Chapter 1

Introduction to Computers, the Internet

and the Web

Acknowledgment

The notes are adapted from those provided by Deitel & Associates, Inc. and Pearson Education Inc.

OBJECTIVES

 Basic computer concepts

 Different types of programming languages
 C programming language
 History
 C Standard Library
 Object-oriented Programming
 Typical C Program Development Environment
 The history of the Internet and the World Wide
Web

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What is a Computer?
 Computer
 Device capable of performing computations and making logical
decisions (hardware)
 Computers process data under the control of sets of instructions called

computer programs (software)

 Hardware
 Various devices comprising a computer, such as central processing unit
(CPU), memory, motherboard and hard disks as well as peripheral
devices (keyboard, screen, mouse CD-ROM)
 Hardware trends  Every year or two the following approximately
double:
 Amount of memory in which to execute programs
 The processor speed at which computers execute their programs
 Software
 Programs that run on a computer

Computer Organization
 Six logical units in every computer:
 Input unit

 Obtains information from input devices (keyboard, mouse)

 Output unit
 Outputs information (to screen, to printer, to control other devices)
 Memory unit
 Rapid access, low capacity, stores input information
 Arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)
 Performs arithmetic calculations and logic decisions
 Central processing unit (CPU)
 Supervises and coordinates the other sections of the computer
 ALU is now a fundamental building block of the CPU
 Secondary storage unit
 Cheap, long-term, high-capacity storage
 Stores inactive programs

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Hardware

Evolution of Operating Systems

 Batch processing
 Do only one job or task at a time

 Operating systems
 Manage transitions between jobs

 Increased throughput

 Amount of work computers process

 Multiprogramming
 Computer resources are shared by many jobs or tasks

 Timesharing
 Computer runs a small portion of one user’s job then moves
on to service the next user

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Operating Systems

Macintosh

Personal Computing, Distributed Computing, and

Client/Server Computing
 Personal computers
 Economical enough for individual

 Distributed computing
 Computing distributed over networks

 Client/server computing
 Sharing of information across computer networks between
file servers and clients (personal computers)

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Personal Computing, Distributed Computing, and
Client/Server Computing

Machine Languages, Assembly Languages, and High-

level Languages
Three types of programming languages
1. Machine languages
 Strings of numbers giving machine specific instructions
 Example: +1300042774
2. Assembly languages
 English-like abbreviations representing elementary computer
operations (translated via assemblers)
 Example: LOAD BASEPAY
3. High-level languages
 Codes similar to everyday English
 Use mathematical notations (translated via compilers)
 Example: grossPay = basePay + overTimePay

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Fortran, COBOL, Pascal and Ada
 FORTRAN
 Developed by IBM Corporation in the 1950s

 Used for scientific and engineering applications that require

complex mathematical computations
 COBOL
 Developed in 1959 by computer manufacturers, the government and
industrial computer users
 Used for commercial applications that require precise and efficient
manipulation of large amounts of data Pascal
 Pascal
 Developed by Professor Niklaus Wirth in 1971

 Designed for teaching structured programming

 Ada
 Developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD) during the 1970s and early 1980s
 Able to perform multitasking

History of C
 C
 Evolved by Ritchie from two previous programming
languages, BCPL and B
 Used to develop UNIX

 Used to write modern operating systems

 Hardware independent (portable)

 By late 1970's C had evolved to “Traditional C”

 Standardization
 Many slight variations of C existed, and were incompatible

 Committee formed to create a "unambiguous, machine-

independent" definition
 Standard created in 1989, updated in 1999

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C Standard Library
 C programs consist of pieces/modules called functions
 A programmer can create his own functions

 Advantage: the programmer knows exactly how it works

 Disadvantage: time consuming
 Programmers will often use the C library functions
 Use these as building blocks
 Avoid re-inventing the wheel
 If a premade function exists, generally best to use it rather
than write your own
 Library functions carefully written, efficient, and portable

The Key Software Trend: Object Technology

 Objects
 Reusable software components that model items in the real
world
 Meaningful software units

 Date objects, time objects, paycheck objects, invoice objects,

audio objects, video objects, file objects, record objects, etc.
 Any noun can be represented as an object
 Very reusable
 More understandable, better organized, and easier to
maintain than procedural programming
 Favor modularity

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C++
 C++
 Superset of C developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs

 "Spruces up" C, and provides object-oriented capabilities

 Object-oriented design very powerful

 10 to 100 fold increase in productivity

 Dominant language in industry and academia
 Learning C++
 Because C++ includes C, some feel it is best to master C,
then learn C++
 More details of C++, see Chapter 18-27 of the textbook

Java
 Java is used to
 Create Web pages with dynamic and interactive content

 Develop large-scale enterprise applications

 Enhance the functionality of Web servers

 Provide applications for consumer devices (such as cell

phones, pagers and personal digital assistants)
 Java How to Program
 Closely followed the development of Java by Sun

 Teaches first-year programming students the essentials of

graphics, images, animation, audio, video, database,
networking, multithreading and collaborative computing

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 BASIC, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C# and .NET

 BASIC
 Developed in the mid-1960s by Professors John Kemeny
and Thomas Kurtz of Dartmouth College as a language for
writing simple programs
 Visual Basic
 Introduced by Microsoft in 1991 to simplify the process of
making Windows applications
 Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual C#
 Designed for Microsoft’s .NET programming platform

A Typical C Program Development Environment

 Phases of C Programs:
 Edit (C program file names
should end with the .c
extension)
 Preprocess

 Compile

 Link

 Load

 Execute

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A Typical C Program Development Environment
 Phase 1: Create your program with an editor program
 Phase 2: A preprocessor find some preprocessor directives
(#include <stdio.h>) to include other files and perform various
text replacements
 Phase 3: Compiler compiles the program into machine
languages (object code != object-oriented programming).
 Phase 4: A linker links the object code with the code in library
or other places to produce an executable image.
 Phase 5: A loader loads the executable image into memory
(RAM).
 Phase 6: CPU executes the program one instruction at a time.
The load process in Windows OS is just input the name of the
executable file (for example, lab01.exe).

History of the Internet

 The Internet enables
 Quick and easy communication via e-mail

 International networking of computers

 Packet switching
 The transfer of digital data via small packets

 Allows multiple users to send and receive data

simultaneously
 No centralized control
 If one part of the Internet fails, other parts can still operate

 TCP/IP
 Bandwidth
 Information carrying capacity of communications lines

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History of the World Wide Web (WWW)
 World Wide Web
 Locate and view multimedia-based documents on almost
any subject
 Makes information instantly and conveniently accessible
worldwide
 Possible for individuals and small businesses to get

worldwide exposure
 Changing the way business is done

VIP in Computing

 Alan Turing: a British mathematician who is the

father of theoretical computer science and artificial
intelligence.
 The Turing Award is given annually by
the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
to "an individual selected for contributions of a
technical nature made to the computing
community. The contributions should be of lasting
and major technical importance to the computer
field". Often recognized as the “Nobel Prize of
computing”. As of 2007, the award is
accompanied by a prize of $250,000, co-
sponsored by Intel and Google.

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VIP in Communication

 Claude E. Shannon is famous for having

founded information theory with one
landmark paper published in 1948 “A
Mathematical Theory of Communication”.

Computer Organization
 Hardware: Input/Output; RAM (Random-access memory);
Hard disk (secondary storage unit); ALU/CPU; Motherboard;
Computer Case (power); CD or DVD-ROM (peripheral
components).
 Moore’ Law: the same price for the double of computing
power approximately every one or two years
 Software: Operating systems (OS); Application Software. (A
hierarchical structure)
 OS manages and coordinates activities and the sharing of the
limited resources of the computer. Applications use
application programming interface (API) provided by
libraries and OS to handle computer resources.

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Languages
 Machine languages (a numerical representation
+1300042774) are hardware or platform dependent. They
are understood directly by ALU/CPU and thus efficient to
computers. Every CPU model has its own machine code,
or instruction sets.
 Assembly languages (a symbolic representation LOAD
BASEPAY) are also architecture dependent. It is difficult to
portable to other systems or machines. Today, it is used
primarily for direct hardware manipulation. Typical uses
are device drivers, low-level embedded systems, and real-
time systems.
 High-level languages like C are more potable to other
platforms and easy to understand by programmers in an
everyday English format (grossPay = basePay +
overTimePay).

C
 C standard library contains of modules called functions
(building-block approach). We do not need to re-invent the
wheel and can directly use functions in library. The first part is
to learn how to write C programs, and the second part is to
learn how to use functions in C standard library.
 Object-oriented programming (C++ or Java) focuses on
objects (nouns) rather than actions (verbs) (C or Pascal). Its
basic entity is called class. The reusability has been greatly
enhanced, which is beneficial for large software projects.
 C Programs typically go through six phases to be executed:
edit, preprocess, compile, link, load and execute.
 Integrated Developing Environment (IDE) such as Microsoft
Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition Software provides edit,
preprocess, compile and link in an integrated environment.

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Web Resources for Self-learning
 Google: http://www.google.com/
 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
 C programming: http://www.cprogramming.com/
 ….

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