Farkon Kwamfutar Zamani

Tarihin kwamfuta ba zai taba mantawa da yakin duniya na biyu ba, domin a cikinsa ne jama’a suka fara ganin gingima kwamfutoci a rayuwar su. Amma kafin barkewar yakin, a shekarar 1938, Konrad Zuse (1910-1995) injiniya dan kasar Jamus ya kirkiri kwamfutar da ake kira da Z1, wacce ita ce kwamfuta ta farko da take amfani da programming da binary, wacce ya yi ta a cikin dakin kwanan iyayensa. A shekarar da ke biye da ita. Da shekara ta zagayo sai John Atanasoff (1903-1995) wanda masanin physics ne dan kasar Amurka da mataimakin shi Clifford Berry (1918-1963) wanda shi kuma injiniyan kayan lantarki ne, suka kirko wata kwamfutar da take amfani da tsarin binary wacce tafi Z1 aiki suka sa mata suna Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC). Wannan kwamfutar tafi Diffirential Analyzer da Vannever Bush ya yi sau dubu, saboda irin yadda take fitar da sakamako daidai.

Wannan kwamfutar ABC ita ce farkon kwamfutar da ta fara amfani da tsarin kunnawa da kashewa wato No/Off wurin ajiyar binary code. Wanda duk lokacin da wannan makunna take a matsayin off to kwamfutar tana ganin 0 ne, idan kuma taba kunnawa wato On tana ganin 1 ne. Wannan injin aka yana aiki da tsarin digital ne ba kamar kwamfutocin baya ba da suke aiki na analog, wadanda suke ajiyar lambobinsu ta hanyar amfani da gargare wurin ajiyar lambobin su.

Kwamfuta mai girman gaske wacce aka fara gani ita ce wacce take a Harverd University a shekarar 1944, wacce Howard Aiken (1900-973) masanin lissafi ya kirkirota, wacce kamfanin IBM suka bashi tallafi wurin gina ta. Ana kiran wannan kwamfuta da Harverd Mark I ko kuma IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC). Wannan kwamfutar tana da girma domin takai kusan kafa 50 ko kuma muce tsawon mita 15.

Kodayake mafi yawan mashinan da ka kirkira a wancan lokacin an yi su ne domin taimakawa sojoji wurin yaki, shi yasa a lokacin yakin duniya na biyu, sojoji sun dauko hayar kwararru a bangaren kimiyya sama da guda dubu goma domin su taimaka musu a lokacin shi wannan yakin. Amma kuma a daidai wannan lokacin ba haka abin ya ke ba a kasar Jamus, domin lokacin da Konrad Zuse ya ke neman sojojin kasar su bashi damar ya kirkiro kwafuta mai suna Z2 domin ya taimakawa sujojin sai hukumar taga ba wani bata da bukatar shi, saboda haka sai ta watsar da wannan bukata ta shi.

A bangare guda kuwa, a shekarar 1943 wasu kungiyar masana lissafi ne da suke Bletchley Park kusa da Landan na kasar Ingila wanda ya hada da Ala n Turning suka gina wata kwamfuta wacce ake kiranta da Colossus domin ta taimaka wurin warware rubutun (codes) sirrin kwamfutocin kasar Jamus. Ita wannan kwamfutar ta Colossus ita ce farkon kwamfutar da ta fara amfani kayan lantarki tsantsa a jikinta, mai makon relays da aka na bayanta ake saka musu. A wannan karon an yi amfani da veccum tube ne. Wannan fasahar ta Vacuum Tube ya yi kama da kwan lantarki ja, duk da cewar shi yana da dan tsawo ne, kuma girmanshi kamar babban dan yatsa ne, kuma yana fitar da zafi kamar yadda da dai jan kwai ya ke fitarwa. Ita kuwa wannan fasahar tun a shekarar 1906 aka fitar da ita wanda Lee de Forest (1873-1967) wanda ya ke kiranta da Audion. Nasarar kikiran da Lee de Forest ya yi ya sanya ake kiran shi da cewar shine baban rediyo, domin lokacin da aka kirkiri wannan fasahar ta vacuum tube ana amfani da ita ne a cikin rediyo.

