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Computer Fundamentals
DPP-02

1. In the second generation of computers, which of the 6. The first generation of computers is usually known as
following was used as Primary memory? the ______based generation.
(1) Electron tube (2) Semiconductors (1) vacuum tube (2) oscillator
(3) Magnetic core (4) Microprocessor (3) transistor (4) tube amplifier
(5) None of the above (5) None of these

2. First-generation computers relied on which 7. Which of the following is not a feature of first-
language? generation computers?
(1) Assembly language (1) Very costly (2) Need of AC
(2) Machine language (3) Non-Portable (4) Reliable
(3) PASCAL (5) Consumed a lot of electricity
(4) COBOL
(5) None of the above 8. Which of the following was the first operating
system?
3. Minicomputers were invented in _________ (1) GMOS (2) LINUX
generation and first mincomputer was ________. (3) UNIX (4) Windows
(1) fourth, DEC PDP-1 (5) Macintosh OS
(2) fourth, Inspiron 1012
(3) third, DEC PDP-1 9. Which of the following was the first mainframe
(4) fifth, HP mini 110 general-purpose computer, invented in India?
(5) fifth, DEC PDP-1 (1) Apsara (2) TIFRAC
(3) EAC (4) TDC12
4. Whom among the following was the Father of the (5) ISIJU computer
Computer?
(1) Herman Hollerith (2) Alan Turing 10. Whom among the following had invented Integrated
(3) Blaise Pascal (4) Howard Aiken Circuits (ICs), that were used in third-generation
(5) Charles Babbage computers?
(1) Robert Noyce (2) Edith Clarke
5. Whom among the following has written the first (3) Jack Kilby (4) John Bardeen
computer program? (5) Howard Aiken
(1) Mary Allen Wilkes (2) Lady Byron
(3) Ada Lovelace (4) Rosalind Franklin
(5) Lise Meitner
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Answer Key
1. (3) 6. (1)
2. (2) 7. (4)
3. (3) 8. (1)
4. (5) 9. (2)
5. (3) 10. (3)
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Hints & Solutions

1. Solution (3) are among the most celebrated icons in the
The second generation period was from 1959- prehistory of computing.
1965. By 1834, Babbage had completed the first
In this generation, transistors were used that drawings of the analytical engine, the forerunner
were cheaper, consumed less power, were more of the modern electronic computer. His work on
compact, more reliable and faster than the first- the different engines led him to a much more
generation machines made of vacuum tubes. sophisticated idea.
In this generation, magnetic cores were used as Although the analytic engine never progressed
the primary memory and magnetic tape and beyond detailed drawings, it is remarkably
magnetic disks as secondary storage devices. similar in logical components to a computer.
In this generation, assembly language and high- Babbage describes five logical components, the
level programming languages like FORTRAN store, the mill, the control, the input and the
and COBOL were used. output.
The computers used batch processing and Babbage is sometimes referred to as the "father
multiprogramming operating system.
of computing."
2. Solution (2)
5. Solution (3)
First-generation computers were limited to
The first programming language was developed
solving a single problem at a time relied on
machine language, the most basic programming in 1883 when Ada Lovelace and Charles
language that computers could understand. Babbage worked together on the Analytical
Operators would need days or perhaps weeks to Engine, which was a primitive mechanical
build up a new issue. computer.
Printouts were used for output displays, and Lovelace could discern the importance of
input was dependent on punched cards and paper numbers, realising that they could represent
tape. more than just numerical values of things.
Lovelace wrote an algorithm for the Analytical
3. Solution (3) Engine, the first computer program to compute
The exponential expansion of minicomputers, Bernoulli numbers.
which began with the DEC PDP-1 in 1961, was Certainly, she was the first to express the
one significant development during the third potential for computers outside mathematics.
generation.
Even though the PDP-1 only had 4K of 18-bit 6. Solution (1)
words and cost $120,000 per machine (less than The period of the first generation is 1946-1959.
5% of the cost of a 7094), it was a huge success. The vacuum tube is a machine with electrodes to
These microcomputers contribute to the growth control electron flow created by English
of more PDPs and the emergence of an entirely physicist John Ambrose Fleming for the first
new industry.
time in 1904.
These PDPs contributed to the development of
It is typically used to control flow with a vacuum
the fourth generation of personal computers.
in a sealed container.
4. Solution (5) It is sometimes referred to as a valve or an
The calculating engines of English electron tube, and it was utilised as a switch or
mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871) an amplifier in early computers.
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7. Solution (4) 9. Solution (2)

The main features of the first generation are − Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Vacuum tube technology Automatic Calculator (TIFRAC) was the first
Unreliable mainframe general-purpose computer in India.
Supported machine language only Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Very costly Research developed it.
Generated a lot of heat Initially a TIFR Pilot Machine was developed in
the 1950s (operational in 1956).
Slow input and output devices
The development of the final machine was
Huge size
started in 1955 and was formally commissioned
Need of AC
(and named TIFRAC, by Jawaharlal Nehru) in
Non-portable 1960.
Consumed a lot of electricity The full machine was in use until 1965. TIFRAC
included 2,700 vacuum tubes, 1,700 germanium
8. Solution (1) diodes and 12,500 resistors. It had 2,048 40-bit
The second generation represent the first words of ferrite core memory.
operating system known as GMOS. This machine was an early adopter of ferrite core
This operating system was developed for the memory.
IBM computer.
GMOS was based on a single-stream batch 10. Solution (3)
processing system, because it collects all similar The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This
jobs in groups or batches and then submits the development made computers smaller, more
jobs to the operating system using a punch card reliable, and more efficient.
to complete all jobs in a machine. In this generation, remote processing, time-
Operating system is cleaned after completing sharing, and multiprogramming operating
one job and then continues to read and initiates system were used.
the next job in the punch card. High-level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV,
COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68
In that time, machines were very big, and not
etc.) were used during this generation.
everyone could use them, only professional
A single IC has many transistors, resistors,
operators.
capacitors, and associated circuitry.

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