关于Python的英文学习笔记

This article mainly records about the concepts and development of computer.

1 Computer development

generation	time	component	used language
first-generation(ENIAC)	1946-1957	vacuum tubes	machine language, or assembly language
second generation	1957-1964	transistors	higher-level language(like Fortran，Cobol，Algo160)
Third generation	1964-1971	IC(integrated circuits)	basic language
Fourth generation	1971-now	microelectronic components	C, C++, C#, PHP, Java, Python etc.

More Explanation:

ENIAC was the world first successful electronic computer which was develops by the two scientists namely J. P. Eckert and J. W. Mauchy.

As the development moved further, the second generation computers knocked the door. In this generation, transistors were used as the electronic component instead of vaccum tubes .

The third generation computers were invented in the year 1964. In this generation of computer, IC (Integrated circuits) was used as the electronic component for computers.

This is the generation where we are working today. The computers which we see around us belong to the fourth generation computers. A microprocessor is a single chip (L.S.I circuit), which is used in a computer for any arithmetical or logical functions to be performed in any program.

2 Computer Concepts

There is some usual concepts of computer.

Computer

Computer is an electronic device for performing arithmetic and logical operation.

Decimal

The numbers using are called decimal.
For a decimal number 275, 2 is in the hundreds place, 7 is in the tens place, and 5 is in the ones place.

decimal place	mean	value
2	2*100	200
7	7*10	70
5	5*1	5

Binary

There are only two symbols can be identified by machine, 0 and 1, i.e. binary.
For a binary number 101, from left to right, 1 is the fours place, 0 is the twos place, and 1 is the ones place. Then the corresponding decimal is 4+0+1=5.

binary	mean	value
1	1*2^2	4
0	0*2^1	0
1	1*2^0	1

Bits and Bytes

A digit is a single place in a decimal number. A bit is a single place in a binary, and a byte is 8 bits. For example,

binary	mean
1	a bit
0	a bit
11001110	a byte, or 8 bits
1000100010001000	2 bytes, or 16 bits

Hexdecimal

A hexadecimal is 16 bits, or 2 bytes. But what if the value in a place is bigger than 10? We use A, B, C, D, E and F to repesent 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 (Doesn’t matter whether uppercase or lowercase).

hexadecimal	decimal	binary(4 bits)
0	0	0000
1	1	0001
2	2	0010
-	-	-
A	10	1010
B	11	1011
-	-	-
F	15	1111

Resource

Link: 计算机发展， History of computer development
Matthew Justice. (2021). How Computers Really Work : a hands-on guide to the inner workings of the machine. William Pollock.