For the formal concept of computation, see .


RAM (Random Access Memory)
The term
computing is synonymous with counting and calculating. Originally, people that performed these functions were known as
computers. Today it refers to a science and
technology that deals with the computation and the manipulation of symbols. "Computing" also refers to the
operation and usage of
computing machines, the
electrical processes carried out within the computing
hardware itself, and the theoretical concepts governing them (
computer science).
Definitions
The term
computing has sometimes been narrowly defined, as in a 1989
ACM report on
Computing as a Discipline[1]:
The discipline of computing is the systematic study of algorithmic processes that describe and transform information: their theory, analysis, design, efficiency, implementation, and application. The fundamental question underlying all computing is 'What can be (efficiently) automated?'
However, a broader definition is generally accepted, as illustrated by the 2005 joint report of the ACM and the
IEEE,
Computing Curricula 2005[2]:
In a general way, we can define computing to mean any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computers. Thus, computing includes designing and building hardware and software systems for a wide range of purposes; processing, structuring, and managing various kinds of information; doing scientific studies using computers; making computer systems behave intelligently; creating and using communications and entertainment media; finding and gathering information relevant to any particular purpose, and so on. The list is virtually endless, and the possibilities are vast.
The same report also recognizes that the meaning of
computing depends on the context:
Computing also has other meanings that are more specific, based on the context in which the term is used. For example, an information systems specialist will view computing somewhat differently from a software engineer. Regardless of the context, doing computing well can be complicated and difficult. Because society needs people to do computing well, we must think of computing not only as a profession but also as a discipline.
In short, the concept of
computing relates to human knowledge and activities which develop and use
computer technologies.
Science and theory
Hardware
See
information processor for a high-level block diagram.
Instruction-level taxonomies
After the commoditization of
memory, attention turned to optimizing CPU performance at the instruction level. Various methods of speeding up the fetch-execute cycle include:
Business computing
Human factors
Wired and wireless computer network
Computing technology based wireless networking (CbWN)
The main of goal of CbWN is to optimize the system performance of the flexible wireless network.
Numeric data
Character data
Other data topics
Classes of computers
Companies - current
Companies - historic
- Acorn, bought by Olivetti
- Bendix Corporation
- Burroughs Corporation, merged with Sperry to become Unisys
- Compaq, bought by Hewlett-Packard
- Control Data
- Cray
- Data General
- Digital Equipment Corporation, bought by Compaq, in turn bought by Hewlett-Packard
- Digital Research - a software company for the early microprocessor-based computers
- English Electric
- Ferranti
- General Electric, computer division bought by Honeywell, then Bull
- Honeywell, computer division bought by Bull
- ICL
- Leo
- Lisp Machines, Inc.
- Marconi
- Nixdorf Computer, bought by Siemens
- Olivetti
- Osborne
- Packard Bell
- Prime Computer
- Raytheon
- Royal McBee
- RCA
- Scientific Data Systems, sold to Xerox
- Siemens
- Sinclair Research, created the ZX Spectrum, ZX80 and ZX81
- Sperry, which bought UNIVAC, and later merged with Burroughs to become Unisys
- Symbolics
- UNIVAC
- Varian Data Machines, a division of Varian Associates which was bought by Sperry
- Wang
Organizations
Professional
Standards bodies
See also: Standardization and Standards organization
Open standards
See also Open standard
See also
References
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machine (derived from the latin machina) is any device that transmits or modifies . In common usage, the meaning is restricted to devices having rigid moving parts that perform or assist in performing some work.
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Electronics is the study of the flow of charge through various materials and devices such as, semiconductors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, nano-structures, and vacuum tubes. All applications of electronics involve the transmission of power and possibly information.
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For other uses, see Process (disambiguation).
In science, a
process is every sequence of changes of a real object/body which is observable using scientific method. Therefore, all sciences analyse and model
processes.
..... Click the link for more information. computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
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Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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Association for Computing Machinery
Formation 1947
Headquarters New York, NY
Membership 83,000
President Stuart Feldman
Website [1]
The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Type Professional Organization
Founded January 1, 1963
Origins Merger of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers
Key people Leah H.
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computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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Computational science (or scientific computing) is the field of study concerned with constructing mathematical models and numerical solution techniques and using computers to analyze and solve scientific, social scientific and engineering problems.
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Metacomputing is all computing and computing-oriented activity which involves computing knowledge (science and technology) common for the research, development and application of different types of computing.
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information processor or information processing system, as its name suggests, is a system (be it electrical, mechanical or biological) which takes information (a sequence of enumerated states) in one form and processes (transforms) it into another form, e.g.
..... Click the link for more information.
computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. The hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, in comparison with software and data, which are "soft" in the
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CPU design is the design engineering task of producing a CPU, a component of computer hardware. It is a subfield of electronics engineering and computer engineering.
Overview
CPU design focuses on these areas:
- Datapaths (such as ALUs and pipelines)
..... Click the link for more information. as a college campus, industrial complex, or a military base. A CAN, may be considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area network), but is generally limited to an area that is smaller than a typical MAN.
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computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
..... Click the link for more information.
Computing hardware has been an important component of the process of calculation and computer data storage since it became useful for numerical values to be processed and shared.
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Dynamic RAM (DRAM) modulesTwo 512 MB DRAM Modules
Connects to: - PCB or motherboard via one of
..... Click the link for more information. instruction set is (a list of) all instructions, and all their variations, that a processor can execute.
Instructions include:
- arithmetic such as add and subtract
- logic instructions such as and, or, and not
..... Click the link for more information. reduced instruction set computer (RISC, pronounced like "risk") is a CPU design philosophy that favors an instruction set reduced both in size and complexity of addressing modes, in order to enable easier implementation, greater instruction level parallelism, and
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complex instruction set computer (CISC pronouced sisk) is a microprocessor instruction set architecture (ISA) in which each instruction can execute several low-level operations, such as a load from memory, an arithmetic operation, and a memory store, all in a single
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superscalar CPU architecture implements a form of parallelism called Instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. It thereby allows faster CPU throughput than would otherwise be possible at the same clock rate.
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Very Long Instruction Word or VLIW refers to a CPU architecture designed to take advantage of instruction level parallelism (ILP). A processor that executes every instruction one after the other (i.e.
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Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs, procedures and documentation that perform some task on a computer system. [1]
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Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software.[1] The term software engineering
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Computer programming (often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of writing, testing, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. The source code is written in a programming language.
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computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
..... Click the link for more information.