Introduction to Computer and its application Lecture Note 2017

CHAPTER THREE

ORGANIZATIONOF COMPUTER SYSTEM

Outline
3.1. Introduction to Computer Systems
3.2. Computer hardware
3.3. Computer software

Objective of this chapter

 To understand what a computer system is and how it works to process data
3.1. Introduction to Computer System
System is an organized relationship among functioning units or components that work in a
coordination to achieve some objective. The purpose of computer system is to solve a problem
by processing data into information. There are many types of data, some of them are:
 Text data: consists of standard alphabets (A – Z, a – z), numbers (0 -9), special
characters (%, $, &, +,* - -)
 Graphic data: consists of stick pictures such as drawings, graphs, photographs etc.
 Audio data: Include any music & voice.
 Video data: consists of motion pictures such as moving clip, pictures of a conference
etc.

Generally,a computer system is composed oftwo componentsi.e. Computer hardware

or Computer software.

 Hard ware: is the physical part of a computer that we can see with our eyes and
touch with our hands.
 Software: is the internal component of the computer that used to control,
integrating, and managing the hard ware components and to accomplish specific
tasks.

Relationship between Software and Hardware:

• Both hardware & software are necessary for a computer to do useful job. Both are
complementary to each other.
• The same hardware can be loaded with different software to make a computer system
perform different types of jobs.
• Except for upgrades, hardware is normally a one-time expense, whereas software is a
continuing expense.

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3.2. Computer Hard ware:

Hard ware: is the physical part of a computer that we can see with our eyes and touch with
our hands. It is a composed of different units.
These are:
1. Processors (CPU)
2. Input devices
3. Output devices
4. Storage devices

3.2.1 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

At the center of computer hardware there is the CPU, sometimes called the processor which
executes program instructions and performs the computer processing actions.
 It is part of computer hardware that executes program instructions.
 The CPU is like the human brain and it oversee and control all of the activities of the
computer.
 The CPU manages and coordinates the entire computer including the input and output
units.
 The CPU is the collection of electronic circuits made up of millions of transistors
placed into integrated circuits (Integrated circuits are also called chips or microchips).
 Each transistor is an electrical switch that can be in one of the two states: “on” or
“off”.
 Small transistors allow more transistors to be packed in one single chip, thus eliminate
the need for separate chips.

CPU has three major units:

a. Control Unit
b. Arithmetic Logic Unit
c. Registers
These unitscommunicate by system bus.System bus is a collection of wires through which
data is transmitted from one unit to another in computer system (CPU, memory, and I/O

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devices). It is further divided into three logical units, namely the address bus, data bus, and
control bus.
i. Data Bus: it transfers the actual data between the processor, memory, and the I/O
devices.
ii. Address Bus: It informs the CPU about the location of the data residing in the
memory.
iii. Control Bus: It is responsible for making CPU, memory, and I/O devices work
together as a functional system, carrying signals that report the status (ready, not
ready) of various units.
a. Control Unit (CU)
 All computer activities are carried out to instructions the control unit issue select
and interprets program instructions and supervises that they are executed.
 It has special purpose register and a decoder to perform these activities.
 Those special purpose register are instruction registers and the program control
register which hold the current instruction and the address of next instructions to
be executed, respectively.
 The decoder has the necessary circuitry to decode and interpret the meaning of ev-
ery instruction supported by the CPU.
 Each instruction is a companied by microcode – very basic directions, that tell the
CPU how to do (execute) the instructions.
 The control unit serves as the central nervous system, but it doesn’t actually exe-
cute instruction or performs mathematical calculations.
 The control unit does not actually execute the instruction (just as the brain does
not do the walking or the talking) rather it instructs or directs other processing ele-
ments to do so.
Instructions are detailed description of the actions to be carried out during input, processing,
output, storage and transmission. The control unit repeats a set of four basic operations:
fetching, decoding, executing, and storing.
Fetching:is the process of obtaining a program instruction or data item from memory.
Decoding: is the process of translating the instruction into commands the computer
can execute.
Executing: is the process of carrying out the commands.
Storing: is the process of writing the result to memory.

