Introduction to Computer

Introduction to Computer

A computer is an electronic device, operating

under the control of instructions stored in its
own memory that can accept data (input),
process the data according to specified rules,
produce information (output), and store the
information for future use.
Functionalities Of A Computer
• Any digital computer carries out five functions in
gross terms.

– Takes Data as Input

– Stores the data/Instructions in its memory and use
them when required.
– Processes the data and coverts it into useful
Information.
– Generates the Output.
– Control all the above four steps.
Computer Components
Any kind of computers consists of

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.

 Hardware
Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitutes
a computer system. Computer hardware refers to the physical parts or
components of a computer such as the monitor, mouse, keyboard,
computer data storage, hard drive disk (HDD), system unit (graphic cards,
sound cards, memory, motherboard and chips), etc. all of which are
physical objects that can be touched.
 Input Devices
Input device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment to provide
data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer
or other information appliance.
Input device Translate data from form that humans understand to one that the
computer can work with. Most common are keyboard and mouse
 Example of Input Devices:-
1. Keyboard 2. Mouse (pointing device) 3. Microphone

4. Touch screen 5. Scanner 6. Webcam

7. Touchpads 8. MIDI keyboard

10.Graphics Tablets 11.Cameras 12.Pen Input

13.Video Capture Hardware 14.Microphone 15.Trackballs

16.Barcode reader 17.Digital camera 18.Joystick

19.Gamepad 20.Electronic Whiteboard

Note: The most common use keyboard is the QWERTY keyboard. Generally standard Keyboard has 104
keys.
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
A CPU is brain of a computer. It is responsible for all functions and
processes. Regarding computing power, the CPU is the most important
element of a computer system.
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is comprised of three main parts :

1. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Executes all arithmetic and logical operations.
Arithmetic calculations like as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Logical operation like compare numbers, letters, or special characters

2. Control Unit (CU): controls and co-ordinates computer components.

– Read the code for the next instruction to be executed.
– Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction.
– Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory.
– Provide the necessary data to an ALU or register.
– If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, instruct the hardware
to perform the requested operation.

3. Registers :Stores the data that is to be executed next, "very fast storage area".
 Primary Memory
• RAM: Random Access Memory (RAM) is a memory scheme within the
computer system responsible for storing data on a temporary basis, so
that it can be promptly accessed by the processor as and when needed. It
is volatile in nature, which means that data will be erased once supply to
the storage device is turned off. RAM stores data randomly and the
processor accesses these data randomly from the RAM storage. RAM is
considered "random access" because you can access any memory cell
directly if you know the row and column that intersect at that cell.

• ROM (Read Only Memory): ROM is a permanent form of storage. ROM

stays active regardless of whether power supply to it is turned on or off.
ROM devices do not allow data stored on them to be modified.
 Secondary Memory
• Stores data and programs permanently: its retained after the power is turned off

• Hard drive (HD): A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard
drive," or "hard disk drive," that store and provides relatively quick access to large
amounts of data on an electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces.

• Optical Disk: an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive that uses laser light as part
of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can
only read from discs, but recent drives are commonly both readers and recorders,
also called burners or writers. Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are
common types of optical media which can be read and recorded by such drives.
Optical drive is the generic name; drives are usually described as "CD" "DVD", or
"Bluray", followed by "drive", "writer", etc. There are three main types of optical
media: CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc. CDs can store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of
data and DVDs can store up to 8.4 GB of data. Blu-ray discs, which are the newest
type of optical media, can store up to 50 GB of data. This storage capacity is a
clear advantage over the floppy disk storage media (a magnetic media), which
only has a capacity of 1.44 MB.
 Secondary Memory
Flash Disk
A storage module made of flash memory chips. A Flash disks have no mechanical
platters or access arms, but the term "disk" is used because the data are accessed
as if they were on a hard drive. The disk storage structure is emulated.
Comparison between RAM and HARD DISK
 Output Devices
An output device is any piece of computer hardware
equipment used to communicate the results of data
processing carried out by an information processing system
(such as a computer) which converts the electronically
generated information into human- readable form.
 Software
Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and
instructions, often broken into two major categories:

1. system software that provides the basic non- task-specific functions of the
computer, and

2. application software which is used by users to accomplish specific tasks.

 Software Types

System Application
software software
 System software
System software is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing
the individual hardware components of a computer system so that other
software and the users of the system see it as a functional unit without
having to be concerned with the low-level details such as transferring data
from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display.

Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some

fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file managers, display
managers, text editors, user authentication (login) and management
tools, and networking and device control software.
 Application software
Application software is used to accomplish specific tasks other than just
running the computer system.

Application software may consist of a single program, such as an image

viewer; a small collection of programs (often called a software package)
that work closely together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or
text processing system;
a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but
independent programs and packages that have a common user interface
or shared data format, such as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely
integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database, etc.;

or a software system, such as a database management system, which is a

collection of fundamental programs that may provide some service to a
variety of other independent applications.
 Comparison Application Software and System
Software
System Software Application Software

Computer software, or just software is a

general term primarily used for digitally
Application software, also known as an
stored data such as computer programs and
application or an "app", is computer
other kinds of information read and written
software designed to help the user to
by computers. App comes under computer
perform specific tasks.
software though it has a wide scope now.

1) Opera (Web Browser)

1) Microsoft Windows 2) Microsoft Word (Word Processing)
2) Linux 3) Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet software)
Example: 3) Unix 4) MySQL (Database Software)
4) Mac OSX 5) Microsoft PowerPoint (Presentation
5) DOS Software)
6) Adobe Photoshop (Graphics Software)

Interaction: Generally, users do not interact with system Users always interact with application software
software as it works in the background. while doing different activities.

Dependency: System software can run independently of Application software cannot run without the
the application software. presence of the system software.
 Unit of Measurements
Storage measurements: The basic unit used in computer data storage is called
a bit (binary digit). Computers use these little bits, which are composed of ones
and zeros, to do things and talk to other computers. All your files, for instance,
are kept in the computer as binary files and translated into words and pictures
by the software (which is also ones and zeros). This two number system, is
called a “binary number system” since it has only two numbers in it. The
decimal number system in contrast has ten unique digits, zero through nine.