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Showing posts from October, 2025

A14-SOFTWARE PROGRAM IS LIKE AN ENGINE PERFORMING HUGE TASKS ON COMPUTER SCREEN

BY pragyansharma polavarapu PART ONE A SIMPLE VIEW OF A SOFTWARE PROGRAM Before coming of WINDOWS software, the commands to CPU were always given through software instructions which were like precise coded commands of a military office. After coming of WINDOWS programming environment many software actions are performed “graphically” i.e. by clicking small picture buttons( icons ) or flag like vertical menu lists or by using the conversational style in dialogue boxes etc. While using dialogue boxes , no sooner we give an answer to a question ,another question pops up. After two or three such questions the computer is satisfied with our answer.This is really interactive programming of high quality. The “icons”( little half centimeter size pictures in square boxes ) appear in tool bars/task bars at top and bottom of WINDOW. When the MOUSE clicks an icon action takes place to open/close/edit files .The files may be of any category--text/photo/ sound/audio/ video. With ...

A13- PROGRESS OF TECHNOLOGY --OLD COMPUTERS OF 1940S TO MINI COMPUTERS OF 1960S AND BEYOND

By PragyanSharma Polavarapu (A) BEGINNING AT THE VERY BEGINNING (1) Imagine a sand grain of one millimeter cube. Scientists say that can contain 1020 atoms . Please realize that 1020= (one million) x (one million) x (one million) x 100 ! So big is 1020 and so small are the atoms . There are only 92 varieties in atoms in the universe. Hydrogen atom is the smallest atom. (2) To understand sizes of atoms the unit called NANOMETER is used. It is one billionth part of a millimeter. The diameter of Hydrogen atom is about 0.1 nanometer. Other atoms have alo sizes between 0.1 and 0.5 nanometers. (3) Every atom has a very heavy central part called nucleus which is like a positive rock fort containing positive particles called protons and also a few neutral particles called neutrons. The negative particles the “electrons” --( smallest purest negative electric particles in universe)-- circle around the nucleus . They are equal in number to number of protons of the nucleus and so ev...

A12- A REVOLUTION IN COMPUTING STARTING FROM ERA OF MINI COMPUTERS

By pragyansharma polavarapu INTRODUCTION (1) The MINI computers not only brought down the size of computer (to size of a table top radio) but various new technologies were also introduced making the computer all powerful. The length of “computer word”(the “bytes” conmprising a string of 0s and 1s ) was standardized to 8/16/32 bit size by the IEEE. Many sophisticated computer languages BASIC/FORTRAN/COBOL etc with a mathematical base were invented. Use of computer naturally extended to many fields . (2) Mini in the client-server environment was useful for bank counter supervision ,college teaching with live question-answer sessions between the professor and student ,ticket booking counters , government work etc. Client server technology had another big use in industries especially industries dealing with hazardous chemicals or industries where live watching minute by minute was necessary. Network of computer nodes containing sensors were established in hazardous spots ...

A11-A SIMPLE DESCRIPTION OF MINI--THE PDP SERIES OF SMALL COMPUTERS

  By PragyanSharma Polavarapu (A)INTRODUCTION (1)The MINI computers of 1960s and 1970s were really very small compared to the old giant electronic calculating machines like ENIAC of 1940s . The old electronic calculator-computer machines like the respected ENIAC were of the size of big halls in houses. Wonder of wonders,the MINIs of 1960 and 1970s became reduced to the size of just table-top band radios! The transformation was made possible solely after the discovery of tiny sand particle-sized “TRANSISTOR” (silicon triode) and its use in the MINIs . Hundreds or even thousands of transistor triodes were used in creation of hundreds of logic circuits in registers and processors inside the computer. (2)The transistor was invented in 1947 after a series of researches on tiny “crystal diodes” made from semiconductor materials like Germanium and Silicon (both non-metallic elements). The first transistors were junction diodes, created by joining “doped” p-type and ...

A10-UNDERSTANDING SOFTWARE -2

  By pragyansharma polavarapu AN INTRODUCTION (1) Earlier to 1950s computers were only giant size mathematical calculators . A single machine occupied a big hall with its 10-15 cabinets of electrical /electronic equipment and connecting wires. However they could do a million calculations like 2+3 in just a millionth of second! They had awe inspiring calculating power and were mysterious machines. After discovery of sand-grain sized transistor triodes there was a sea change in computer production technology. The tiny sturdy high performance transistors replaced the 15,000 big electric bulb sized glass diodes in computer’s logic circuits ! Computers became small like radio sets (old tube radios of 60 years back) requiring only a small office table in a small room. During the period of about three decades, roughly 1960s to 1980s , small computers(electronic calculating machines based on minute transistor circuits) called MINIs became important in the field of computer t...