BUSINESS DATA PROCESSING I & INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Computer Science

ABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

The computer generations                  

Chapter 2

Computer Hardware Component      

The central processing unit and

primary storage                                              

Chapter 4

Computer Software.                                      

Operating systems                                          

Chapter 5

Data processing Principle and Practice.         

Chapter 6

Number systems                                             

Chapter 7

Data communications.                                  

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Computer and Society                       

Security and Social Issues on ICT.    

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Data Management                                          

Chapter 12

Word processing                                            

References                                                     

Chapter 1

The first commercial computers became available in the early 1950s. Since then, computers and computer use have gone through a rapid evolution. But before that time, computers and computing devices developed slowly. This listing takes a brief look at both the early and modern history of computers.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF COMPUTING AND DATA PROCESSING

People have been trying to find easier ways of doing calculations for thousands of years. The Abacus, invented over 2500 years ago, was one of the first efforts. The first mechanical calculator was invented by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, in 1642.

Babbage's Analytical Engine

The first major step toward the development of a computer took place in 1822 by a British mathematician, Charles Babbage, designed a ma­chine that he called the difference engine, for calculating certain types of mathematical tables.  According to his design, the difference engine would use gears and levers to do calculations. Babbage received several grants from the British government to build the machine, but he was never able to complete it. A machine based on Babbage's ideas was completed in 1855 and used in the United States and Great Britain.

The Charles Babbage Machine

In 1834, while working on the difference engine, Babbage conceived the idea of a more powerful calculating machine, which he called the analytical engine. As with the difference engine, this machine would use gears and levers for calculations. In addition, it would have the capability of storing up to one thousand numbers and could be programmed for different calculations. Many of the ideas for programming the analytical engine were developed by Augusta Ada Byron.

Babbage never completed the analytical engine, partially because the technology needed to build the machine's parts was not available. The engine, however, had many of the characteristics of a modern computer, a primary storage, an arithmetic unit, and programming capabilities. It lacked the electronic characteristics of current computers, however had Babbage lived longer, he may have invented the first electronic computer.

To enter programs into his analytical engine, Babbage planned to use cards with patterns of holes in them. He borrowed the idea from a loom invented by Joseph Jacquard in France in 1801. The 100m wove patterns into fabric by following instructions given by holes in cards. In Babbage's analytical engine, the cards would contain instructions to tell the machine what calculations to perform.

The Abacus

Jacquard's cards were also the inspiration for Herman Hollerith, an engineer working for the Census Bureau in the late 1800s. The Census Bureau takes the U.S. census every ten years. The 1880 census required 71/2 years to compile. With population growth, the Census Burenu projected that the 1890 census could take more than ten years to tabulate, so something had to be done. Hollerith conceived the idea of recording census data on cards similar to Jacquard's. Patterns of holes in the cards would represent different population characteristics. The cards were called punched cards. Hollerith invented two machines for punch cards holes in the cards, one machine for sorting cards based on pattern holes, and another machine for counting or tabulating data from.

The Hollerith’s Machine

Using Hollerith's punched card machines, the 1890 census only 21/2 years to compile.

Hollerith saw a commercial value to his ideas, so in 1896 he formed the Tabulating Machine Company to manufacture and sell his machine. His machines were used in the 1900 census as well as by some business for data processing. In 1911, the Tabulating Machine Company with several other companies formed the Computing-Tabulating-Recording (CTR) Company. In 1924, CTR changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), which today is the largest computer manufacturer in the world.

The Jacquard’s Machine

After the US 1900 census, the Census Bureau hired James Powers to develop new punched card machine for the 1910 census. Powers used a different type of card from that by Hollerith, and his machines had additional capabilities. Like 1101 however, Powers saw a commercial value to his machines, so he developed the Powers Accounting Machine Company in 1911. In 1927, the company became a division of Remington Rand Inc., which eventual became Sperry Corporation. Then, in 1986 Sperry merged with Bun Corporation to form Unisys Corporation. Today, Unisys is one of the largest computer manufacturers after IBM.

