What is a Computer?
- Computers are not intelligent.
- A computer merely follows the instructions given to it.
- For a task to be performed by a computer, an individual or group of people writes a 'series of instructions'.
- A logical ‘series of instructions’ is called a program or a procedure.
- People who write programs are called programmers / coders.
- When a user wants his/her computer to perform a task, s/he must run (start, execute, set) a program written for that task.
- New forms of computer programs have been developed and are being refined every now and then, which can 'learn' based on the data given to them!
- These new programs are ushering in a new era of 'Artificial Intelligence.'
Even a very rudimentary computer should be able to perform:
- Basic arithmetical operations (+, -, *, /)
- Relational operations (<, >, =, etc.)
- Boolean / logical operations (AND, OR, NOT)
It should also be able to store and retrieve data / information. However, along with the development of computers, many capabilities (like multimedia, communication, etc.) have been added.
Difference between a Computer and a Calculator
A typical computer can follow different programs to perform various tasks (sometimes without user interventions), while a calculator can't. Calculators are designed to (help us) perform one mathematical operation at a time.
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