The 2nd generation ( 1959 - 1964 )
The second generation of computers was characterized by transistors instead of vacuum tubes and was smaller in size and weight. They had a faster read and write operation, and calculated data at a faster speed when magnetic tape was utilized.
This generation used operation systems that contained instructions that any software could use, and the computers in this time were overall smaller, cheaper, more reliable, and used less power.
In 1956, a little before the whole second generation of computers came out, a UNIVAC with
transistors and designed for commercial use is introduced.
In 1957, Japan’s Electrotechnical Laboratory develops a transistor computer, the ETL Mark III, that uses 130 transistors and 1,700 diodes. Isn't that insane?
And in 1959, Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments designs a flip-flop IC.