Kwamfuta mai suna Electroniic Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC) wacce wadansu masana ilimin kimiyya daga jami’ar Pennsylvani, John Mauchly (1907-1980) da J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) sun yi ta ne bayan da kwamfutar Vannever Bush ta birge su, wacce bayan shekara guda Eckert da kan shi ya ce lallai wannan kwamfutar da suka yi ENIAC ta fito ne daga tsatson  Differential Analyzer. Duk da cewar ita wannan kwamfutar da wadannan masana suka yi tafi waccan ta Bush kaya da nauyi a cikinta.

Misali ENIAC tana da vacuum tube guda dubu goma sha takwas a cikinta (18,000), wanda ya ninka yawan na Colossus sau tara, tana da tsawon mita ashirin da hudu (24 m) wurin kafa tamanin kenan (80 ft), sannan kuma nauyinta ya kai tan talatin (30 tons). ENIAC ana dangantata da ita ce kwamfuta ta farko wacce ta ke aiki da tsarin kayan lantarki gaba daya a cikinta (fully electronic machine), kuma kwamfutar da take aiki da tsarin digital, kuma kwamfutar da ake kira general purpose computer. Duk da ita ma Colossus za a iya cewa ta hada wadannan ayyukan amma dai bai kai kamar wannan ENIAC ba. Amma da yake ita ta kebantu ne da kawai domin a gano surkullen rubutun kwamfutar kasar Jamus wanda ya sanya ba za a ce mata general purpose computer, tun da dai ba za a iya saka mata wani program ba kuma zai ba da wahala sosai idan aka ce za a canza mata program a jikinta.

ENIAC wasa farin girki ce, wadannan malamai guda biyu sun kafa kamfani mai suna Eckert Mauchly Computer Corporation a karshen shekara 1940, tare da janyo wani masanin lissafin kasar Hungry, John Von Neumann (1903-1957) wanda yake zaune a jami’ar Princeton, a lokacin ne suka sake tsara wata kwamfuta mai suna Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC). A wuri guda von Neumann shi ne ya taimaka wurin samar da hanyar da kwamfuta zata iya ajiyar program da kuma zata iya sarrafa shi program din, kamar dai mu ce shi yasa fandisho da dukkan wata kwamfuta ko na’urorin wannan zamani suke aiki.

A shekarar 1951 Eckert da Mauchly suka sake kirkiro wata kwamfutar mai suna UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) tare da taimakon wani matashi masanin lissafi duk da dai ba sananne ba ne, mai suna Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) wanda Howard Aiken da Harvard Mark I su suka fara daukan shi aiki. Kamar yadda kwamfutar Herman Hollerith (tabulator) ta dauki kusan shekaru hamsin ana amfani da ita a baya, UNIVAC 1 ita ma ana amfani da ita ne domin sarrafa data a kasar Amurka domin kididdigar adadin mutanen kasar. Daga baya aka fara yin ta da yawa domin siyarwa ga masu bukata. Da Colossus da Harvard Mark I suna daga cikin kwamfutocin da ba za a manta da su ba tarihi ga masu amfani da kwamfuta, amma kuma dukkansu ba zamu iya dangantasu da cewar su ne kwamfutocin da muke amfani da su ba a wannan zamanin ba, kusan ma duk wata kwamfuta da aka samar a shekarun 1930 har zuwa farkon 1950 ba za a iya kiransu da kwamfutocin zamani ba. Daga cikin irin wadannan kwamfutocin da a wancan lokacin ake kiransu da kwamfutocin zamani akwai Manchester/Ferranti Mark 1 wanda aka gina ta a jami’ar Manchester da wadansu malamai guda biyu Freseric Williams (1911-1977) da Thomas Kilburn (1921-2001), sai kuma EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) wanda Mourice Wilkes (1913-2010) ya gina ta a jami’ar Cambridge dake kasar Ingila.