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b. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
 It is the other component of CPU which contains the electronic circuitry that per-
forms the two activities which is computing capabilities such as Arithmetic operations
(addition, subtraction, division or multiplication) and Logical operations (comparison
between two elements either less than, greater than or equal to the other).
 Every CPU has built-in ability to execute a particular set of machine instruction set or
instruction set.
 Most CPU has 200 or more instruction (such as add, subtract, compare) in their in-
struction set.
 As each processor has a unique instruction set machine language program written for
one computer, it will generally not run on another computer with a different CPU.
 CPU made by different manufacturer has different instructions set.
 When a new CPU is developed, it is ensured that its instruction set include all the in-
struction set of its predecessor CPU plus some new ones, thus manufacturing strategy
is known as upward compatibility and the new CPU is said to be upward comparable
with its predecessors.

The ALU can be divided into arithmetic unit and logical unit.
 Arithmetic Unit: - contains the circuitry that is responsible for performing the actual
computing and carrying out the arithmetic calculations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. It can perform these operations at a very high speed.
 Logical Unit: - The importance of the logical unit is the ability it provides to the CPU
to make logical operations based on the instructions provided to it. Logical unit uses
statements such as AND, OR, and NOT. This is useful when you have a set of
instructions to execute only if certain conditions are true.
c. Registers

 Are high speed storage area used to temporarily hold small units of program instruc-
tions and data immediately before, during and after execution by the CPU.
 As instruction are integrated and executed by the CPU, there is a moment of integra-
tion between the various units of the computer systems.
 To handle these process properly and to facilitate the speed of information transfer,
CPU uses special memory unit called registers.
 Registers are used to hold information on temporary basis.

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 It is part of the CPU (not part of the main memory)
 The length of a register equals the number of bits it can store.
 Most CPU today has 32-bit or 64-bit registers.
 The size of the registers which is sometime called the word size or word length indi-
cates the amount of data it store.
 Other parameters being the same CPU with 32-bit processor can process data twice as
fast as one with 16-bit register.

3.2.2 INPUT DEVICES

An input device can be defined as an electromechanical device that allows the user to feed
information or data into the computer for analysis, storage, and to give commands to the
computer. Data and instruction are entered into the computer’s main memory through an
input device. Input device captures information and translates it into a form that can be
processed and used by other parts of the computer. After processing the input data, the
computer provides the result with the help of output devices.

Input devices accept user commands and send them to the computer for processing. It convert
from human readable into computer can understand. Typical input devices are Keyboards,
Mouse, Scanners and Microphones, Tracker Ball, Joystick,Light Pen, Digital Camera, OMR
(Optical Mark Reader), Video Digitizer, Barcode reader, etc...

The most common input devices used by the computer are the keyboard and the mouse. The
keyboard allows the entry of textual information while the mouse allows the selection of a
point on the screen by moving a screen cursor to the point and pressing a mouse button.

i. Keyboard:-This is a flat board that contains a grid of buttons. Each button can be pro-
grammed to follow instructions. An overlay sheet is placed on the grid with an explanation
for each button. Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters and also to con-
trol the operation of a computer.

Pressing a key on the keyboard generates a code that represents the character associated with
the key. The key press generated by the keyboard is converted to ASCII format then pro-
cessed by the computer. The most popular keyboard used today is the101-keys called QW-
ERTY keyboard.

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The keys on the keyboard are often classified as follows.
 Typing Keys: these keys work just like a conventional typewriter. These keys in-
clude English Alphabets A-Z, digits 0-9, the Enter key, Space, the backspace key,
the Shift key, the Caps Lock key, etc.
 Function/Special Keys: these keys perform different tasks based on the type of
software being used. These keys are labeled as F1, F2, …, and F12.
 Numeric Keys: these keys let you enter numerical data more easily when you are
working on number intensive tasks. To use this section of the keyboard make sure
that the Numlock key is on.
 Navigation Keys: these are keys that are used to navigate through your document.
The following are navigation keys.
Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, ,,,, etc.
 Computer Keys: these are keys not found on typewriters. They perform different
tasks when used alone or in conjunction with other keys.
Esc, Alt, Ctrl, Print Screen, Scroll lock, Pause, Insert, Delete
Computer keyboards differ in four important ways.
a. Character- depends on the country in which the Keyboard is used. E.g. in Japan sym-
bolic.
b. Key arrangement.
 the arrangement of the keyboard's key may differ
 The most common in English speaking countries is the QWERTY keyboard.
 The other type of keyboard layout is the Dvorak keyboard that uses an ar-
rangement, whereby the most commonly used letters are placed in the most
accessible places. The home keys are the five English vowel letters A,O,E,U,I
(for the left hand) & the five most often used consonants (D,H,T,N,S) are the
home keys for the right hand.
c. Special purpose keys
 The uses of the special function keys vary from program to program.
d. Detachability – Most desktop computer have keyboards that can be detached from
the rest of the computer systems: while laptops have built- in keyboard.

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ii. Mouse
It is a small object that can be rolled along a rough flat surface .its name derived from its
shape ,which looks a bit a mouse; its connecting wire that one can imagine to be the mouse’s
tail. When a user rolls the mouse a cross a flat surface, such as on the top of the table on
which the computer is placed, the graphic s cursor moves on the screen of the video display
terminal in the direction of the mouse’s movement.

The graphics cursor, which is used to point and draw, is placed on the screen as a variety of
symbols, such as arrow, a wrist with a pointing finger, etc. You can move the graphics cursor
at a menu item or an icon by moving the mouse. Mouse can have as many as three buttons
whose function depends on what program is running.Mouse translates movements and but-
ton clicks into bits, which are sent into the CPU.

A cursor, a blinking line on the computer screen, indicates the point at which data or
information will be input. The following are some of the devices that are commonly used to
input data to the computer:

Types of mouse
1. Mechanical:-has a rubber or metal ball that could rotate in any direction and came as
part of the hardware package. Mechanical sensor within the mouse detects the direc-
tion the ball is rolling and moves the screen pointer accordingly

2. Optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photodiodes to detect movement rela-
tive to the underlying surface, rather than moving some of its parts as in mechanical
mouse. Optical mice have no rolling parts.
3. Opto-mechanical: the same as mechanical mouse, but uses optical sensors to detect
motion of the ball.

iii. Scanner: is a device that used to convert hard copy into soft copy form.

- Used to scan or read text and picture and converted them to computer
usable form.
- Save the scanned image as a graphic file in the computer.

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Two types of scanners are text &image scanner.

a. Image Scanner is a device that analyzes an image (such as a photograph,
printed text, or handwriting) or converts it to a digital image or a device that can
read text or pictures printed on paper and translate the information into a form
the computer can use. Save them as files on the computer Scanner is a cheap and
common way of getting images into a computer.
b. Text scanner change text into text while image scanner change text into image.
iv. Digital Camerais an electronic device used to capture(take pictures) and store photo-
graphs electronically in a digital format that can be read by a computer, instead of using
photographic film like conventional cameras, or recording images in an analog format
to magnetic tape like many cameras. You can then transfer the images directly from
your camera on to your computer.
v. Microphone - A microphone is a device to input sound information and can be used
with a voice recognition system which processes the information i.e. used to record
sound. The sound is then saved as a sound file on the computer.
vi. Video Digitizer - this takes an image from a video camera or television and converts it
so that it can be used by, and stored on, a computer. Video sequences captured using
video digitizers are often used in multimedia presentations.
vii. Barcode Reader - Barcodes are different groups of vertical bars that can be read by a
barcode reader. Barcodes are printed on nearly every product that you can buy. Shops
use barcodes because they enable the shops to maintain their stock control system. The
barcode contains the product details such as product name, size, manufacturer, country
of origin. The price is looked up from the shop's database. When the bar code is
scanned, the shop's stock is automatically reduced by one
viii. MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Reader) - magnetic ink characters are the strange
looking numbers that appear at the bottom of cheques. Banks use MICR to read the
numbers from the bottom of cheques to obtain data such as name, branch, account num-
bers and bank sort codes.
ix. OMR (Optical Mark Reader) - this reads marks made by pencil on a printed form into
the computer. OMR systems are suited to reading pre-printed forms and check-boxes
such as National Lottery number selection sheets and multiple-choice exam papers

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3.2.3 OUTPUT DEVICES

Output devices accept results or data generated by the computer and present this information
to the user in a variety of different means (both audio and visual). It display in human read-
able form in soft copy or hard copy.
1. Soft copy output:-it is electronic copy &Temporary in nature.
2. Hard copy output:-paper based & permanent in nature.
Typical output devices are printers, monitors and speakers, LCD projector. Common output
formats are printed-paper saved disk file, sound, video and on-screen documents. They are all
of those things that let your computer 'talk' back to you and present information. The most
common output device is a monitor which is usually a Cathode Ray Tube device which can
display text and graphics. If hard-copy output is required then some form of printer is used.
i. Monitors or Visual Display Units (VDUs): it displays information in soft copy. It trans-
lates bits sent to it into shapes and colors you can see on the screen. Visual Display
Units (VDU) or monitors are used to visually interface with the computer and are simi-
lar in appearance to a television. It takes more power. Visual Display Units display im-
ages and text which are made up of small blocks of colored light called pixels. The res-
olution of the screen improves as the number of pixels is increased. Most monitors have
a 4:3 width to height ratio.
These most common monitor's device
1. Desktop monitors which are also known as Cathode Ray Tube
(CRT)
2. Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) or flat panel which are also
known as Thin Film Transistors (TFT), used in portable com-
puter like laptop

Characteristics of CRT monitors

1. Size 14, 17, 21…inch, cost depend on size of the monitor.
2. Resolution: - it depends on the number of bit, number of pixels (dpi). Pixel =pic-
ture element.
3. Refresh rate: measured by hertz, from 60 to 75 hertz.
4. Color: monochrome (white &black) and color: - Red, Green, Blue (RGB).

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ii. Printers: prints out information that is in the computer onto paper (hard copy). There
are different kinds of printers which vary in their speed and print quality. The two main
types of printer are impactand non-impact.
a. Impact printers: use some sort of physical contact with the paper to produce an
image. It uses a print head containing a number of metal pins which strike an inked
ribbon placed between the print head and the paper.
Eg. Dot matrix printers, daisy wheel printers, drum printers
Some print heads have only 9 pins to make the dots to build up a character; some have 24
pins which produce a better resolution.
Impact printers are the oldest print technologies still in active production. Impact printers are
most functional in specialized environments where low-cost printing is essential. The three
most common forms of impact printers are dot-matrix, daisy-wheel, and line printers.
1. Dot-matrix printers are not so common today.
This is the cheapest and noisiest of the printer family, and are used when carbon copies or du-
plicates need to be made, such as for wage slips. Also, they are useful in dirty environments
such as a garage because they are much sturdier than the other two types of printer.
The impact of the print head against the printer ribbon imprints ink dots on the paper which
form human-readable characters. The standard of print obtained is poor
Dot-matrix printers vary in print resolution and overall quality with either 9 or 24-pin print
heads. The more pins per inch, the higher the print resolution. Most dot-matrix printers have a
maximum resolution around 240 dpi (dots per inch).The speed is usually 30 - 550characters
per second (cps) i.e. fast printing speed. Dot matrix printers are character printer, which print
one character at a time. They form character& all kinds of image as a pattern of dots
2. Daisy-wheel Printers
If you have ever seen or worked with a manual typewriter before, then you understand the
technological concept behind daisy-wheel printers. These printers have print heads composed
of metallic or plastic wheels cut into petals. Each petal has the form of a letter (in capital and
lower-case), number, or punctuation mark on it. When the petal is struck against the printer
ribbon, the resulting shape forces ink onto the paper. Daisy-wheel printers are loud and slow.
They cannot print graphics, and cannot change fonts unless the print wheel is physically re-
placed.
3. Drum or Line Printers

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Another type of impact printer somewhat similar to the daisy-wheel is the line printer.
However, instead of a print wheel, line printers have a mechanism that allows multiple
characters to be simultaneously printed on the same line. Dram printers are line printers,
which print one line at a time Line printers are much faster than dot-matrix or daisy-wheel
printers; however, they tend to be quite loud, have limited multi-font capability, and often
produce lower print quality than more recent printing technologies.

b. Non-impact printers: forms characters and images without making direct physical
contact b/n printing mechanism and paper. E.g. ink-jet printer, laser jet printer.

Non-impact printers are much quieter than impact printers as their printing heads do not
strike the paper. The main types of non-impact printer are:
1. Laser jet Printers use a laser beam and dry powdered ink to produce a fine dot
matrix pattern.

This method of printing can generate about 4 pages of A4 paper per minute. Laser printers
produce a very high quality output, are very quiet and very fast. Laser color printers are quite
expensive to buy. Laser jet printer is a page printer which print one page at a time

2. Ink-jet printers offer black and white or color printing with reduced levels of
quality and speed.

Color ink jet printers are cheaper to buy than color laser printers. Inkjet printers use color
cartridges which combine magenta, yellow and cyan inks to create color tones. A black
cartridge is also used for crisp monochrome output. Inkjet are character printers, which form
characters& all kinds of images by sparing small drops of ink on to the paper. This method of
printing can generate up to 200 cps and allows for good quality, cheap color printing.
iii. Plotters:is a pen based output device that is attached to a computer for making vector
graphics.
 It is used to draw high –resolution charts, graphs, maps, circuit diagrams.
 They are mainly used for computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided
manufacturing (CAM) applications such as printing out plans of houses or car
parts.
 These are also used with programs like AUTO CAD (Computer Assisted
Drafting) to give graphic out puts.

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iv. Projectors: are output devices, which are used to project information from a computer
on to a large screen. There are two types of projectors, LCD( Liquid crystal display) and
DLP(digital light processing)
v. Speaker: is an output device, which is used to magnify sound
3.2.4 STORAGE DEVICES
Devices used to store data or program files. There are two types of storage devices.
 Primary storage devices
 Secondary storage devices.

1. Primary Storages/Internal storages

Primary storage (memory) holds the immediate instructions that are to be performed by the
CPU. IT is therefore very important that the primary storage can be accessed quickly so that
the CPU is not waiting for the next set of instructions.
A. Random Access Memory (RAM)
RAM is a temporary storage device which directly provides the required information to the
processor. RAM can be defined as a block of sequential memory locations, each of which
has a unique address determining the location and those locations contain a data element. It
stores programs and data that are in active use. It is volatile in nature, which means the
information stored in it remains as long as the power is switched ON. As soon as the power is
switched OFF, the information contained in it vanishes (lost). In RAM we can write data on it
and read data from it.
RAM also divides further into two.
a. Dynamic Random Access Memory: It holds the data in dynamic (keeping
on refreshing) manner with the help of a refresh circuitry.
b. Static Random Access Memory: Along with DRAM is essential for a
system to run optimally, because it is very fast as compared to DRAM. It
retains the data as long as power is provided to the memory chips. It does
not need to be ‘refreshed’ periodically.
Features of RAM
 We can write data on it and read data from it.
 It is volatile in nature, means the information stored in it lost, if a power suddenly
failure.
 It stores data and instruction temporarily.

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B. Read Only Memory (ROM)
This type of primary memory can only be read, not written. In other words, CPU can only
read from any location in the ROM but cannot write. One use of ROM is to store the start up
instructions for the computer when it is turned on. Whenever a computer is turned on it needs
to follow a programmed sequence of events such as checking that all the hardware is working
and then loading the files of the operating system into RAM (the operating system is stored
on the hard disk drive). This process is known as booting the system.
Features of ROM
 The contents of ROM are not losing even in case of a sudden power failure, making it
non-volatile in nature.
 It is also random access in nature.
 It reads only, but cannot write.
 It contains permanent recorded instruction.
Difference between ROM and RAM
ROM RAM
ROM is nonvolatile RAM is volatile
ROM is cheaper than RAM RAM is very expensive
The contents of ROM are always known
The contents are not known
and can be verified
ROM cannot be updated or corrected RAM can be updated and corrected
ROM serves as permanent data storage RAM can serve as temporary data storage

2. Secondary Storages/External storages

Secondary storage devices are a permanent storage area for your data. They allow a large
amount of data to be stored, although the time taken to access it is longer than that taken to
access primary storage (although the time difference is not usually noticeable)

i. Hard Disk Drive

Most computers have one hard disk drive (HDD) installed within the systems case. They are
used to store the operating system, applications (Word, Excel, Turbo C etc) and files written
by the user.
The HDD is usually a stack of rigid magnetic disks contained within a sealed unit so that dust
and dirt will not damage the disks.

