What is An Computer?

^{1.A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system that uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, calculating algorithms, and displaying information. Computers come in many shapes and sizes, from handheld smartphones to supercomputers weighing more than 300 tons.}

^{2.Many people throughout history are credited with developing early prototypes that led to the modern computer. During World War II, physicist John Mauchly, engineer J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and their colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania designed the first programmable digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).}

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TOP QUESTIONS

What is a computer?

A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system that uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, calculating algorithms, and displaying information. Computers come in many shapes and sizes, from handheld smartphones to supercomputers weighing more than 300 tons.

Who invented the computer?

Many people throughout history are credited with developing early prototypes that led to the modern computer. During World War II, physicist John Mauchly, engineer J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and their colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania designed the first programmable digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).

What is the most powerful computer in the world?

FULL ARTICLE
computer, a device for processing, storing and displaying information.

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Key People: Alan Turing Danny Hillis Douglas Engelbart Yves Béhar Son Masayoshi
Related Topics: artificial intelligence Computer memory Supercomputer Computer graphics Digital computer
Computer once meant a person who did computations, but now the term almost universally refers to automated electronic machinery. The first section of this article focuses on modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent parts, and applications. The second section covers the history of computing. For details on computer architecture, software, and theory, see computer science.

Computing basics

The first computers were used primarily for numerical calculations. However, as any information can be numerically encoded, people soon realized that computers are capable of general-purpose information processing. Their capacity to handle large amounts of data has extended the range and accuracy of weather forecasting. Their speed has allowed them to make decisions about routing telephone connections through a network and to control mechanical systems such as automobiles, nuclear reactors, and robotic surgical tools. They are also cheap enough to be embedded in everyday appliances and make clothes dryers and rice cookers “smart.” Computers have allowed us to pose and answer questions that could not be pursued before. These questions might be about DNA sequences in genes, patterns of activity in a consumer market, or all the uses of a word in texts that have been stored in a database. Increasingly, computers can also learn and adapt as they operate.

4.Computers also have limitations, some of which are theoretical. For example, there are undecidable propositions whose truth cannot be determined within a given set of rules, such as the logical structure. Because no universal algorithmic method can exist to identify such propositions, a computer asked to obtain the truth of such a proposition will (unless forcibly interrupted) continue indefinitely—a condition known as the “halting problem.” (See Turing machine.) Other limitations reflect current technology. Human minds are skilled at recognizing spatial patterns—easily distinguishing among human faces, for instance—but this is a difficult task for computers, which must process information sequentially rather than grasping details overall at a glance. Another problematic area for computers involves natural language interactions. Because so much common knowledge and contextual information is assumed in ordinary human communication, researchers have yet to solve the problem of providing relevant information to general-purpose natural language programs.