First Generation Computers

PICTURES OF FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS

First Generation Computers

During the period of 1940 to 1956 first generation of computers were developed. The first generation computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. The vacuum tube was developed by Lee De Forest. A vacuum tube is a device generally used to amplify a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. First generation computers were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.

 CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS
1) First generation computers were based on vacuum tubes.
2) The operating systems of the first generation computers were very slow.
3) They were very large in size.
4) Production of the heat was in large amount in first generation computers.
5) Machine language was used for programming.
6) First generation computers were unreliable.
7) They were difficult to program and use.

PICTURES OF FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS

VACUUM TUBES

In electronics, a vacuum tube, an electron tube or just a tube (North America), or valve (Britain and some other regions) is a device that controls electric current between electrodes in an evacuated container. Vacuum tubes mostly rely on thermionic emission of electrons from a hot filament or a cathode heated by the filament. This type is called a thermionic tube or thermionic valve. A phototube, however, achieves electron emission through the photoelectric effect. Not all electronic circuit valves/electron tubes are vacuum tubes (evacuated); gas-filled tubes are similar devices containing a gas, typically at low pressure, which exploit phenomena related to electric discharge in gases, usually without a heater.

Computer Generations Languages

First Generation Languages (1GL)

The earliest computers were based on vacuum tube technology and hardware design was in its infancy. The only way to program these computers was to enter the machine language instructions directly into the hardware. Writing programs for these early computers had many limitations:

• Programming was tremendously time consuming,
• The programs were prone to errors
• Debugging often took longer than writing the original program
• Programmers needed a great deal of skill and specialized training and
• Machine languages were different for every type of computer.

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