The computer is a high-speed electronic machine that handles information automatically to produce conclusions or actions useful to people. The computer is, without a doubt, the most complex machine ever devised and one of the most significant inventions of all time. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the lives of few people anywhere in the world today are not affected by the computer.
The computer can be used to advantage in almost every human activity. The first computers were used to aim guns, to correct navigation tables, and to solve the complex mathematical problems involved in developing the atomic bomb.
Nowadays, computers process bank accounts, send bills, handle telephone calls, and predict weather. They prepare paychecks, diagnose illnesses, design cars, weave clothing, and fly jetliners. They mill steel, control rockets, advise farmers how and what crops to plant, bind books, and analyze population trends. Computers are even used to design and build faster and build faster computers.
Computers can be classified as analog or digital. Both types process data, but in different ways. Analog computers are best suited to solving problems in which several quantities vary continuously over ...