The punched cards of Hollerith and Powers were used for years after their development. Punched card machines became more sophisticated, and many businesses had machines used for punched card data processing. For years Computer used punched cards as their main form of input. The modern punch card is still available today, but is rarely used.

Old computer system.

The Mark I (IBM)

The invention of the computer

It is hard to say exactly when the modern computer was invented. Starting in the 1930s and through the 1940s, a number of machines were developed that were like a computer. But most of these machines did not have all the characteristics that we associate with computers today. These characteristics are that the machine is electronic, that it has a stored program, and that it has general purpose.

One of the first computers like devices was developed in Germany by Konrad Zuse in 1941. Called the Z3, it was a general purpose, stored program machine with many electronic parts, but it had a mechanical memory. Another electromechanical computing machine was developed by Howard Aiken, at Harvard University in 1943. It was called the Automatic Sequence Control Calculator Mark I, or simply the Harvard Mark I. Neither of these machines was a true computer, however, because they were not entirely electronic.

The Atanasoff-Berry Computer

The first fully electronic computer like device was developed by John Atanasoff and his assistant, Clifford Berry. Atanasoff, a professor at Iowa State College, wanted a machine to help his students solve certain types of equations. In 1937, he conceived the idea of an electronic computing device for this purpose. With Berry's help, Atanasoff worked on the machine until 1942 and called it Atanasoff·Beny Computer, or ABC, all the components of the machine were never completed, although it was capable of solving some equations.

The ABC was the first electronic, stored-program computing machine but it was not a general-purpose computer. It was designed only for certain types of equations and thus could not be used for other purpose, its existence was not widely known until many years after.

Perhaps the most influential of the early computer like devices is the Electronic Numerical Integrator a general-purpose. Electronic computing machine and was capable of porting thousands of operations per second. It was controlled by switches and plugs that had to be manually set. Thus, was a general-purpose of electronic device, it did not have a store program. Therefore, it did not have all the characteristics of a computer.

The First Computers

While working on the ENlAC. Eckert and Mauchly were both brilliant mathematician. John vurn Neuman started a new machine. This machine, called Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer, or EDVAC, I was the first  machine whose design included all the characteristics of computer. 

ENIAC

Before the EDVAC was finished, several other machines were built that incorporated elements of the EDVAC design of Eckert, Mauchly, and von Neuman. One was the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer, or EDSAC, which was developed in Cambridge, England. It first operated in May of 1949 and is probably the world's first electronic, stored-program, general-purpose computer to become operational. The first computer to operate in the United States was the Binary Automatic Computer, or BINAC, which became operational in August of 1949.

The UNIVAC I

Like other computing pioneers before them, Eckert and Mauchly formed a company in 1947 to develop a commercial computer. The company was called the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation. Their objective was to design and build the Universal Automa financial support; they had to sell the company to Remington Rand in 1950. Eckert and Mauchly con­tinued to work on the UNIVAC at Remington Rand and completed it in 1950 known as the UNIVAC I, this US Census Bureau used for the 1950 census. The second UNIVAC I was used to predict that Dwight Eisenhower would win the 1952 presidential election, less than an hour after the polls closed. The UNIVAC 1 began the modern era of computer use.

Since the UNIVAC I, computers have evolved rapidly. This has been the result of changes in technology. These changes have developed rapidly.

First-generation Computer: 1951-1958

First-generation computers were characterized by the use of tubes as their principal electronic component. Tubes are bulky and produce a lot of heat. So first-generation were large and required extensive airs conditioning to keep it cool. In addition, because vacuum tubes do not operate very fast, computers were relatively slow.

The UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer.  As noted earlier, it was used in US the Census Bureau in 1950 also the first computer to be used in a business application. General Electric took delivery of a U IV AC I and used it in' its business data processing.

The UNIVAC I was not the most popular first-generation computer. This honour goes to the IBM 650, delivered in 1955.  With the IBM 650, IBM captured most of the computer market, a position it still holds today.