Do you know how computing started? Surely you will have a minimum notion of how was the beginningHowever, in order for you to learn all the most important facts of the story, we will show you a summary of it.

In this article, we will teach you how the evolution of computing not only benefited its main objectivesthat during the reading you will understand that they were not initially for daily use, but also that They covered areas that their creators did not even imagine.

What is computer science and what are the main characteristics of this information science?

Computer science is one of the sciences that has revolutionized the world, marking a positive mark since birth. This branch of engineering deals with hardware study, the data and all its transformations. computing resources are elements that we have used on a daily basis consciously or unconsciously in our livesdetail that allows us to quickly understand any concept related to this topic.

Surely you know what hardware is, because these are the palpable parts of all our computer equipment. In other words they are the most important elements of a computer, because without them you would not be able to appreciate the physical parts, such as Display, mousephones, speakers, DVD players, and more. But well, they are very important does not indicate that it is the only thing that allows computer science to develop, since, these are interconnected by means of electronic components.

Since you know that the union of electronic components and software are part of the study of computing, we can reach a conclusion where this science It is much broader than we imagine. Thanks to her technological advances could be developed that benefited human healththey facilitated the work and engineering has been better mixed with any other science, and in the future it will be the advance of history.

History of computing What have been the most important facts from its creation to the present day?

computer science started since man wanted to make his life easier, being the origin of all machines the “Great Chinese Abacus”, where this tablet with varying sizes of rectangular shape was divided by different columns, counted from the right.

The Abacus was widely used to perform any mathematical addition and subtraction operation., just by moving its perforated pieces joined together by a wooden axis. This instrument that allowed a future advancement of computing, was created 300 years before Christ, the term Abacus being a synonym of arithmetic.

As the needs were increasing the ingenuity too, important events were witnessed for technological evolution, being in the seventeenth centurywhen the French scientist Blaise Pascal invented a machine used for calculations.

Although it did not involve other mathematical operations other than those of the Abacus, its ease of use was its outstanding feature:

First calculators

The device created by Pascal, was the basis for the evolution of computingallowing the German Leibnitz to adapt his ideas and innovations to them, and it was in the 18th century when this developed a machine that also included among its operations the use of products and quotient. These machines entered the market in the 19th century, being the first calculating machines.

in this same century An important English mathematician named Babbage built what was known in his time as the “Analytical Engine”. that allowed to carry out any mathematical operation, it was even integrated with a memory where one thousand fifty-digit numbers were stored.

Its different features also included auxiliary functions, which made it the most notorious advance of that time, although it continued to be mechanical, a detail that limited it in some ways. The development of electronics, in the 20th century, it was the engine that computer science needed to make a 360º turn achieving advances never before seen in their times.

It was at this time that it was discovered that machines could best help the replace its parts such as rods and gears with electric drives. From the base of calculators united in conjunction with electronics, the first computers were created, although well, its birth is given during the second world war. This team got by name Mark I, and its functions and features were basic, relying on fully mechanical switches.

evolution of computers

Leaving aside the war, too, computers were created for more practical purposes, whose name was Eniac, being its development in 1944 when it was believed that the figure of a computer could facilitate many management jobs.

But the real birth of the computer was in 1951 where they developed Univac I and Univac II, where access was allowed to all common people, and with a more universal approach. Time after computer engineeringallowed the development of other generations of computers.

First generation

This generation of computers They were developed from 1940 to 1952, whose machines were characterized by being composed of an electronic system of vacuum valves and a programming language that the machine could interpret. The program used for these computers only had basic algorithms that allowed the machine to perform simple tasks, being the easiest machine language of all time. The writing of the program was done by means of a set of binary codes.

Now, if we make a short summary of the evolution of the computers of this first generation, we would obtain the following list:

• 1938: The first electromechanical machine, known by the name Z1, named after the German Konrad Zuse, where its creation was criticized because it was said that it was only for the use of wars, since its birth was in the Second World War.
• 1939: It was in this year that the Z2 was born, involving usability improvements, such as a better single process system and ease of use.
• 1941: Actually this was the first machine with 90% operability using relays, known as Z3.
• 1944: This year was the birth of ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer recorded in the timeline of computers, although, it was not a model that was fully commercialized, because its design was in experimental mode. This enormous equipment could occupy an entire basement, and although it was not programmable, it was the closest to reality, built with 18,000 vacuum tubes, where the energy consumption was enormous and its weight was approximately 30 tons.
• [1945: Birth of the Z4, where its design focused on a solution for documentation and calculations, being fully commercialized in 1950.
• 1949: Leaving aside the “Z” series, EDVAC was born, a programmable computer, being the second computer after the Z4, including in its design an architecture that was the basis for the creation of current computers.
• 1951: This year UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer to be sold, although according to history there is a controversy because the Mark I had some advantages in the market for months, but in terms of features they were very similar.
• 1953: When the need to enter data increased, further advances were made with electronics obtaining punched cards, causing a huge impact on the industrial revolution for the eighteenth century, where the computer with the name of IBM 701, belonged to the series of computers number one in the market at the time.
• 1954: IBM continued with constant progress, creating other models with important mechanisms and functions in the world of computer management, whose magnetic disk, also called a magnetic drum, provided great value in the mechanism of massive information storage.
• 1955: Closing with the first generation, the ZUSE Z22 was created by Kontad Zuse, where electronics with the mechanism of vacuum tubes and a machine language allowed a computer for more commercial use.

