digital computer

computer A computer that represents numbers and other data

using discrete internal states, in contrast to the

continuously varying quantities used in an analog computer.

Some of the fundamental ideas behind the digital computer were

proposed by Alan Turing between 1936 and 1938. The first

electronic digital computer built was the Atanasoff-BerryComputer (ABC, 1937-1942), closely followed by the ENIAC

(1943-1946).

(2002-04-07)