Page 14 - DCAP101_BASIC_COMPUTER_SKILLS

Unit 1: Computer Fundamentals

2. They were highly reliable as compared to tubes since they had no parts like a filament Notes
that could burn out.
3. They could switch much faster (almost ten times faster) than tubes. Hence, switching
circuits made of transistors could operate much faster than their counterparts made of
tubes.
4. They consumed almost one-tenth the power consumed by tube.
5. They were much smaller than a tube.

6. They were less expensive to produce.
7. They dissipated much less heat as compared to vacuum tubes.
The second-generation computers were manufactured using transistors instead of vacuum
tubes. Due to the properties of transistors listed above, these computers were more powerful,
more reliable, less expensive, smaller, and cooler to operate than the first-generation computers.
They used magnetic cores for main memory, and magnetic disk and tape as secondary
storage media. Punched cards were still popular and widely used for preparing and feeding
programs and data to these computers.

On software front, high-level programming languages (like FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL,
and SNOBOL) and batch operating system emerged during second-generation. High-level
programming languages were easier for people to understand and work with than assembly
or machine languages making second-generation computers easier to program and use
than first-generation computers. Introduction of batch operating system enabled multiple
jobs to be batched together and submitted at a time. A batch operating system causes
automatic transition from one job to another as soon as the former job completes. This
concept helped in reducing human intervention while processing multiple jobs resulting
in faster processing, enhanced throughput, and easier operation of second-generation
computers.

The first-generation computers were mainly used for scientific computations. However, the
second-generation computers were increasingly used in business and industry for commercial
data processing applications like payroll, inventory control, marketing, and production
planning.

Characteristic features of second-generation computers are as follows:
1. They were more than ten times faster than the first-generation computers.
2. They were smaller than first-generation computers and required smaller space.
3. They consumed less power and dissipated less heat than the first-generation computers.
The rooms/areas in which the second-generation computers were located still required
to be properly air conditioned.
4. They were more reliable and less prone to hardware failures than the first generation
computers.

5. They had faster and larger primary and secondary storage as compared to first-
generation computers.
6. They were easier to program and use than the first-generation computers. Hence, they
had wider commercial use.
7. In these computers, thousands of individual transistors had to be assembled manually
by hand into electronic circuits making commercial production of these computers
difficult and costly.

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