About 328,000 results
Open links in new tab
  1. Computer | Definition, History, Operating Systems, & Facts | Britannica

    Oct 17, 2025 · A computer is a programmable device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Learn more in this article about modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent …

  2. What is a computer? | Britannica

    Oct 20, 2025 · A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system, which uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, …

  3. Computer - Technology, Invention, History | Britannica

    Oct 17, 2025 · Computer - Technology, Invention, History: By the second decade of the 19th century, a number of ideas necessary for the invention of the computer were in the air.

  4. Computer - History, Technology, Innovation | Britannica

    Oct 17, 2025 · Computer - History, Technology, Innovation: A computer might be described with deceptive simplicity as “an apparatus that performs routine calculations automatically.” Such a …

  5. Computer science | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica

    5 days ago · Computer science is the study of computers and computing, including their theoretical and algorithmic foundations, hardware and software, and their uses for processing information.

  6. Personal computer (PC) | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

    Nov 27, 2025 · A typical personal computer assemblage consists of a central processing unit, which contains the computer’s arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry on an integrated circuit; computer …

  7. computer summary | Britannica

    Computer, device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Computer once meant a person who did computations, but now the term almost universally refers to automated electronic machinery.

  8. computer - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help

    An English inventor named Charles Babbage designed the first computer in the 1830s. It was mechanical, not electronic, because scientists did not yet know how electricity worked.

  9. Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software | Britannica

    Oct 17, 2025 · Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software: Before 1970, computers were big machines requiring thousands of separate transistors. They were operated by specialized …

  10. Computer program | Definition & Facts | Britannica

    The first digital computer designed with internal programming capacity was the “Baby,” constructed at Manchester in 1948. A program is prepared by first formulating a task and then expressing it in an …