What is a computer?

A computer is an electronic computer that forms a single coherent system.

Short story

This article is about what a computer is, and, referring to this question, one can not but tell about the history of the appearance of these machines that improve our lives.

As has long been known, a person always seeks to ease his life, that's why he created an electronic computer capable of quickly performing the required actions. The first computer, or its similarity, was called an abacus - it's an ordinary counting board. It allowed for simple calculations, and it was quite simple.

The first scheme of the computer machine was developed and proposed by the famous scientist-mathematician John von Neumann in 1946. Despite the progressive development of technology, the emergence of more and more new projects, many principles of the first computer are used and modern devices.

Von Neumann did not work alone, but with co-authors. With their help, he defined the structure of the future mechanism. In his opinion, he had to have several devices along with external ones, without which one can not do without. It is a device that performs logical and arithmetic operations, or ALU (arithmetic-logical device), control, or CU. Also, some memory was needed, in order to store programs and data. External devices performed the function of inputting and outputting various information.

John von Neumann suggested that memory should be arranged in such a way that all its cells would be accessible to other computer devices on equal terms.

In addition to the structure, the mathematician defined the basic principles of the operation of the first computer, consisting in the following. Commands must be executed by the processor in a strict sequence, which is called the principle of program control. All programs, along with data, should be stored only in one memory, which, in turn, consists of cells. Each of them has its own number and is available to the processor at any time.

These principles are also observed on some modern computers, which are called "von Neumann". Thus, in the middle of the twentieth century, Neiman gave a definition of what a computer is.

Modern computers

The task of modern PCs is to ensure a high speed of information collection, processing, transmission and retrieval. This should be convenient for workers in management and production. In our time, in the period of rapid development of technology, the emergence of new types of technology, the PC is, if not all, then every second person. Usually it is a personal computer that is connected to an information network, thereby becoming a very important part of our entire life.

The computer is now the main information tool in the office and in the house. Almost all the work with information is carried out with its help, whether it is a usual set of text messages or viewing an interesting film.

Modern most developed computers are used in modeling complex biological and physical processes, in solving problems that do not have a clearly constructed algorithm of actions, which is called artificial intelligence. In this area, computers are just beginning their development, so we can not say yet what a computer is in solving such problems.

Modern unique computers belong to a fourth-generation computer, but some rank them already to the fifth. And it is quite justified, given the rapid development of software. Therefore, there is as yet no single and accurate answer to this question.

So, computers - this is something without which today anyone can not do in modern life. About what a computer is and how their history developed, more than enough is written.