A naukri.com initiative
Medium
2w
222
Image Credit: Medium
What is a computer? ← Electronics P1
- A computer is a machine that allows us to do very simple things very, very fast using semiconductivity and transistors.
- Transistors, acting like electronic switches, can be arranged in a certain way to form logic gates
- Logic gates perform basic logic operations like AND, OR, NOT, XOR, etc.
- By combining transistors we can get logic gates, and by combining logic gates we can perform more complex tasks such as math.
- Binary numeral system is the foundation of computer devices; base-2 system is easy to build machines with transistors and logic gates.
- Flip-flops, or latches, hold their output values until the input signals are changed, this forms the foundation of what we call memory.
- The technology of flip-flop-based memory is used only for most critical tasks like the cache or registers in the CPU of your computer or phone.
- The complexity of accessing data stored in RAMs has O(1) or 'constant time' complexity which is very fast.
- RAMs stand for Random access memories, because the access to its data is not linear or sequential but random.
- With this basic understanding of the basic technologies that allow computers to exist, we can better understand what defines a computer.
Read Full Article
13 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app