What is a computer
A computer is an electronic device that can perform a variety of
operation according to a set of instruction called program
Hardware it refers to the physical parts of the computer ; the
ones that you can touch e.g. keybord moniter etc
Software it refers to the instrucation (program) that tell the
computer what to do
To understand the difference between hardware and software
consider a cd string songs or game the cd which you can touch is
an example is an example of hardware but can you touch songs/
games on it ? the songs game on cd can be thought of as software.
Without software the computer will not work
Data unprocessed raw facts and figures are data e.g. , a name
(ramu ), some marks (72.5%) , an year (2015) etc are data
Information it refers to the processed data that is meaningful
e.s./ above data can be converted into information as ‘’ ram who
passed in 2015 , 72.% marks
Fanctional components of a computer system
A computer , mainly ,has four funtion ;
1 accepts data _ input
2 processes data _ processing
3 produces result / output _ output
4 stores result _ storage
Input function it is responsible for providing the information in
the computer and is perfomed the by input unit for this purpose ,
input unit uses standard input devices shall be covered in next
chapter _ types of the harware
Output funtion ut it is reponsible for displaying the data input to
computr or the processed data in human readable form and is
performaed by output unit for this purpose the output unit uses
standard output device such as moniter or screen printer speaker
etc various output devices shall be covered in next chapter _
tyepes of hardware
Processing function this is responsible for carrying out the given
intstructions on given data it isperformed by cpu (central
processing unit)
Storage function it is responsible for stroing any kinds of
information permanently and is performed by storage unit varios
storage devices like hard disk cds dvds usb drives etc comprise of
this unit storage devices shall br covered in next chapter _ types
of hardware
Cpu_ the computer ; brain
1 alu (arithmetic logic unit)
This unit performs the computing function as given below
involving numbers arithmetic operation which include addition
subtraction multiplication anddivision all logic operations which
involve comparisons such as less than greater than or equal to the
results of these operations are stored in the registers or in
memory or sent to output devices
2 registers all data is temporarily stored in registers during the
execution of program registers offer very fast memory but very
limited in size
3 control unit (cu) the control unit of the cpu directs the entire
computer system to carry out or execute stored program
instrucation you can compare the control unit to a police officer
directing traffic at a busy intersection but instead of directing cars
the unit directs data flow between the computer processor
memory and input/output devices
1.7 characteristics of a computer
Strength of computer
1 speed
2 high storage capacity
3 accuracy
4 reliability
5versatility
Weaknesses of computer
1 lack of decision_ making power
2 iq zero
3 no heuristics
Special _purpose computer special _purpose computer is the one
that is designed to perform a specific task the instrucation
(program)to carry out the task are permanenthly stored in the
machine
General_purpose computer general_purose computer is the one
that can work on different types of program input to it and thus be
used in countless application the program are not permanently
stored but are input at the time of execution
Purpose wise digital computers can be special _purpose
computersor general_purpose computers but based on their
configuration i.e their size speed and capability they can be
categorized as follow
1 embedded computers
Theses computers are in the form of tiny chips embedded within
the circuit of appliance.
2 microcomputers/personal computers(pcs)
A microcomputers is a computer whose cpu is a microprocessor
those are normally single micro processor, single user system
disigned for performance basic operations like edocational traning
and small business applications,playing games etc.
3 minicomputer
Minicomputers also called mid-range servers, are more powerfull
computer than microcomputers in term of processing power and
capabilities.
4 mainframe computers
Mainframe computers are disigned to handel huge volume of data
and information these can sopport more than 100 users at same
time these very large and expensive computers have great
procesing speed and very large storage capacity and memory as
compare to minicomputers e.g icl 39, cdc 6600 etc.
5 super computers
Super computers are the most powerfull computer among digital
computer these consists of serveral processor running together
thereby making them immensely faster and powerfull these
computer are capable of handing huge amount of calculations
that the beyond human capabilities. E.g cray x-mp-14,cdc-205 etc.
