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What is a Computer & Computer Language?

One of the most important developments of this century is the computer. Computer is an electronic device that can receive a set of instructions or program and then carry out these instructions by performing calculations on numerical data or compiling and correlating other forms of information.

The basic job of computers is the processing of information. For this reason computers can be defined as devices which accept information in the form of instructions called a program and characters called data, perform mathematical and/or logical operations on the information and then supply results of these operations. The program which tells the computers what to do and the data which provide the information needed to solve the problem are kept inside the computer in a place called memory.

Today computer is a machine with a complex network of electronic circuits. The machine is capable of storing and manipulating numbers, letters, and characters.

The basic idea of the computers is that we can make the machine do what we want by inputting signals. They can process large amounts of data very quickly.

Computers are used nowadays for many different kinds of work in office, banks, factories, hospitals, construction, universities and schools in everyday life. Scientists can use the computers to do the numerical calculations, a businessman – to analyze a list of customers or stocks, an engineer – to produce diagrams or plans, calculate data and figures.

The application of computers is becoming more widespread as cheaper and smaller computers become available. A computer can be used to process many different types of data.

Computer languages are the vehicles for expressing and solving computer-based problems. Each computer language is a set of designated characters, conversions and rules through which the user conveys information to the computer system. More than 100 computer languages are in existence now and about 25 are widely used.

A programming (computer) language is used to write or formulate computer programs. Among the most common programming languages are such third-generation languages as BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN and PASCAL. Many languages are designed for very specific purposes, while others are intended for general purposes However no single language is appropriate for all applications.

A non-programming language which is not used to formulate a program in a conventional manner often consists of a series of short independent commands.

The first higher-level language FORTRAN was introduced commercially in 1956 and was designed for scientific applications on the early IBM 704 machine.

In the period between 1959 and 1960 three major languages were introduced: ALGOL in 1959 and both COBOL and RPG in 1960. The first two were developed by committees. It was oriented toward the needs of business operations. ALGOL was designed to serve scientific purposes. RPG was developed at IBM and it was intended to be an easy-to-use business-oriented language.

During the 1960s these early languages were modified and improved and several additional languages were conceived. A major simulation language GPSS was the brainchild of Geoffrey Cordon who developed it at IBM in the early 1960s. APL was eventually released in 1964 with the IBM 360 series. In 1965 a committee of IBM staff and users developed PL/I which was to be an all-purpose language. At about the same time John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, two Dartmouth professors designed BASIC an interactive, user-friendly language especially suited for teaching purposes.

During the 1970s and 1980s improved versions of each of the major languages were issued. Two new languages introduced during this period were Pascal and Ada. Pascal, created in Zurich by Nikolaus Wirth expands on ALGOL and has additional numerical and logical capabilities. Ada, developed by a committee of the U.S. Defense Department is a versatile, modern structured language. Languages have been and continue to be developed according to their anticipated applications in industry, academia and government.

BASIC is a relatively easy to-learn language used extensively with microcomputers and minicomputers. This interactive language with easy input/output commands has become the dominant personal computing language.

 

Words to be remembered:

to perform – виконувати

calculation – обчислення

to carry out – ви конувати

customer – покупець

stock – акція

processing of information – обробка інформації

1. Make up infinitive phrases using the text:

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