Computer Generations
First Generation (1940s-1950s)
- (a) Size: Large, room-sized machines
- (b) Technology: Vacuum tubes
- (c) Types of storage: Magnetic tape, punch cards
- (d) Programming language used: Machine code
- (e) Example: ENIAC, UNIVAC I
Second Generation (1950s-1960s)
- (a) Size: Smaller than first generation machines, still large
- (b) Technology: Transistors
- (c) Types of storage: Magnetic core memory, hard disk drives
- (d) Programming language used: Assembly language, high-level languages (FORTRAN, COBOL)
- (e) Example: IBM System/360, CDC 3600
Third Generation (1960s-1970s)
- (a) Size: Much smaller than previous generations
- (b) Technology: Integrated circuits (ICs)
- (c) Types of storage: Semiconductor memory, floppy disks
- (d) Programming language used: High-level languages (BASIC, Pascal, C)
- (e) Example: PDP-8, IBM System/370
Fourth Generation (1970s-1980s)
- (a) Size: Compact, personal computers (PCs)
- (b) Technology: Microprocessors
- (c) Types of storage: RAM, ROM, optical storage (CD-ROMs)
- (d) Programming language used: Structured programming languages (Ada, Modula-2)
- (e) Example: Apple II, IBM PC, Commodore 64
Fifth Generation (1980s-present)
- (a) Size: Range from laptops to supercomputers
- (b) Technology: Very large-scale integration (VLSI), artificial intelligence (AI)
- (c) Types of storage: Flash memory, cloud storage
- (d) Programming language used: Object-oriented programming languages (Java, C++, Python)
- (e) Example: Cray-1, Apple Macintosh, personal computers with advanced CPUs