View source for TIFRAC

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
[[File:TIFRAC.jpg|thumb|Professor [[Rangaswamy Narasimhan]] demonstrating the first Indian digital computer to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and [[Homi J. Bhabha]] at [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] ]]
'''TIFRAC''' ('''Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Automatic Calculator''') was the first computer developed in [[India]], at the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] in [[Mumbai]]. Initially a TIFR Pilot Machine was developed in the 1950s (operational in 1956).<ref>{{cite journal|title=COMPUTERS, OVERSEAS: 5. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India|journal=Digital Computer Newsletter|date=Jan 1957|volume=9|issue=1|page=13|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0694623.pdf|language=en}}</ref> Based on the [[IAS machine]] design,<ref name=":0">{{cite journal | title=TIFRAC, India's first computer - A retrospective | journal=Resonance | volume=13 | issue=5 | pages=420–429 | date=2015 | doi=10.1007/s12045-008-0049-2 |last1 = Rao|first1 = P. V. S.| s2cid=122705115 | url=https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/013/05/0420-0429}}</ref> the development of the final machine was started in 1955<ref name=":0" /> and was formally commissioned (and named TIFRAC, by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]])<ref name=":0" /> in 1960. The full machine was in use until 1965.{{fact|date=November 2018}}
TIFRAC included 2,700 [[vacuum tube]]s, 1,700 [[germanium diode]]s and 12,500 [[resistors]]. It had 2,048 40-bit words of [[ferrite core memory]]. This machine was an early adopter of ferrite core memory.{{fact|date=November 2018}}
The main assembly of TIFRAC, which had vacuum tubes was housed in a massive steel rack measuring 18 feet x 2.5 feet x 8 feet. It was fabricated from modules of 4 feet x 2.5 feet x 8 feet. Each module had steel doors on either side for accessing the circuits.{{fact|date=November 2018}}
A cathode ray tube display system was developed to serve as an auxiliary output to the computer for analogue and digital display of both graphs and alpha-numeric symbols.
A manual console served as the input/output control unit of the computer. The software of TIFRAC were written in a series of commands of 0s and 1s ([[machine code]]).
A  British-built [[APEXC|HEC 2M]] computer, happened to be the first digital computer in India, which was imported and installed in [[Indian Statistical Institute]], Kolkata, during 1955.  Prior to that, this institute had developed a small [[analog computer]] in 1953, which is technically the first computer in India.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://trivia.serendip.in/trivia/indias-first-computer | title=India's first computer &#124; trivia.serendip.in}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of vacuum tube computers]]
== References ==
* {{cite web | url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/119136/the-fascinating-story-of-how-indias-first-indigenous-computers-were-built/ | title=The Fascinating Story of How India's First Indigenous Computers Were Built | publisher=The Better India link | date=2017 | accessdate=25 October 2017}}
* {{cite web | url=http://tatabuildingindia.com/New-Site/index.php/tata-world-tata-institute-of-fundamental-research | title=Tata World - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - History - TIFRAC | publisher=Tata World link | date=2012 }}
* {{cite web | url=http://trivia.serendip.in/trivia/indias-first-computer | title=India's First Computer | publisher=Serendip link }}
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[[Category:Vacuum tube computers]]
[[Category:Information technology in India]]
[[Category:History of Mumbai]]
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