This article meticulously details the timeline of events that shaped the history of computing hardware and software, tracing its origins from the distant past right up to the year 1949. For a broader understanding of the overarching narrative and the evolutionary arc of computing, one should consult the more comprehensive History of computing.
History of computing
This section serves as a foundational overview, guiding the reader through the intricate tapestry of computing's evolution. It’s the grand narrative, the one that sets the stage for the more granular details found elsewhere.
Hardware
The physical embodiment of computation, the hardware, has undergone transformations so profound they’re almost unrecognizable from its nascent stages.
- Hardware 1960s to present: A deep dive into the more recent, and arguably more explosive, period of hardware development. This is where silicon began to truly dominate.
Software
The intangible soul of computing, the instructions that breathe life into the silicon.
- Software: The fundamental principles and early evolution of software.
- Software configuration management: How we started managing the complexity of software development.
- Unix: A pivotal operating system that shaped much of modern computing.
- Free and open-source software: The philosophical and practical movement that democratized software.
Computer science
The theoretical underpinnings and the intellectual discipline that drives innovation.
- Artificial intelligence: The long, often frustrating, quest to imbue machines with intelligence.
- Compiler construction: The art and science of translating human-readable code into machine instructions.
- Early computer science: The foundational concepts that emerged before the digital age truly dawned.
- Operating systems: The software that manages the hardware, making it usable.
- Programming languages: The diverse tools developed for communicating with machines.
- Prominent pioneers: A roll call of the brilliant minds who dared to dream of computation.
- Software engineering: The discipline of building reliable and maintainable software.
Modern concepts
The innovations that have fundamentally reshaped our interaction with technology.
- General-purpose CPUs: The central processing unit, the brain of most modern computers.
- Graphical user interface: The visual revolution that made computers accessible to the masses.
- Internet: The global network that connected the world.
- Laptops: The portable revolution.
- Personal computers: Bringing computing power to the individual.
- Video games: Entertainment and a driving force in technological advancement.
- World Wide Web: The interconnected system of documents and resources.
- Cloud: Computing as a utility.
- Quantum: The next frontier, harnessing the bizarre laws of quantum mechanics.
By country
Tracing the global spread and unique developments of computing.
Timeline of computing
A chronological account of the milestones.
Glossary of computer science
A lexicon of terms for those who find the jargon as impenetrable as a locked vault.
Pre-computing
Before the silicon and the circuits, the seeds of computation were sown in mechanical ingenuity.
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