Quantum computing grounded in principles of superposition, entanglement, and quantum interference, represents a paradigm shift in computation, surpassing the capabilities of classical systems for specific domains. This paper reviews the historical foundations, theoretical principles, hardware architectures, and software ecosystems of quantum computing. It highlights transformative applications across cryptography, artificial intelligence, finance, healthcare, and climate science, while addressing critical challenges such as decoherence, scalability, and algorithmic limitations. Finally, it outlines future directions including fault-tolerant processors, hybrid quantum-classical architectures, and global policy frameworks. The study consolidates research to provide a holistic perspective on the trajectory of quantum technologies in the 21st century.
Kakarla et al. (2025) studied this question.