A computer is a machine (mostly electronic) that is able to take information (input), do some work on or make changes to the information (process), to make new information (output). Computers have existed for much of human history. Examples of early computers are the astrolabe and the abacus. There are four main processing steps in a computer, and they are: inputting, outputting, storage and processing.

Modern computers are very different from early computers. They can do billions of calculations per second. Most people have used a personal computer in their home or at work. Computers do many different jobs where automation is useful. Some examples are controlling traffic lights, vehicle computers, security systems, washing machines and digital televisions.

A computer user can control it by a user interface. Input devices include keyboard, mouse, buttons, and touch screens. Some very new computers can also be controlled with voice commands or hand gestures or even brain signals through electrodes implanted in the brain or along nerves.

Computers can be designed to do almost anything with information. Computers are used to control large and small machines which in the past were controlled by humans. They are also in homes, where they are used for things such as listening to music, reading the news, and writing.

Modern computers are electronic computer hardware. They do mathematical arithmetic very quickly but computers do not really "think". They only follow the instructions in their software programs. The software uses the hardware when the user gives it instructions, and gives useful output.

Computer programs are designed or written by computer programmers. A few programmers write programs in the computer's own language called machine code. Most programs are written using a programming language like C++, Java, and Python. These programming languages are more like the language you talk and write with every day. A program called a compiler translates the user's instructions into binary code (machine code) that the computer will understand and do what is needed.

Definition

A computer is a programmable electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Mainframes, desktop and laptop computers, tablets and smartphones are some of the different types of computers. An electronic machine which helps in solving problems quickly and easily. It solves problems according to instructions given to it by the computer user called programs or software. It is a digital machine(that uses binary digits) used in all fields.

Programming

Main page: Computer programming

People did not want a machine that would do the same thing over and over again. For example, a music box is a machine that plays the same music over and over again. Some people wanted to be able to tell their machine to do different things. For example, they wanted to tell the music box to play different music every time. They wanted to be able to program the music box- to order the music box to play different music. This part of computer history is called the "history of programmable machines" which is a fancy phrase for "The history of machines that I can order to do different things if I know how to speak their language."

One of the first examples of this was built by Hero of Alexandria (c. 10–70 AD). He built a mechanical theater which performed a play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums. These ropes and drums were the language of the machine- they told what the machine did and when. Some people argue that this is the first programmable machine.[1]

Historians disagree on which early machines are "computers". Many say the "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari in 1206, is the first known programmable analog computer. Others say the first computer was made by Charles Babbage.[2] Al - Jazari's showed the zodiac, the solar and lunar orbits, a crescent moon-shaped pointer travelling across a gateway that made some doors to open every hour,[3][4] and five robotic musicians who play music when levers hit them. The length of day and night could be changed (AKA re-programmed) every day in order to account for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year.[2] Ada Lovelace is considered to be the first programmer.[5][6][7]

Analog and Digital Computers

In the first half of the 20th century, scientists started using computers, mostly because scientists had a lot of math to figure out and wanted to spend more of their time thinking about science questions instead of spending hours adding numbers together. For example, if they had to launch a rocket ship, they needed to do a lot of math to make sure the rocket worked right. So they put together computers. These analog computers used analog circuits, which made them very hard to program. In the 1930s, they invented digital computers, and soon made them easier to program.