Computer

A computer is a device or for processing information from data according to a program — a compiled list of instructions. The information to be processed may represent numbers, text, pictures, or sound, amongst many other types.

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Computers are extremely versatile. In fact, they are universal information processing machines. According to the Church-Turing thesis, a computer with a certain minimum threshold capability (in technical terms, one way to describe this is that the machine must have the ability to emulate a universal Turing machine) is in principle capable of performing the tasks of any other computer, from those of a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer. Therefore, the same computer designs have been adapted for tasks from processing company payrolls to controlling industrial robots. Modern electronic computers also have enormous speed and capacity for information processing compared to earlier designs, and they have become exponentially more powerful over the years. This process was dubbed Moore's Law.

Related Topics:
Church-Turing thesis - Universal Turing machine - Personal digital assistant - Supercomputer - Robot - Moore's Law

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Computers are present in a variety of physical packages. The original computers were the size of a large room, and such enormous computing facilities still exist for specialised scientific computation - supercomputers - and for the transaction processing requirements of large companies, generally called mainframes. Smaller computers for individual use, called personal computers, are perhaps the form most people are most familiar with, and their portable equivalent the notebook computer. However, the most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer, a (usually) small computer used to control another device. Machines from fighter planes to digital cameras are controlled by embedded computers.

Related Topics:
Supercomputer - Transaction processing - Mainframe - Personal computers - Notebook computer - Embedded computer - Fighter planes - Digital camera

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