The second generation of computers was a transition to a transistor element base and marked the emergence of the first mini-computers.
Further development of the principle of autonomy is taking place - its implementation is already carried out by individual devices, which is reflected in their modular structure. I / O devices are equipped with their own control devices , called controllers, which made it possible to free the central control unit from manipulating I / O operations.
Second-generation computers are replaced by transistors, and the use of magnetic cores and drums as memory devices, which are the ancestors of today's hard drives, is being introduced. Due to all these innovations, the size and cost of computers have sharply decreased.
The modernization and reduction in the price of this generation of computers contributed to a decrease in the unit cost of computing resources and computer time in the total cost of an automated solution to the task of
processing information. At the same time, the price of application development (programming) practically did not decrease, and at times even increased. Thus, there were tendencies to effective programming, which began to be embodied in second-generation computers and continue to develop to the present.
The beginning of development based on libraries of standard applications of integrated systems that have the property of functioning on computers of various brands is given. The most popular software products are distinguished in the RFP in order to solve problems of a particular class.
There is an improvement in the technology for executing software products on second-generation computers: special software tools appear -
system software.The purpose of developing system software was to simplify and accelerate the switching of a processor between tasks. The first batch processing systems arose, automating the launch of one application after another, increasing the processor load factor . Batch processing systems became the prototype of current operating systems; they were the first system applications designed to control computing processes.
At the time when batch processing systems were being created, a formalized task management language was developed, with which the developer told the system, as well as the operator, what operation he wanted to perform on the computer. Several tasks in the aggregate in the form of a deck of punch cards began to be called a package of tasks. This element continues to be used at present: the so-called command
(batch) MS DOS
files are job packages (the extension of their name bat is an abbreviation of the English word "batch", meaning "package"). The following developments are referred to second-generation computers of domestic production: Promin, Hrazdan, Minsk, Mir.