What is Computer? | Ethical Hacking

What is Computer? | Ethical Hacking

What is computer? We know what is computer but the history of computer we don't know. Before we going to far about hacking, i think very good if we know little bit about computer. We use computer everyday to do job, assignment, typing, blogging, surfing internet and online marketing but still do not know what is computer.

During the 17th century a mathematician by the name of Gottfried Leibniz developed a concept called 'Calculus Ratiocinator' (calculus of reason) which is a theoretical universal logical calculation framework. Leibniz believed that all human reasoning is based on the use of signs or characters, which could be written down. The concept was that not only could objects be abbreviated but also ideas of these objects could be considered, once a sign had been established for the object, memory could be relieved of containing all elements of the object.

The framework was an inference machine, in that it would produce answers from a knowledge base and could be classed as a special instance of a reason engine, which will develop a solution from a set of given rules or axioms[1]. Leibniz believed that all human thoughts could be reduced to a few simple thoughts, and then be related to mathematical symbols. To make it work Leibniz came up with the concept of 'lingua characteristica', a universal language able to express mathematical, scientific, and metaphysical concepts. His idea was to have a learned committee sit around a table, saying: "Calculemus!" ("Let's Calculate!") and then begin reasoning with problems. What must be remembered while writing about these concepts was that they were developed in the 17th century and formed the basis of early calculators.

In the late 19th century a great mathematician called David Hilbert also had similar beliefs to Leibniz, in that any given Diophantine[2] problem or statement could be solved by using a single method. Deciding the truth of a statement in a formal system was called the "Entscheidungsproblem" (decision problem) by Hilbert, who considered it to be a fundamental open problem in mathematics. The problem was outlined along with 23 (originally) unsolved problems; it was the tenth in the list and has now become one of the most significant for the development of computer science.

The reason for it being so significant is that it inspired another mathematician, by the name of Alan Turing, to try and solve the problem. In 1935 Turing devised a theoretical machine that he believed could settle Hilbert's Decision Problem, the machine would be able to move from one state to another using a precise limited set of rules (given by a finite table) and depending on a single symbol it read from a tape. The Turing machine (M), via a head would print, erase and write new symbols, then move left or right along the tape depending on the instructions. To develop the theory Turing monitored human behaviour and modelled the theoretical machine on their actions. To solve the decision problem Turing used proof by contradiction, using his theoretical universal machine and demonstrated that all problems could not be solved with a common algorithm. This is also known as the Halting problem in computing, Turing was able to answer Hilbert's 'Entscheidungsproblem' in the negative: there can be no such general method.

Discovering the solution to Hilbert's decision problem led to the development of the algorithm, which means a list of well defined instructions for completing a task. The process of applying an algorithm to an input to obtain an output is called a computation. In terms of the digital computer an algorithm is a computer program that performs calculation. So from Turing's theories on computing came the birth of programming, stored program and hardware thus leading to computers.

The computer is significant as a technical and conceptual tool and it presents a powerful metaphor. The Universe in its existence at some level of abstraction may be understood as an enormous informational and computational system. In a Computer Universe every physical process can be seen as computation. The computers (digital) within the Computer Universe are beginning to contain more and more ideas of the world as it appears to humanity today, which means that gradually all computers will have the ability to save and communicate all that is. Going back to Leibniz's concepts of universal language and universal calculation framework, could it be with the development of knowledge representation and ontology[3] that the World Wide Web could be the very place to implement these concepts.

To define what a computer is, is a difficult task as this paper discusses a computer carries out computation, and as outlined above this could be the universe or the objects within the universe. From this variation and the others considered in the research, this paper has come to the following conclusion for the definition of a computer:

"A computer is an object that is defined by boundaries and receives instructions from an external source, in the form of a symbolic language; the language will be defined by rules. The source may also be another computer; the computer will interpret these instructions and carry out calculations to produce an output".

[1] Axiom: an established rule, principle, or law.
[2] A Diophantine equation is an equation in which only integer solutions are allowed.
[3] Ontology is the working model of entities and interactions in some particular domain of knowledge or practices.

 



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