• Computer Software
• Algorithms
• Computer Programming
• Information Processing
• Data Representation
• Computer Hardware
• Processing
• Input/Output (I/O)

Algorithms

An algorithm is a set of steps which defines how a task is performed.  Algorithms are a fundamental aspect of computer science.

see Figure 0.1, page 3

See Figure 0.2, page 4

Questions we will address:

• How are algorithms discovered?
• How are algorithms programmed?
• How are programs engineered?
• How are machines made which can run programs?
• How does technology change computer science?
• How can information get in and out of a computer?
• Can computers behave intelligently?
• Are there limits to algorithm processing?

History of Computing - Non-Electronic

• What is a number?
• fingers
• stones, sticks
• abacus - 300 BC
• Napier's Bones - 1612-1614
• Slide Rule/Logarithms (Oughtred/Napier) - 1622
• Pascalene - 1642 yrs
• Stepped Reckoner (Leibniz) - 1671 yrs
• Jacquard Loom - 1801 Picture
• Difference Engine (Babbage) - 1832 Picture

History of Computing - Early Electronic

• Hollerith Tabulating Machine - 1890 Picture
• Vacuum Tube (de Forest) - 1906
• Z1,Z2,Z3,Z4 (Zuse) - 1938-1941 Picture
• ABC (Atanasoff,Berry @ Iowa State) - 1939 Picture
• Colossus (Turing) - 1943 Picture
• Mark I (Aiken @ IBM/Harvard) - 1944 Picture
• ENIAC (Eckert,Macuhly @ U Penn) - 1946 Picture
  8 ft x 80 ft, 18,000 vacuum tubes
• Transistors (Shockley,Brattain,Bardeen) - 1947 Picture
• Core memory (Forrester) - 1951 Picture

History of Computing - 1957-1976

• FORTRAN (Backus @ IBM) - 1957
• Integrated Circuit (Kilby @ TI) 1958 Picture
• First Video Game (Russell @ MIT) - 1962
• ANSI approves ASCII
• IBM System/360 - 1964
• Mouse (Engelbart) - 1964
• Floppy Disk - 1970
• Daisy Wheel Printer - 1970
• First Network E-mail - 1971
• Intel 4004 Microprocessor - 1971
  0.3 cm x 0.4 cm, 2300 transistors
• Pascal Developed (Wirth)- 1971
• Intel 8008 and 8080 Microprocessors - 1972
• Altair 8800 PC - 1975
• Laser Printer (IBM) - 1975
• Ink-jet Printer (IBM) - 1976
• Apple I - 1976

History of Computing - Recent Developments

• Microsoft - 1977
• 32-bit VAX 11/780 (DEC) - 1978
• 16-bit Intel 8086 Microprocessor - 1978
• Motorola 68000 Microprocessor - 1979
• First Portable Computer (Osborne) - 1980
• TCP/IP based Internet - 1983
• CD-ROM based computer storage (Sony,Philips) - 1984
• Motorola 68020 Microprocessor - 1984
• 32-bit Intel 80386 Microprocessor - 1985
• Initial WWW Software (Berners-Lee) - 1990
• 64-bit Alpha (DEC) - 1992
• 32-bit Intel Pentium Microprocessor - 1993
• 32-bit Intel PentiumPro Microprocessor - 1996
• 32-bit Intel Pentium II Microprocessor - 1997
• 32-bot Intel Pentium 4 Microprocessor - 2001
  42 Million transistors in 217 mm²

Evolution of Computer Science

• Simple Machines -> Simple Algorithms
• Complex Machines -> Complex Problems
• How complex can computer systems get?
• Which problems can be solved?
• Can algorithms be more easily represented?
• Can algorithm discovery be made easier?
• Can algorithms be compared?

Ex: GCD Algorithms

Role of abstraction

Layers of abstraction - focus on interface and ignore (as much as possible) what is beyond the boundary.

Allows standardization

Examples: Car, Electricity, Telephones

Ethics

• Intelligent behavior vs. intelligence
• Who owns software?
• How much control should be placed on information access?
• Who should control information access?

see questions on pages 14 and 15.