Computer Introduction & History

Flashcards covering basic computer concepts, history, hardware evolution, and programming languages from the lecture notes.

Raw data

Numbers, words, pictures, or sounds that represent things about people, objects, and ideas.

Computer

A machine distinguished from others by its ability to be programmed to perform various functions.

Information Processing Cycle (IPC)

A four-step cycle (Input, Processing, Storage, Output) that converts raw data into valuable information.

First Working Digital Computer

Built between 1943-1946 at the University of Pennsylvania, utilizing 18,000 vacuum tubes.

Vacuum Tubes

Components used in early computers that generated significant heat, necessitating complex cooling systems.

Cooling System (Early Computers)

Required for early computers due to the heat generated by vacuum tubes, often involving water running through the machines and elevated floors for air circulation.

Luggables

A term for early 1980s portable computers, noted for their heavy and bulky design.

Dial-up

A method of computer communication prevalent in the 1980s, characterized by a distinctive sound and slow connection speeds (e.g., 300 bps/baud).

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

An early monitor technology that was large, heavy, and typically displayed monochrome text (e.g., green letters on a black screen) without graphics or sound.

Integrated Circuits

Invented in the 1960s, these boards consolidated transistors, drastically reducing computer size compared to vacuum tube designs.

JCL (Job Control Language)

An older programming language used to instruct the computer on which programs to execute.

Computer's Core Logic

Operates based on zeros and ones (binary code), representing 'on' or 'off' states for all operations.

ASCII Code

A character encoding standard that expanded the computer's ability to represent a wider range of characters.

Object Code

The machine-readable form of a program, created by compiling or assembling human-written source code.

Python

A modern, high-level, object-oriented programming language.

Assembler

A low-level programming language, very close to machine code, requiring precise and detailed instructions from the programmer.

Compiling/Assembling

The process of translating a program written in a human-readable language into executable object code for the computer.

CPU (Computer Processing Unit)

Developed in the 1970s using integrated circuits, it serves as the 'brain' of the computer, processing instructions.

Moore's Law

An observation made by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore in 1965, stating that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit approximately doubles every two years.