Computer Engineering. What is that? A bit of history and modern interpretation

If you look at the history of technology, relatively recently in everyday life the term "computer technology" appeared. This designation was originally committed did not imply all those aspects that are invested in it today. And, unfortunately, most people for some reason believe that computers and computers are synonyms. This is an obvious fallacy.

Computing technology: the meaning of a word

To interpret the meaning of this term can be quite different, especially since different dictionaries can be interpreted in different interpretations.

However, if we approach the question with some kind of generalization, we can safely say that computers are technical devices with a set of mathematical tools, techniques and methods for automating (or even mechanizing) the processing of any information and computing processes or the description of that or A different phenomenon (physical, mechanical, etc.).

Computer technology: what is this in the broadest sense?

Computer technology is known to mankind for a long time. The most primitive devices that appeared hundreds of years before our era, you can call, for example, the same Chinese abacus or Roman abacus. Already in the second half of this millennium, devices such as the Nepper scale, the Sikkarda arithmometer, the logarithmic ruler, the Pascal counting machine, etc. appeared. Judge for yourself, today's analogs in the form of calculators can also be safely attributed to one of the varieties of computer technology.

Nevertheless, the interpretation of this term acquired a more extended meaning with the appearance of the first computers. This happened in 1946, when the first computer was created in the United States, designated by the abbreviation ENIAC (in the USSR such a device was created in 1950 and was called MESM).

To date, the interpretation has expanded even more. Thus, at the present stage of technology development, it can be determined that computer technology is:

• Computer systems and network management tools;
• Automated control and data processing systems (information);
• Automated design, modeling and forecasting tools;
• Software development systems, etc.

Naturally, the list can be continued, but these are the main components.

Computing tools

Now let's see what the means of computer technology are. At the heart of any process is information or, as is customary to say, data. But the concept of information is considered quite subjective, since for one person some process can carry a semantic load, but for another - no. Thus, for the unification of data, a binary code was developed that is perceived by any machine and is used to process data most widely.

Among the tools themselves can be identified technical devices (processors, memory, input / output devices) and software, without which all this "iron" is completely useless. It should be noted here separately that the computing system has a number of characteristic features, for example, integrity, organization, connectivity and interactivity. There are also so-called computing systems, which are referred to as multiprocessor systems, providing reliability and increased level of performance, unavailable to conventional uniprocessor systems. And only in the common bundle of "hardware" and software can be said that they are the main means of computing. Naturally, it is possible to add here also the methods by which a mathematical description of this or that process is made, but this can take quite a long time.

The device of modern computers

Based on all these definitions, you can describe the work of modern computers. As already mentioned above, they combine the hardware and software parts, and one can not function without the other.

Thus, a modern computer (computer technology) is a set of technical devices that ensure the functioning of a software environment for performing certain tasks, and vice versa (a set of programs for the operation of "iron"). The most correct is the first statement, and not the second, because in the end this set is needed for processing incoming information and outputting the result.

The computer device (computer technology) includes several basic components, without which no system can do. These include motherboards, processors, hard drives, RAM, monitors, keyboards, mice, peripherals (printers, scanners, etc.), disk drives, etc. In terms of software, the first place is occupied by operating systems and drivers. The operating systems run application programs, and the drivers ensure the correct functioning of all "iron" devices.

A few words about the classification

Modern computer systems can be classified according to several criteria:

• Principle of operation (digital, analog, hybrid);
• Generation (stages of creation);
• Purpose (problem-oriented, basic, household, dedicated, specialized, universal);
• Opportunities and sizes (super-large, super-small, single- or multi-user);
• Conditions of use (home, office, production);
• Other characteristics (number of processors, architecture, performance, consumer properties).

As you can see, there are no clear boundaries in the definition of classes. In principle, any division of modern systems into groups still looks purely conventional.