The computer, that essential piece of equipment in today’s daily life that is also known by the name of computer or computer, is an electronic machine that allows data to be processed and accumulated. The term comes from the Latin computare (“to calculate”).
If we look for the exact definition of the term computer we will find that it is an electronic machine capable of receiving, processing and returning results around certain data and that to carry out this task it has an input and an output means. On the other hand, that a computer system is composed of two subsystems that are called software and hardware, the first consists of the logical part of the computer (programs, applications, etc.) the second in the physical part (elements that make it up like mother, fan, RAM memory).
For its operation, the computer requires computer programs (software) that provide specific data, necessary for information processing. Once the desired information is obtained, it can be used internally or transferred to another computer or electronic component.
Broadly speaking, a computer is made up of the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, the tower (where the hard disk and the other hardware components are located) and the printer, and each one fulfills a particular function. On the other hand, this device is prepared to perform two main functions: respond to a particular system of commands quickly and execute programs, which consist of a series of instructions recorded in advance.
According to DigoPaul, the software of a computer is one of the fundamental elements for its operation, its operating system, which consists of a large platform where programs, applications or tools that serve to perform different tasks can be executed.
The hardware, for its part, is made up of memory (allows data and programs to be stored), input devices (to enter data into the computer, eg: mouse and keyboard), output devices (to view data, eg: screen or printer) and CPU (brain of the computer where the instructions are executed. The acronym is the English form of Central Processing Unit.
The first computers appeared in the middle of the last century, since then they have not stopped being manufactured, growing by leaps and bounds. Despite this, most computers today still respect the Eckert-Mauchly architecture, published by John von Neumann and created by John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly.
This architecture conceives four main sections in a computer: the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory (a succession of storage cells that have numbers, where each cell represents a known unit of information as bit) and the input and output devices. All these parts are interconnected by a group of cables called buses.
The connections within a computer are called electronic circuits; the most complex are those included in modern microprocessor chips, which have a very powerful ALU inside. Each microprocessor can have multiple cores and these in turn with multiple execution units (each of them has different ALUs).
It should be noted that the circuits together with those components linked to them allow the execution of a variety of sequences or instruction routines ordered by the user. These sequences are systematized based on a wide plurality of practical and specific applications, in a process known as programming.
According to the way the computer works, the data it receives can be called: digital, analog or hybrid. The digital ones process the data working on the basis of letters and special symbols, the analog ones do it using a common scale and the hybrids use both forms.
There are several types of computers: Microcomputers (small devices that can receive programming, this classification includes PCs or desktop computers), minicomputers (medium-sized and a little more expensive than the PC), maxicomputers (they are used to control many devices Simultaneously, this classification includes the so-called mainframe) and supercomputers (they are the fastest and most expensive, those used to carry out large-scale projects such as next-generation movies or video games)
Some examples of phrases with this concept: “My father gave me a computer when I was fifteen years old”, “I don’t know what to do: my computer broke”, “I have four new games on the computer”.
