SECOND GENERATION COMPUTERS
(1955-1964)
VACUUM TUBES V.S. TRANSISTORS
(1955-1964)
VACUUM TUBES V.S. TRANSISTORS
DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSISTORS
Invented in by three American physicists:
The transistor proved to be a viable alternative to the electron tube. Its small size, low heat generation, high reliability, and low power consumption made possible a breakthrough in the miniaturization of complex circuitry.
It relied on punch cards for input and print outs of data.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic/assembly languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words.
Invented in by three American physicists:
- John Bardeen
- Walter H. Brattain
- William B. Shockley
The transistor proved to be a viable alternative to the electron tube. Its small size, low heat generation, high reliability, and low power consumption made possible a breakthrough in the miniaturization of complex circuitry.
It relied on punch cards for input and print outs of data.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic/assembly languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words.
High-level programming languages:
(early versions of Cobol and Fortran)
FORTRAN (Formula Translator)
•oldest high-level programming language
•John Backus for IBM
•FORTRAN IV and FORTRAN 77
•FORTRAN 77 includes a number of features not available in older versions of FORTRAN.
FORTRAN 77
ALGOL(Algorhythmic Language)
• Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Alan J. Perlis
•introduced BLOCK STRUCTURE, in which a program is composed of blocks that might contain both data and instructions and have the same structure as an entire program
• Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Alan J. Perlis
•introduced BLOCK STRUCTURE, in which a program is composed of blocks that might contain both data and instructions and have the same structure as an entire program
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)
- Particularly popular for business applications that run on large computers.
- 2nd oldest high-level programming language
- most widely used programming language in the world
- Particularly popular for business applications that run on large computers.
- 2nd oldest high-level programming language
- most widely used programming language in the world
DIODE & TRANSISTOR TECHNOLOGY
•basis of the electronic switches
•switching time: 0.3 microseconds.
TRADIC & TX-O
•1st machines built with this technology
SUPER MAGNETIC CORE MEMORY
•memory technology was based on magnetic core
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (2GL):
•PROPERTIES:
- The code can be read & written by a programmer. To run on a computer it must be converted into a machine readable form, a process called assembly.
-The language is specific to a particular processor family & environment
ADVANTAGES:
• Wider commercial use
• Better portability as compared to the first generation computers
• Calculates data in microseconds
• Used faster peripherals like tape drives, magnetic disks, printer etc.
• Used Assembly language instead of Machine language.
• Accuracy improved.
DISADVANTAGES:
• Cooling system was required
• Constant maintenance was required
• Commercial production was difficult
• Only used for specific purposes
• Costly and not versatile
• Punch cards were used for input
•basis of the electronic switches
•switching time: 0.3 microseconds.
TRADIC & TX-O
•1st machines built with this technology
SUPER MAGNETIC CORE MEMORY
•memory technology was based on magnetic core
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (2GL):
•PROPERTIES:
- The code can be read & written by a programmer. To run on a computer it must be converted into a machine readable form, a process called assembly.
-The language is specific to a particular processor family & environment
ADVANTAGES:
• Wider commercial use
• Better portability as compared to the first generation computers
• Calculates data in microseconds
• Used faster peripherals like tape drives, magnetic disks, printer etc.
• Used Assembly language instead of Machine language.
• Accuracy improved.
DISADVANTAGES:
• Cooling system was required
• Constant maintenance was required
• Commercial production was difficult
• Only used for specific purposes
• Costly and not versatile
• Punch cards were used for input
Some of the computers of the Second Generation were …
•IBM 1620: Its size was smaller as compared to First Generation computers and mostly used for scientific purpose.
•IBM 1620: Its size was smaller as compared to First Generation computers and mostly used for scientific purpose.
•IBM 1401: Its size was smaller as compared to First Generation computers and mostly used for scientific purpose.
•CDC 3600: Its size was large and is used for scientific purposes.