The second week

In the second week our lecturer told us about the history of computer. Therefore, I have learnt that computer came with some generations. In the first generation (1940-1950), they used to produce it Vacuum Tube such as ENIAC, the computer was very big. In the second generation (1950-1964), they used Transistor instead of Vacuum Tube, so that reduced the size and improve reliability such as they used Integrated Circuit (IC), and inside microprocessor chips thousands of transistors so the size of computer has been reduced drastically. In the fourth generation (1974-present), they used Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) and Ultra Large-Scale Integration (ULSI) which contains millions of transistors such as Personal Computer (PC). In the fifth generation (Now- Future), the computers based on Artificial Intelligence which mean computer can think, reason, and learn.

Archaic: the ENIAC computer contained

17,468 vacuum tubes linked by 500 miles of
wiring and was used, among other things, to
determine the feasibility of the hydrogen
bomb

I also have learnt about computer architecture that computer have five components: Input, output, memory, and processor which contains control and data path. I also learnt that I can know the power of a computer by speed and capacity. Speed measured in Hertz (Hz), megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz) and Capacity measured in Bytes, megabyte (MB), gigabyte (GB), or terabyte (TB).  I also learnt categories of computers based on size, capability, and price which are embedded computers, mobile devices/computers, Personal computers, Midrange servers, Mainframes, and Supercomputers.  After that I have learnt about system unit that consists of processor, memory module, expansion cards, ports and connectors. I also learnt about the main circuit in system unit which called Motherboard and how take care of it. Then I learnt about the brain of any computer system that called CPU Central Processing Unit (memory+ processor) which its speed is measured by (MHz). CPU converts data into information, controls center, and executes stored program instructions. COU has two components Control Unit (CU) and Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). I also have learnt that there are two types of memory in the computers which are RAM and ROM. RAM (Random access memory): it holds the program instructions and the data that is being used by the processor – it loses its contents when power is turned off. However, ROM (read only memory): it holds the program instructions and settings required to set up the computer - it does not lose its contents when power is turned off. I also have learnt types of RAM and the types of ROM.

In the second week I also learnt the basic computer hardware architecture which is input devices, output devices, storage devices, and other peripheral devices. Input devices such as keyboard, mouse, game controller, digital cameras, and scanners. Output devices such as display devices and printers.  I have also learnt about the storage that can hold data, instructions, and information for future use. I also learnt different types of storage such as hard disk, flash memory storage, optical discs, tape, magnetic strip cards, microfilm, microfiche, and enterprise storage.