CHAPTER 8 – The Digital Computer

This chapter summarizes the history and development of the digital computer and focuses on those parts of a computer with which the user interacts. Theinformation revolution, also known as the “third revolution,” which the digital computer heralded 50 years ago has profoundly changed the way society in general works and interacts. Even though electronics in its beginning was strictly analog, with the advent of high-speed circuits, digital techniques quickly evolved and are now dominant with a wide range of digital devices available. Programming languages are the tools for communicating with a computer. The chapter closes with a discussion on the operating systems that act as a computer's manager that controls the basic functions of a computer. There are two primary categories of software: operating systems and applications. Operating-system software is designed to perform system and computer management utility and/or “housekeeping” functions such as directing the central processor in the loading, storage, and execution of programs and in accessing files, controlling monitors, controlling memory storage devices, and interpreting keyboard commands.