Second generation

this generation started from 1955, however there are some sources that indicate that its beginning was a few years before, making 1952 as reference year, until 1964. It was in this generation where the valves were displaced by electronic transistors.

Along with this generation of computers, also, programmable systems and languages ​​were created, known as Cobol and Fortran, where the language was interpreted and converted by the computer into a machine language. The second generation computers were characterized by being smaller than the previous ones, due to that had more electronic partsIn addition, its electrical energy consumption was much lower.

Below we will highlight some of the most important events in the history of computing and the evolution of the second generation of computers:

• 1959: It was the year in which Maurice Wilkes invented microprogramming, this being the way to create algorithms and functions in a much simpler computer, simplifying the development of CPUs.
• 1959: IBM created a sending mechanism using punched cards, converting a simple computer to one with a more general purpose, including a 4,000-character magnetic memory core, along with later research it was extended to 16,000 characters.
• 1960: This year IBM launched the first scientific computer, where it was based on transistors and punched cards, improving its previous characteristics, passing its magnetic core to 60,000 decimal digits, naming the computer as IBM 1620.
• 1962: Together with computer engineering, the first computer game known as Spacewar was created. In that same year, DEC also launched the first computer aimed at scientific development in laboratories.
• 1964: The last event of this generation was the announcement of IBM, where it notified the world of its catalog of computers, each one had different speeds and capacities, so the cost was affected according to those characteristics.

Third generation

As for the third generation that occurred between 1964 and 1971was when integrated circuits were included in greater depth, drastically impacting the high costs of a computer, as well as space, increasing processing capacity. The improvement in programming languages ​​was another of the characteristics that were taken as computer evolution for its time, also emerging utility programs.

Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby They dedicated part of their lives to the invention of integrated circuits, and it was in the late 1950s that this development was concluded to be a success. Time after ted hoff, devoted himself to microprocessor research. It should be noted that in this third generation not only was there an improvement in the hardware of the computers, because researchers like George Gamowmanaged to form a new code to program or code, the year of conclusion of the investigation being 1960.

After 1960 transistor packaging was innovated of small size together with other electronic parts to form a single chip, containing in its interior an amplifier, oscillator and a logic gate as a whole. This not only benefited computers, because it was also a technology used for the creation of radios, televisions, and other similar electrical devices. IBM also took advantage of this era and announced its category of machines with integrated circuits. giving them by name the “Edgar Series”.

Fourth generation

the fourth generation ran from 1971 to 1981this being the most characteristic phase of the evolution of computing for electronic components, giving rise to to the appearance of integrated microprocessors together with the elements basics of computers with a single integrated circuit. The impact caused by the decrease in circuitsmade possible the manufacture of more personal computers.

Such as those that our parents met, called for the first time on a daily basis as PC (Personal Computer): The mixture of this technology also allowed later the development of technologies such as LSI (Large-Scale Integration) and VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration) that in more general words they achieved a microchip with a larger set of electronic components.

These microchips used in computers of this generation had the same compatibility and structure as those created by IBM. Through this constant development, microcomputers were invented, used to create calculators in 1971. These chips had with 2300 transistors in a 4-bit microprocessor where it was limited to a maximum of 60000 operations per second.

Fifth generation

This was the latest generation of computersstarting from 1981 to the present. It is true that this subject lends itself to discussions because Experts consider that this generation already culminated when the Pentium processors appeared for the first time. It was at the beginning of 1982 when a Japanese project adopted by many scientists to integrate an artificial intelligence system into computers creating a new computer for home and general use.

The proposed programming language was PROLOG234 starting with a machine language level, further facilitating processing so that the computer could process more than one operation per second, known as the background. This project it was not from all feasible, since, at the time, it was almost impossible to obtain a computer with artificial intelligence, however, a generation of computers with a better processor remained.

With the development of new technologies equipment parts were reduced and laptops were created, and other features, such as those that can be used today, such as touch. This could also be seen in the development of new telephone architectures and the integration of a microcomputer in their systems.

Impact of computing on society

As we have seen, in the course of history there were many computer-driven technological advancesdevelopments that allowed society to evolve into a more flexible world in most of the tasks.

Starting from the first moment that information technology entered the industry facilitating some administrative tasks (1990) and time later with some advanced developments replacing labor, by computerized machines that managed to do tasks more efficiently and in less time, maximizing profits for the employer. But this was not the only thing, because there was an inclusion in the educational sector, when the universities had to integrate these careers among their courses.

Like schools, add computer literacy to your training plans. As well as the benefit that it has brought to communications, a characteristic that many of us enjoy every day when we talk with our friends or relatives by phone or from our computer, because now the Internet It also became a channel to unite people regardless of borders and distances.