Basic Computer Knowledge

Read the article on Basic Computer Knowledge given below. Make points on Computer general knowledge while reading which will help for a better score in exams. We provide you with the details of computer knowledge that they are asking in all competitive exams. We provided with the details about the Computer generations, Memory details, Software Details and Input and Output Details in Detailed Method to understand more on computer knowledge.

Computer: A Computer is a General purpose machine, commonly consisting of digital circuitry, that accepts (inputs), stores, manipulates, and generates (outputs) data as numbers, text, graphics, voice, video files, or electrical signals, in accordance with instructions called a program.

• Father of the computer – Charles Babbage.

Charles Babbage

Born	26 December 1791 London (likely Southwark)
Died	18 October 1871 (aged 79) Marylebone, London, UK
Nationality	English
Citizenship	British
Alma mater	Peterhouse, Cambridge
Known for	Difference engine
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, engineering, political economy, computer science
Institutions	Trinity College, Cambridge
Influences	Robert Woodhouse, Gaspard Monge, John Herschel
Influenced	Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Ada Lovelace

• Father of the modern computer – Alan Turing.

Alan Turing

Born	Alan Mathison Turing 23 June 1912 Maida Vale, London, United Kingdom
Died	7 June 1954 (aged 41) Wilmslow, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Cause of death	Suicide (disputed) by cyanide poisoning
Resting place	Ashes scattered in gardens of Woking Crematorium
Nationality	English
Education	Sherborne School
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BA, MA) Princeton University (PhD)
Known for	Cryptanalysis of the Enigma Turing's proof Turing machine Turing test Unorganised machine Turing pattern Turing reduction The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis
Partner(s)	Joan Clarke (engaged in 1941; did not marry)
Awards	Smith's Prize (1936)
Scientific career
Fields	Logic Mathematics Cryptanalysis Computer science Mathematical and theoretical biology[1]
Institutions	University of Manchester Government Code and Cypher School National Physical Laboratory
Thesis	Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals (1938)
Doctoral advisor	Alonzo Church[2]
Doctoral students	Robin Gandy,[2][3] Beatrice Worsley[4]
Influences	Max Newman[5]

• Basic Architecture of Computer: John Von Neumann (1947-49).

John Von Neumann

Born	Neumann János Lajos December 28, 1903 Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Died	February 8, 1957 (aged 53) Washington, D.C., United States
Nationality	Hungarian
Citizenship	Hungary United States
Alma mater	Pázmány Péter University ETH Zürich University of Göttingen
Known for	Abelian von Neumann algebra Affiliated operator Amenable group Arithmetic logic unit Artificial viscosity Axiom of regularity Axiom of limitation of size Backward induction Blast wave (fluid dynamics) Bounded set (topological vector space) Carry-save adder Cellular automata Class (set theory) Computer virus Commutation theorem Continuous geometry Coupling constants Decoherence theory (quantum mechanics) +68 More[show]
Spouse(s)	Marietta Kövesi Klara Dan
Children	Marina von Neumann Whitman
Awards	Bôcher Memorial Prize (1938) Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award (1946) Medal for Merit (1946) Medal of Freedom (1956) Enrico Fermi Award (1956)
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, physics, statistics, economics, computer science
Institutions	University of Berlin Princeton University Institute for Advanced Study Los Alamos Laboratory
Thesis	Az általános halmazelmélet axiomatikus felépítése (Axiomatic construction of general set theory) (1925)
Doctoral advisor	Lipót Fejér
Other academic advisors	László Rátz David Hilbert
Doctoral students	Donald B. Gillies Israel Halperin Friederich Mautner
Other notable students	Paul Halmos Clifford Hugh Dowker Benoit Mandelbrot[1]

• First Programmer: Lady Ada Lovelace (1880).

Lady Ada Lovelace

Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet (c. 1843)[1]
Born	The Hon. Augusta Ada Byron 10 December 1815 London, England
Died	27 November 1852 (aged 36) Marylebone, London, England
Resting place	Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Hucknall, Nottingham, England
Known for	Mathematics, computing
Spouse(s)	William King-Noel, 1st Earl of Lovelace (m. 1835)
Children	Byron King-Noel, Viscount Ockham and 12th Baron Wentworth Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth Ralph King-Milbanke, 2nd Earl of Lovelace

• First Electronic Computer: ENIAC (1946) – J.P. Eckert & J.W. Mauchly.

John Presper Eckert

J. Presper Eckert (c.), co-designer of the UNIVAC, and Harold Sweeny of the US Census Bureau at the console of the UNIVAC, with Walter Cronkite (r.) on CBS TV, during Presidential election night, 1952.
Born	April 9, 1919 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	June 3, 1995 (aged 76) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Occupation	Electrical engineer
Known for	ENIAC
Awards	Harry H. Goode Memorial Award (1966) National Medal of Science (1968) Harold Pender Award (1973) IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award (1978)

John William Mauchly 

John Mauchly
Born	August 30, 1907 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	January 8, 1980 (aged 72) Ambler, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University
Known for	ENIAC, UNIVAC, Mauchly's sphericity test
Awards	Harry H. Goode Memorial Award (1966) Harold Pender Award (1973) IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award (1978)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Ursinus College University of Pennsylvania

• The first computer for the home user introduced – IBM in 1981.