Harvard mark-I and the bug, Computer Engineering

Assignment Help:

The next important effort in the direction of devising an electromechanical computer was made at Harvard University mutually sponsored by IBM and Department of UN Navy, Howard Aiken of Harvard University created a system known as Mark I in 1944. Mark I was a decimal machine means that computations were performed employing decimal digits.

Some of you should have heard a term known as 'bug'. It is mostly used to denote errors in computer programs. This term was invented when one day a program in Mark-I didn't run accurately because of a moth short-circuiting the computer. Since then moth or bug has been linked with problems or errors in computer programming. So process of eliminating error in a program is termed as 'debugging'.

The common shortcomings of these electromechanical and mechanical computers were: 

  • Inertia/Friction of moving components limited speed.
  • Data movement using liners and gears was very unreliable and difficult.

Change was to have a storing and switching mechanism with no moving parts. The electronic switching device 'triode' vacuum tubes were used so first electronic computer was born.


Related Discussions:- Harvard mark-I and the bug

Illustration what is the cause of brownian motion, Q. Illustration what is ...

Q. Illustration what is the cause of Brownian motion? Answer:- Molecules in a gas move freely, randomly, constantly in all directions and at high speeds. They are capable

State the optimal route of node, State the optimal route of node Consid...

State the optimal route of node Consider the node i which has path length K+1, with the directly preceding node on the path being j. The distance to node i is w(j, i) plus the

What do you mean by polynomial and exponential bounds, What do you mean by ...

What do you mean by polynomial and exponential bounds?   Bounds of the form nc for c greater than 0 .such a bound are known as polynomial bounds. Bounds of the form 2(n )  .suc

What is the purpose of cdata in an xml document, Question: (a) What is...

Question: (a) What is the purpose of CDATA in an XML document? Explain your answer using extract codes. (b) Consider the following definition for an address element:

What is asynchronous reset, What is Asynchronous Reset? Asynchronous re...

What is Asynchronous Reset? Asynchronous reset: The biggest problem along with asynchronous resets is the reset release, which termed as reset removal. By using an asynchron

Where can i find conference information, Georg Thimm handles a webpage that...

Georg Thimm handles a webpage that lets you search for upcoming or past conferences in a range of AI disciplines.

Explain the concept behind pre-compositing adobe, Question 1: (a) Expl...

Question 1: (a) Explain the concept behind Pre-Compositing Adobe After Effects. (b) Briefly describe the Wiggler function in Animation help in Adobe After Effects. (c)

Documentation introduction, Documentation is done to give others with infor...

Documentation is done to give others with information and ease maintenance. The best documentation is done in the headers (function and scripts) and directly in the code. Any usefu

Classified the vlsi technology, The VLSI technology is still developing. Mo...

The VLSI technology is still developing. More and more powerful microprocessors and more storage space now are being put in single chip. One question that we have still not conside

C++ language, Write a program to find the area under the curve y = f(x) bet...

Write a program to find the area under the curve y = f(x) between x = a and x = b, integrate y = f(x) between the limits of a and b. The area under a curve between two points can b

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd