Ai

rFor
ceI
nst
it
uteofTechnol
ogy
,Kaduna
Facul
tyofComputing
Depar
tmentofComputerScience

CSC101–I
ntr
oduct
iont
oComput
erSci
ence
Uni
t1:
Basi
cConcept
s
1.
0Int
roduct
ion

I
nt he21stcentury
,comput er
shavebecomeindi
spensabl
et ool
si nv i
rt
uall
yallaspect sof
humanl i
ves.Thedev elopmentofhandhel
dcomputerssuchasper sonaldi
git
al assistant
s
(PDAs),t
abletcomput ersandsmartphoneshashelpedcomput erstobecomeubi quitous.Thi
s
unitpr
esentsbackgroundi nfor
mati
onaboutcomputersbydef i
ningbasiccomput erterms,
provi
dingabriefhi
storyofmoder ncomputi
ng,anddescri
bingthepar tsofacomput ersystem.

1.
1Defini
tionofTer
ms
Computer:Acomputerisanelectroni
cdevi
cethatprocessesdat
a,i
nor
dert
oconv er
titt
o
i
nfor
mat i
onthati
susefultopeople.Acomputercanper f
ormthefol
l
owi
ngtasks:
i Acceptdatat
hroughani nputdevi
ce(e.
g.keyboardormouse)
i
i Pr
ocesst
hedat
atoconv
erti
tint
oinf
ormat
ion
i
i
i Di
spl
ayt
hei
nfor
mat
iononanout
putdev
ice(
e.g.v
isual
displ
ayuni
torpr
int
er)
i
v St
oret
hei
nfor
mat
ionf
orf
utur
eusei
nast
oragedev
ice(
e.g.har
ddi
scorcompactdi
sc)

Dat
a:Dat
aref
ertoraworunpr
ocessedfact
saboutaperson,pl
aceort
hing.Exampl
esofdat
a
i
ncl
udename,age,
hei
ghtandprof
essi
on.Datai
stheplural
fordat
um.

Infor
mat
ion:Inf
ormat
ioni
sprocesseddat
aordatat
hathasbeenconvert
edint
ousef
ulf
orm
e.g.t
her
esultofst
udent
sinanexaminati
onort
henetpayofanemployee.

DAT I
nfor
mat
ion
A Pr
ocessi

St
orage

Fi
gur
e1.
0Schemat
icdi
agr
am ofacomput
er

1.2ComputerGener ati
ons
Computerscienti
stsandhist
ori
ansusetheterm comput
ergener
ati
onstodescri
bethest
age-
by-st
agedevelopmentofmoderncomput i
ng.Eachgener
ati
onischaract
eri
zedbythe
technol
ogyusedt ofabri
cat
ecomputer
satt hatt
ime.

1
• TheFi
rstGener
ati
on(
1950s)

I
n1951, Pr
esperEcker tandJohnMauchl ydeli
veredtheUniversalAut
omat i
cComput er
(UNIVAC) ,
thefirstsuccessfulgeneral-
purposecomput ertotheU.S.CensusBureau.The
fol
lowingy ear
,theUNI VACgai nedf amewheni tcorr
ectl
ypredict
edthatDwightEi
senhower
wil
l wintheU.S.presidential
electi
on.TheUNI VACusedpunchedcar dsandmagnet i
ct apefor
i
nput .I
twasmadeofv acuum tubes,whichrequiredlot
sofpowerandf ai
ledregul
arl
y .The
UNIVACwaspr ogr ammedusi ngmachi nelanguage,whichiscomposedofst r
ingsofzer osand
ones.

• TheSecondGener
ati
on(
1960s)

First
-gener ati
oncomput er swer ehighlyunr eli
abl ebecauset hev acuum t ubesbur nedout
frequently.Secondgener at i
oncomput erswer emadeoft ransistors,whi charesmal lelectr
onic
dev i
cest hatcancont rolthef lowofel ect r
icityinanel ect r
onicci rcuit
.Owi ngtot heuseof
transi
stor s,secondgener ationcomput er swer efast er ,smal l
er,andmor erel
iablethanf i
rst-
generationcomput ers.Ev ent houghsecondgener ationcomput er ssti
llusedpunchedcar dsf or
i
nput ,t
heyhadpr i
nters,
tapest orage,anddi skst or age.
Secondgener at
ioncomput erswer epr ogrammedusi nghi ghlev elprogrammi ngl anguages,
ratherthanmachi nelanguage.Unl ikemachi nel anguagewhi chwascumber somet owor kwith,
high-l
evel programmi ngl anguagesar emucheasi erf orpeopl etounder st andandwor kwi t
h
becauset heuseEngl ishcommandsandmat hemat ical symbol s.Further more,unli
kemachi ne
l
anguagewhi chwasmachi ne-dependent ,ahi gh-lev el l
anguagepr ogram canbeusedon
comput er sproducedbydi fferentmanuf acturer s.Anexampl eofsecondgener ationcomput er s
i
st heIBM’ sli
neofcomput er scalledSy stem/ 360.