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Data is transferred to or from the disk using read/write heads close to the surface of each disk
(top and bottom) that detect magnetic variations on the disk surfaces as they rotate.
The operating system uses letters to identify the different types of secondary
storage installed in the computer. The HDD is allocated the letter C and is known
as the root drive. It is possible to separate the HDD to include virtual drives D,E
etc according to the users wishes.
 HDD’s come with varying storage capacities, measured in gigabytes (GB).
iii. Floppy Disk Drive

Floppy disks (floppy or diskettes) contain a single small magnetic disk housed within a
protective plastic case. They are used to transfer data between computers or to provide back-
up copies of data stored on the HDD. Data is transferred from or to a floppy by using
read/write heads in the floppy disk drive (FDD) that detect magnetic variations on the disk
surface.
The standard 3 ½ inch floppy has a storage capacity of 1.44 MB.
The FDD is always allocated the letter A and so is known as the A drive. If another FDD is
installed (rarely) then it is allocated the letter B.
iv. Compact Disk Drive
Compact disk (CD) drives allow data to be read from compact disks. A CD is usually about
12 inches in diameter and data is transferred to or from a CD by using a laser. A typical CD
has a storage capacity of 650 MB. There are 3 types of compact disk
 CD-ROM - Compact Disk – Read Only Memory. They are mainly used by manufac-
turers to distribute their software. Therefore, Microsoft Windows (operating system)
and Office (applications) are supplied to the user on CD-ROM with the programs then
being installed onto the HDD of the computer.

 CD-R – Compact Disk Recordable. Allows the computer user to write data to a CD.
Each area of the CD can only be written to once and once data is written to the CD it
cannot be removed. The CD can be written to as many times as the user likes until the
CD is full.

 CD-RW – Compact Disk – Re-Writeable. Allows the user to perform multiple read/
write operations on the same CD until it is full. Data can be later removed from the
CD-RW and other data placed on it.

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 Digital Versatile Disk Drive

Digital video disk (DVD) drives look similar to a CD except that they can store from 4.7 – 17
GB of data. A standard DVD can store over 2 hours of high quality video and CD quality
audio.
Miniature Mobile Storage Media - Handheld devices use to augment internal storage.

3.3Computer Software:
 Softwareis set of instructions that used to control, integrating, and managing the hard
ware components and to accomplish specific tasks.
 It is sequence of instructions, written language, which can be understood by a com-
puter.
 A term refers to the set of computer programs procedures, and associated documents,
which describe the programs, and how they are to be used.

Major types of software:

1. Application software - allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (non-com-
puter related) tasks. Typical applications include industrialautomation, business software,
educational software, medical software, databases, and computer games. Businesses are
probably the biggest users of application software, but almost every field of human activ-
ity now uses some form of application software.
Some the most commonly known application software are:

1. Word-processing software- it enables us to make use of computer system for creat-

ing, editing, viewing, formatting, storing, retrieving, and printing documents.
2. Spread sheet software- it is a numerical data analysis tools which allows to create a
kind of computerized ledger
3. Database software- it is a collection of related data stored and treated as a unit for in-
formation retrieval purpose. It is a set of one or more programs, which enable us to
create a database.
4. Graphic software
5. Personal Assistance software
6. Educational software
7. Entertainment software

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There are many subtypes of application software:

 Enterprise software addresses the needs of organization processes and data flow, of-
ten in a large distributed environment. (Examples include Financial, Customer Rela-
tionship Management, and Supply Chain Management). Note that Departmental Soft-
ware is a sub-type of Enterprise Software with a focus on smaller organizations or
groups within a large organization. (Examples include Travel Expense Management,
and IT Helpdesk)
 Enterprise infrastructure software provides common capabilities needed to support
Enterprise Software systems. (Examples include Databases, Email servers, and Net-
work and Security Management)
 Information worker software addresses the needs of individuals to create and man-
age information, often for individual projects within a department, in contrast to enter-
prise management. Examples include time management, resource management, docu-
mentation tools, analytical, and collaborative. Word processors, spreadsheets, email
and blog clients, personal information system, and individual media editors may aid in
multiple information worker tasks.
 Content access software is software used primarily to access content without editing,
but may include software that allows for content editing. Such software addresses the
needs of individuals and groups to consume digital entertainment and published digi-
tal content. (Examples include Media Players, Web Browsers, Help browsers, and
Games)
 Educational software is related to Media and Entertainment Software, but has distinct
requirements for delivering evaluations (tests) and tracking progress through material.
It is also related to collaboration software in that many Educational Software systems
include collaborative capabilities.
 Simulation softwareare computer software for simulation of physical or abstract sys-
tems for either research, training or entertainment purposes.
 Media development software addresses the needs of individuals who generate print
and electronic media for others to consume, most often in a commercial or educa-
tional setting. This includes Graphic Art software, Desktop Publishing software, Mul-
timedia Development software, HTML editors, Digital Animation editors, Digital Au-
dio and Video composition, and many others.

