Generation Of Computers It Tell You About The Different Generations Of Computers

1. GENERATIONOF
COMPUTERS
By Aradhya Sharma

2. GENERATION
◦ Generationincomputerterminologyisachangeintechnologya computeriswasbeingused.Initially,thegenerationtermwas
usedtodistinguishbetweenvaryinghardwaretechnologies.Nowadays,generationincludesbothhardwareandsoftware,which
togethermakeupanentirecomputersystem.
◦ Therearefivecomputergenerationsknowntilldate.Eachgenerationhasbeendiscussedindetailalongwiththeirtimeperiod
andcharacteristics.Inthefollowingtable,approximatedatesagainsteachgenerationhasbeenmentioned,whicharenormally
accepted.

3. First Generation
Generation HardwareCharacteristics Software Characteristics OtherFeatures
First (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes Machine Language Bulky In Size
Magnetic Drums For
Memory
Solved One Problem At A
Time
Highly Unreliable
Input on punch card and
paper tapes
Mostly Scientific
Applications
Difficult Commercial
Production
Output in form of
printouts
Limited commercial use
and costly
Difficult to use

4. FIRSTGENERATION
◦ The period of first generation was from 1940-1956. The computers of first generation used 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 the installations used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they were very expensive and only large organizations were able to
afford it.
◦ In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was used. Punch cards, paper tape, and
magnetic tape was used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine
code as the programming language.

5. SecondGeneration
Generation HardwareCharacteristics SoftwareCharacteristics OthersFeatures
Second(1956-1963) Transiters Batch processing system Faster ,smaller , more
reliable
Magnetic Cores Memory High level programming
languages developed
Easier to program than
previous generation
systems
Magnetic tapes Assembly language Production was still costly
Disks for secondary
storage
Scientific and commercial
applications

6. SecondGeneration
◦ The period of second generation was from 1956-1963. In this generation, transistors were used that were cheaper, consumed
less power, more compact in size, more reliable and faster than the first generation machines made of vacuum tubes. In this
generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks as secondary storage
devices.
◦ In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming languages like FORTRAN, COBOL were used. The computers
used batch processing and multiprogramming operating system.

7. ThirdGeneration
Generation HardwareCharacteristics SoftwareCharacteristics OtherFeatures
Third Generation
(1964-1971)
IC with SSI and MSI
technologies
Timesharing operating
Systems
Faster ,smaller ,easier and
more cheaper
Larger magnetic Cores
Memory
Machine independent
software
Scientific commercial
online apps
Larger Capacity Disks and
magnetics secondary
storage
Standardization of high level
programming languages
Commercially easier to use
and upgrade than previous
systems
Minicomputers

8. ThirdGeneration
◦ The period of third generation was from 1964-1971. The computers of third generation used Integrated Circuits (ICs) in place of
transistors. A single IC has many transistors, resistors, and capacitors along with the associated circuitry.
◦ The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This development made computers smaller in size, reliable, and efficient. In this generation
remote processing, time-sharing, multiprogramming operating system were used. High-level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV,
COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during this generation

9. Forth GENEARTION
Generation Hardwarecharacteristic SoftwareCharacteristic OthersFeatures
Fourth (1972-
2010)
Microprocessors ,
semi-conductor
GUI Based Operating system Small affordable reliable and
easy to use PC
Personal Computers Multiprocessing OS General purpose machine
Super computers based on
multiprocessing technology
Network based and super
computing application
Easier to upgrade and produce
commercially
Spread of high speed computer
networks
Multimedia, Internet,
applications
Powerful, cheaper and easier to
use PC machines
Optical disk as portable read only
storage media
Object Oriented Design and
programming
Rapid software Development
Possible
Larger capacity main memory hard
disks
Parallel programing Portable Computers
Notebooks ,powerful PC and
workstations
Disturbed OS
Internet World Wide Web

10. FourthGeneration
The period of fourth generation was from 1972-2010. Computers of fourth generation used Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI)
circuits. VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors and other circuit elements with their associated circuits on a single chip made
it possible to have microcomputers of fourth generation.
Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable. As a result, it gave rise to Personal
Computer (PC) revolution. In this generation, time sharing, real time networks, distributed operating system were used. All the
high-level languages like C, C++, DBASE etc., were used in this generation.

11. FIFTH Generation
Generation HardwareCharacteristics SoftwareCharacteristics OthersFeatures
Fifth (present and
beyond)
Superconductors Can Understand Human
Language
Voice Recognition
Powerful servers
,supercomputers
Capable of learning and
self organization
Interspace
Cluster computing

12. FIFTHGENERATION
◦ The period of fifth generation is 2011-till date. In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
Integration) technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having ten million electronic components.
◦ This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. AI is an emerging branch in
computer science, which interprets the means and method of making computers think like human beings. All the high-level
languages like C and C++, Java, . Net etc., are used in this generation.