Chapter 1

When did the slide rule first appear?

1622

What is an infinite loop?

An infinite loop is a algorithm with a set of instructions that do not have a finite end.

What is a computing agent?

A computing agent is the thing carrying out the steps of the algorithm.

What is a primitive?

A primitive is an unambiguous operation.

What is a Sequential Operation?

A sequential instruction that carries out a single well defined task. When the task is finished, the algorithm moves on to the next question.

Algorithm

An algorithm is a well ordered collection of unambiguous and effectively computable operations that, when executed, produces a result and stops in a finite amount of time.

What is an unambiguous operation?

An unambiguous operation is one that can be understood and carried out directly by the computing agent without further simplification or explanation.

What was the machine that Babbage invented that is considered the first true computer system?

Babbage invented the analytical engine which was the first device had all the modern functional components of a computer.

What was the name of the device Babbage tried to build a second version of and why didn't he finish it?

Babbage tried to build a second model of the Difference engine but was not successful due to the current technology of the day.

What was the first fully electric general purpose programmable computer?

ENIAC (electronic numerical integrator and calculator) was completed in 1946 and was the first fully electric general purpose programmable computer.

What where the first high level programming languages?

FORTRAN and COBOL

What generation of computing was FORTRAN and COBOL introduced?

FORTRAN and COBOL were introduced in the second generation of computing.

What generation was integrated circuits introduced?

Integrated circuits were introduced in the 3rd generation of computing.

What does it mean to be effectively computable?

It is when a computational process is one that the agent is able to compute.

What is linguistic realization?

Linguistic realization is designing programming languages and translating algorithms into those languages.

What did Napier invent and when to solve complex mathematical problems?

Napier invented the logarithms in 1614 to simplify complex mathematical problems.

What is one of the fundamental virtues of algorithms?

One of the fundamental virtues of algorithms is if you can specify a problem to solve, you can automate the solution.

What is a Conditional Operation?

Question asking instructions of an algorithm. They ask a question and the next operation is then selected on the basis of the answer to that question.

What operations are used to construct algorithms?

Sequential Operations, Conditional Operations, and Iterative Operations.

What did Leibniz invent that could carry out addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?

The Leibniz Wheel

What were the Luddites?

The Luddites were opposed to the new technology of the loom, and the automation that it entailed.

What saw the birth of the software industry?

The birth of the software industry came about due to the invention of the first minicomputer the PDP-1

What revolution automated metal tasks?

The computer revolution

What was the first programmable device?

The first programmable device was Jacquards loom.

What is the modern equivalent to the mill?

The mill is the equivalent to the arithmetic or logic gate.

What is the stored program computer model?

The stored program computer model is a computer that has instructions that control the operation of the computer already encoded and stored.

Computer Science

The study of algorithms including: their formal mathematical properties, their hardware realizations, their linguistic realizations, and their applications.

Theoretical Computer Science

Theoretical computer science is the study of the logical and mathematical properties of problems and their solutions.

What is a Iterative Operation?

These are the looping instructions of an algorithm.

What are the two fundamental characteristics of a computer?

They have a memory where information can be stored in machine-readable form. They are programmable.

What are the two criteria that algorithms must meet?

They must be unambiguous. They must be effectively computable.

What is the stored program computer model referred to as?

Von Neumann Architecture

What is the central concept of computer science?

according to Gibbs and Tucker, the core concept of computer science is the algorithm.