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 Product engineering software is used in developing hardware and software products.
This includes computer aided design (CAD), computer aided engineering (CAE),
computer language editing and compiling tools, Integrated Development Environ-
ments, and Application Programmer Interfaces.

2. System software - Is a set of one or more program, designed to control the operation and
extend the processing capability of a computer system.
1. Supports the development of other application program
2. Support the execution of other application software.
3. Monitors the effective use of various hardware resources, such as CPU, mem-
ory, peripherals, etc.
4. Communicates with and controls the operation of peripheral devices, such as
printer, disk, etc.
System software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes operating
systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities, assemblers,
compilers and interpreters, communications software, and more.

The purpose of systems software is to insulate the applications programmer as much as

possible from the details of the particular computer complex being used, especially memory
and other hardware features, and such as accessory devices as communications, printers,
readers, displays, keyboards, etc.

Types of System Software:

i. Operating system

a. Operating system is the most important component of the computer’s software

system that manages and coordinates the overall operations of the computer.
b. Operating system acts as a host for application software. By handling the de-
tails of the computer’s hardware operations, it eases the burden of the applica-
tion software.
c. Generally, it is the operating system that loads the application software them-
selves to the RAM. It helps to store and retrieve data from the storage media.
d. The data might be processed by a given application software but the storing of
it onto or the retrieving of it from the disc is all carried out by the operating
system.

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e. Operating system offers lots of services for the application software and the
user. From mobile phones and handheld computers to the supercomputers al-
most all computers have an operating system
f. Common contemporary operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Mac
OS X, Linux and Solaris. Microsoft Windows is a widely used operating sys-
tem in the microcomputer. Linux is run on PC. Linux andUNIX are all free
software. It is also a multitasking as well as a multi-user operating system.
ii. Programming language software

Programming language software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing

computer programs and software using different programming languages in a more
convenient way. The tools include text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers,debuggers,
and so on. An Integrated development environment (IDE) merges those tools into a software
bundle, and a programmer may not need to type multiple commands for compiling,
interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE usually has an advanced graphical
user interface, or GUI.
Types of Programming language:
 Machine language- There is the only language that the computer understands directly
zero. A machine language is a set of machine instructions which consists of zeros and
ones. A machine instruction contains two parts an operation code (op code) and an
address. The OP code tells the microprocessor system what operation it should per-
form, add, transfer, compare, or move data to output device, etc.
 The address identifies the location (memory, register) holding the required operands
that is, the data to be operated upon. The address part may contain one, two or more
addresses that is, there may be one (or single address, two (double) address, and three
(or triple) address instructions.
 Low-level Languages - In machine language we have seen that the OP code and the
address are represented as a binary sequence but it is difficult for the programmer to
write a big program using binary sequence and it is difficult to debug an error from
such program so instead of representing the OP code and the adders as a binary se-
quence we can represent them in mnemonics (terms). A low-level language is a pro-
gramming language which uses mnemonics to write in program Low-level languages
are machine dependent.
Ex: Assembly language

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 High-level language - We have seen that writing a program in low-level languages
is easier and simple compare to machine languages. But still low-level languages
have their own draw bakes that is they are machine dependent. So we need another
type of languages which are not machine dependent and more flexible there languages
are called high-level languages third generation languages.
Advantages of high-level languages:

 Easier to learn and understand (Look like English)

 Require less time to write and easier to debugged errors.
 Can be used on different machines with little modifications.
Ex:- Fortran, COBL, ALGOG 80, Basic, Scientific & engineering applications.

