first-generation computer

first-generation computer

[¦fərst jen·ə¦rā·shən kəm′pyüd·ər] (computer science) A computer from the earliest stage of computer development, ending in the early 1960s, characterized by the use of vacuum tubes, the performance of one operation at a time in strictly sequential fashion, and elementary software, usually including a program loader, simple utility routines, and an assembler to assist in program writing.

first-generation computer

A computer that used vacuum tubes as switching elements; for example, the UNIVAC I. See computer generations.