CSCI 101: Intro to Computer Science

Assignment 1.     Due: Mon, Jun 9

Solutions will be posted on Wed, Jun 11

Please type your answers to the questions below by using the Notepad editor, ALL IN ONE file. Name the file hw1.txt. Upload this file on Canvas before midnight of the day above.

1. (30 points)   Both Atanasoff and Zuse were working on developing machines similar in purpose at about the same time.
   1. What similarities did these two machines have?
   2. What differences?
   3. What concepts from each of these machines are also evident in the modern day computer?

2. (40 points)   To a scientist or an engineer, there are important differences between mechanical, electro-mechanical, and electrical devices. The Internet Resources of Topic 1 (in particular, check The Machine that Changed the World document) describe mechanical, electro-mechanical, and electronic computers. It also describe how computers that could store their programs in memory were a significant advance over computers that had to be essentially rewired in order to be reprogrammed.
   1. Among the following computer pioneers, whose machines were mechanical, electro-mechanical, and electrical?
   2. Whose computers supported stored programs?
   3. Give some advantages or disadvantages of these machines versus modern day computers.
      • Babbage
      • Zuse
      • Atanasoff

3. (30 points)   Describe the important contributions of Charles Babbage to computer science described in the textbook and The Machine that Changed the World document.