Chapter 1

The Big Picture

 Chapter Goals
• Describe the layers of a computer system
• Describe the concept of abstraction and its
relationship to computing
• Describe the history of computer hardware and
software
• Describe the changing role of the computer user
• Distinguish between systems programmers and
applications programmers
• Distinguish between computing as a tool and
computing as a discipline
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 Computing Systems

Computing systems are dynamic and highly

interactive!

What is the difference between hardware

and software?

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 Computing Systems

Hardware The physical elements of a

computing system (printer, circuit boards,
wires, keyboard…)

Software The programs that provide the

instructions for a computer to execute

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 Layers of a Computing System

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 Abstraction

Abstraction A mental model that removes

complex details
This is a key concept. Abstraction will
reappear throughout the text – be sure you
understand it!

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 Internal View

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 Abstract View

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 History

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 Early History of Computing

Abacus
An early device to record numeric values

Blaise Pascal
Mechanical device to add, subtract, divide & multiply

Joseph Jacquard
Jacquard’s Loom, the punched card

Charles Babbage
Analytical Engine
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 Early History of Computing

Ada Lovelace
First Programmer, the loop

Alan Turing
Turing Machine, Artificial Intelligence Testing

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 The First Computers

Harvard Mark I, ENIAC, UNIVAC I

Early computers launch new era in mathematics,
physics, engineering and economics

“Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with

18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons,
computers in the future may have only 1,000
vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.”
(Popular Mechanics, 1949)

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 First Generation Hardware
(1951-1959)

Vacuum Tubes
Large, not very reliable, generated a lot of heat

Magnetic Drum
Memory device that rotated under a read/write head

Card Readers  Magnetic Tape Drives

Sequential auxiliary storage devices

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 Second Generation Hardware
(1959-1965)

Transistor
Replaced vacuum tube, fast, small, durable, cheap

Magnetic Cores
Replaced magnetic drums, information available
instantly

Magnetic Disks
Replaced magnetic tape, data can be accessed directly

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 Third Generation Hardware
(1965-1971)

Integrated Circuits
Replaced circuit boards, smaller, cheaper, faster, more
reliable

Transistors
Now used for memory construction

Terminal
An input/output device with a keyboard and screen

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 Fourth Generation Hardware
(1971-?)

Large-scale Integration
Great advances in chip technology

PCs, the Commercial Market, Workstations

Personal Computers and Workstations emerge
New companies emerge: Apple, Sun, Dell …

Laptops
Everyone has his/her own portable computer

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 Parallel Computing

Parallel Computing
Computers rely on interconnected central processing
and/or memory units that increase processing speed

“Real concurrency -- in which one program

actually continues to function while you call up
and use another -- is more amazing but of small
use to the average person. How many programs
do you have that take more than a few seconds
to perform any task?”
New York Times, 1989
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 Networking

Networking
Ethernet connects small computers to share resources
File servers connect PCs in the late 1980s

ARPANET and LANs  Internet

“Transmission of documents via telephone wires

is possible in principle, but the apparatus
required is so expensive that it will never
become a practical proposition.”
Dennis Gabor, 1962
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 First Generation Software
(1951-1959)

Machine Language
Computer programs written in binary (1s and 0s)

Assembly Languages and Translators

Programs written using mnemonics, which were
translated into machine language

Programmer Changes
Programmers divide into two groups: application
programmers and systems programmers

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 Assembly/Machine

Systems programmers Applications programmers

write the assembler use assembly language to
(translator) solve problems

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 Second Generation Software
(1959-1965)

High-level Languages
English-like statements made programming easier:
Fortran, COBOL, Lisp
Systems
programmers
write translators for
high-level languages

Application
programmers
use high-level
languages to
solve problems
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 Third Generation Software
(1965-1971)
Systems Software
Utility programs
Language translators
Operating system, which decides which programs
to run and when

Separation between Users and Hardware

Computer programmers write programs to be used by
general public (i.e., nonprogrammers)

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 Third Generation Software
(1965-1971)

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 Fourth Generation Software
(1971-1989)

Structured Programming
Pascal
C++

New Application Software for Users

Spreadsheets
Word processors
Database management systems

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 Fifth Generation Software
(1990- present)
Microsoft
Windows operating system and other Microsoft application
programs dominate the market

Object-Oriented Design
Based on a hierarchy of data objects (i.e. Java)

World Wide Web

Allows easy global communication through the Internet

New Users
Today’s user needs no computer knowledge

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 Computing as a Tool

Programmer / User

Systems Programmer Applications Programmer

(builds tools) (uses tools)

Domain-Specific Programs

User with No
26 Computer Background
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 Computing as a Discipline

What can be (efficiently) automated?

Four Necessary Skills

• Algorithmic Thinking
• Representation
• Programming
• Design

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 Computing as a Discipline

What do you think?

Is Computer Science a mathematical,

scientific, or engineering discipline?

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 Examples of Systems Areas

• Algorithms and Data Structures

• Programming Languages
• Architecture
• Operating Systems
• Software Engineering
• Human-Computer Communication

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 Examples of Application Areas

• Numerical and Symbolic Computation

• Databases and Information Retrieval
• Intelligent Systems
• Graphics and Visual Computing
• Net-Centric Computing
• Computational Science

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 Ethical Issues

The Digital Divide

What is it?
How does it affect you?
What is computer literacy for
your sister, the musician?
your brother, the doctor?
your sister, the kindergarten teacher?
Is it important to try to bridge the digital divide?

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 Who am I?

Can you list three items on my resume?

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 Do you know?

What computer company was launched in a

garage?

What branch of mathematics is being used in

terrorist detection?

What is Room to Read?

When and where were the first CS Departments

formed?

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