John P. Eckert is credited with being a coinventor of the first electronic digital computer. While he was a research associate at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, he collaborated with J.W. Mauchly in designing and constructing the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). Eckert used the basic digital concepts in designing ENIAC which John V. Atanasoff had used earlier in a device he had built in the 1930s. By using these digital concepts, Eckert was able to substitute electronic components for mechanical ones. This change in design made ENIAC about 1,000 times faster than the previous generation of relay computers.

               Eckert and Mauchly decided to build ENIAC when the outbreak of WWII produced a desperate need for computing capability for the military. ENIAC was designed to calculate ballistic trajectory tables for the new weapons systems which were being developed. ENIAC was successful at doing this, and thus was officially put into operation in 1946 and was used for the next 9 years. continue reading…