Computer Science / Unit 1 CS 0012 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The General-Purpose Computer
Captions available
The idea
A general-purpose computer runs any program a programmer specifies, not one fixed task — the property separating computers from single-purpose calculating machines.
In practice
ENIAC, among the earliest digital computers, could compute anything today's machines can — trillions of times more slowly.
Where people slip
The gap between eras is speed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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