generation of coputer

first generation, the earliest computers, developed in the 1940s and 1950s, made from valves and wire circuits; second generation from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, based on transistors and printed circuits; third generation from the early 1960s to 1970, using integrated circuits and often sold as families of computers, such as the IBM 360 series; and fourth generation, from the 1970s and currently still in use, using microprocessors, large-scale and very large-scale integration (LSI and VLSI), and sophisticated programming languages.

Second Generation Computers (1956-1963)

The invention of Transistors marked the start of the second generation. These transistors took place of the vacuum tubes used in the first generation computers. First large scale machines were made using these technologies to meet the requirements of atomic energy laboratories. One of the other benefits to the programming group was that the second generation replaced Machine language with the assembly language. Even though complex in itself Assemly language was much easier than the binary code.

Second generation computers also started showing the characteristics of modern day computers with utilities such as printers, disk storage and operating systems. Many financial information was processed using these computers.

In Second Generation computers, the instructions(program) could be stored inside the computer's memory. High-level languages such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were used, and they are still used for some applications nowdays.