Introduction to

Computer
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:
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
Input Devices
Examples of Input Devices
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.
• The CPU is comprised of three main parts :
• 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
• Control Unit (CU): controls and co-ordinates computer components.
1. Read the code for the next instruction to be executed.
2. Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction.
3. Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory.
4. Provide the necessary data to an ALU or register.
5. If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete,
instruct the hardware to perform the requested operation.
• 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.
Secondary Memory
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.
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.
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.
• Example on Output Devices

1. Monitor 2. LCD Projection Panels

3. Printers (all types) 4. Computer Output Microfilm (COM)

5. Plotters 6. Speaker(s)

7. Projector
Software
• Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and
instructions, often broken into two major categories: system software
that provides the basic non- task-specific functions of the computer, and
application software which is used by users to accomplish specific tasks.

Software Types
A. 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.
Software
B. 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.
Software
Comparison Application Software and System Software