 Fortran - Formula in Business data processing application

 COBL -Common business Oriented Language
 ALGOL 80 - (Algorithmic Oriented Language)
 BASIC - ( Beginners All-purpose symbolic Instruction code) simplest language de-
veloped for solving numerical problem
 Pascal, L, Ada, and Modula-2 - Used in teaching programming language.
There are also other languages which are still simplest and easier then high-level languages
which we called then fourth generation languages. These languages are application oriented
languages.

Ex: Visual basic,

Translation and Execution

The only language that the computer understands is the machine language. Therefore any
program that is written in either low-level or high level language must be translated to
machine code so that the computer could process it.

A program written in high-level or low-level language is called source code program and, the
translated machine code is called the object code program. Programs that translate a program
written in high level language and low-level language to machine code program are called
translators.

The translators not only translate the instructions into machine code but also it detects
whether the program fulfills the syntax of the programming language. A program passes
through different stages before it carries out its function. First the program will be translate

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to object code (compilation time), then it will be loaded to the memory and finally it will be
executed (run time) or carries out its function.

Language Translation and Utility Software

 Source code: high-level language instructions
 Compiler: translates high-level code into machine language
 Object code: translated instructions ready for computer
 For every modern language, there is a program that takes the source code and pro-
duces object code in machine language
 There are three types of translators; assembler, interpreter, and compiler.
Compiler - A set of programs that translate the source code of higher-level software
languages into machine language, or object code
 Translates source code once and produces a complete machine language program
 Advantages - fast
 Disadvantages - harder to write and debug
 Examples - Pascal, C, FORTRAN, and open script
Assembler - An assembler is a software tool for translating assembly language into machine
language
Interpreter - An interpreter translates source code instructions, one instruction at a time,
from a higher level language such as BASIC into machine language
 The interpreter
 Translates a line of source code into one or more lines of object code and then in-
structs the computer to perform those instructions until another line has to be trans-
lated
 Advantages - fairly easy to write, and easy to debug
 Disadvantage - SLOW
 Examples - basic, lisp

Source Assembler Object

program
Or compiler program

iii. Communication software – enables transfer of data and programs from one com-
puter system to another.

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iv. Utility program – which help users in system maintenance tasks and in performing
tasks of routine nature.
a. Formatting hard disks or floppy disks
b. Taking back-up of files stored or hard disk
c. Sorting of the records stored in a file in a particular order.
d. Common examples are Disc defragmenter, Disc checker, Disc cleaner, etc.
Three layers of software performing:
1. Platform software - includes the firmware, device drivers, an operating system, and
typically a graphical user interface which, in total, allow a user to interact with the
computer and its peripherals (associated equipment). Platform software often comes
bundled with the computer. On a PC you will usually have the ability to change the
platform software.
2. Application software - Applications are what most people think of when they think
of software. Typical examples include office suites and video games. Application
software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. Sometimes applica-
tions are bundled with the computer, but that does not change the fact that they run as
independent applications. Applications are almost always independent programs from
the operating system, though they are often tailored for specific platforms. Most users
think of compilers, databases, and other "system software" as applications.
3. User-written software - tailors systems to meet the users’ specific needs. User soft-
ware includes spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations,
and scripts for graphics and animations. Even email filters are a kind of user software.
Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. Depend-
ing on how competently the user-written software has been integrated into purchased
application packages, many users may not be aware of the distinction between the
purchased packages, and what has been added by fellow co-workers.

Quality and reliability

Software reliability considers the errors, faults, and failures related to the creation and opera-
tion of software.

License
Software license gives the user the right to use the software in the licensed environment;
some software comes with the license when purchased off the shelf, or an OEM license when

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bundled with hardware. Other software comes with a free software license, granting the re-
cipient the rights to modify and redistribute the software. Software can also be in the form of
freeware or shareware. See also License Management.

Patents
The issue of software patents is controversial. Some believe that they hinder software devel-
opment, while others argue that software patents provide an important incentive to spur soft-
ware innovation. See software patent debate.

Ethics and rights for software users

Being a new part of society, the idea of what rights users of software should have is not very
developed. Some, such as the free software community, believe that software users should be
free to modify and redistribute the software they use. They argue that these rights are neces-
sary so that each individual can control their computer, and so that everyone can cooperate, if
they choose, to work together as a community and control the direction that software pro-
gresses in. Others believe that software authors should have the power to say what rights the
user will get.

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