• TheThi
rdGener
ati
on(
Mid-
1960st
oMi
d-1970s)

Thekeydi sti
nctionoft hirdgener ati
oncomput erswast hereuseofIntegr at
edCi rcui
ts(ICs).
ICsincorporatedmanyt ransistorsandelect r
onicci rcuit
sonasi nglesil
iconchi p.Theywer e
muchcheapert hant r
ansi st
or s.Usingatechnol ogycal ledsmall-
scaleintegrati
on( SSI)
, t
he
earli
estICscoul dcontain10t o20t ransi
storsonachi p.Bythelat
e1960s, medi um-scale
i
ntegrati
on( MSI )al
lowedbet ween20and200t ransistorstobeplacedonachi p.Intheearly
1970s, l
arge-scaleint
egrat i
on( LSI)wasachi eved, al
lowi ngupto5,000t ransist
or sonasi ngl
e
chip.ICsmadei tpossi
bl etopr oducesmal ler,i
nexpensi vecomputersthatmor eor ganizati
ons
couldaffordt obuy.
Anotherinnov ati
onoft hirdgener ati
oncomput erswast imeshari
ng,atechni quet hatal
lowed
severalpeopletosi multaneousl yuseacomput erfrom t hei
rremotetermi nal
s.Anexampl eof
thi
rdgener ati
oncomput ersisDEC’ sPDP-8.

• TheFour
thGener
ati
on(
1975t
othePr
esent
)

Thedev elopmentofincr
easingl
ysophist
icatedICsgaverisetov er
y -
lar
ge-scal
eintegrati
on
(VLSI)technology,
whichall
owedt heent
ireprocessi
ngcircuit
sofacomput ertobepl acedon
asinglechip.Dr.TedHoffbuil
ttheInt
el4004,theworld’
sf i
rstmicroprocessor,
whichhad
2,300transist
ors.Amicropr
ocessorisasinglechipt
hatholdst heent i
recontr
olunitand

2
arithmet ic-logicuni tofacomput er.Shor t
lyaftertheintr
oduct ionoft he4004andi t
ssuccessor
the8008, thef i
rstmi crocomput ersbegant oappear .Ami crocomput erisacomput ert hatuses
ami cropr ocessorasi tscent ralprocessi nguni t.Inotherwor ds,themi croprocessori s
responsi bl eforpr ocessi ngdat ainami crocomput er
.AppleComput er,Inc.developedt heAppl e
Imi crocomput er,f ollowedbyt hehi ghlysuccessf ulAppleII
.TheAppl eIIwasbasedont he
Mot orola6502mi cropr ocessorandi thadakey board,moni torandf loppydi skdrive.The
dev elopmentofVi si Cal c,t
hef i
rstelect r
oni cspreadsheetsof twarein1979showedt hatthe
Appl eI Iwasnotj ustat oytobeusedi nschool sandhomes; it,meantt hatmi crocomput ers
coul dbeusedf orbusi nessappl i
cations.I n1981, theIBM Per sonalComput er(PC),was
released.ThePCusedt heI ntel8080mi croprocessoraswel lasMi crosof t’
soper at
ingsy stem
calledMS- DOS.
Thef i
rstmi crocomput erswer enoteasyt ousebecauseuser shadt ot ypecommandsont he
commandl i
net oper f orm suchact i
onsasf ormat ti
ngadi skorst arti
ngapr ogram.Howev er,
from t hemi d-80s, gr aphi cal userinter f
aces( GUI s)wereincor porat
edi ntomi cr
ocomput ers,
allowinguser stoi nt er actwi thon-scr een, i
cons, windowsandpul l-
downmenususi nga
poi nti
ngdev i
cesuchasamouse.GUI swer eeasi ertousethancommandl i
nei nter
faces
becauset heyel imi nat edt heneedt omemor i
zecommands.

1.
3 Cl assif
icat
ionofComputers
Comput
ersareclassi
fi
edint
othreecat
egor
iesnamel
y:
 Analogcomput er
s,
 Digit
alcomputersand
 Hy br
idcomputers.

Analogcomputers
Ananalogcomputerrepr
esentsdatabymeasur
ablequanti
ti
essuchasvol
tages,
temper at
ure
etc.i
nordertosol
veaproblem.Theyper
for
m calcul
ati
onswitht
hehel
pofmeasur es.Theyare
usedtoprocessanal
ogdata.

Digi
talComput er s
Digi
talcomput ersar eprogr ammabl e,theycanper form processi
ngsuchas
mathemat i
calcal culati
ons, sort
ing, compar isonet c.Digit
alcomput ersaccepti
nputand
producesout putassi gnal srepresentinghi gh( on)orl ow(off)vol
tagest at
eofelect
rici
ty.
Symbol s,number sandal phabetsar eal lrepr esent edasaser i
esof1sand0s.Di gi
tal
comput ersarecl assi f
iedf urt
herasGener al Pur poseDi gitalComput er(GPDC)andSpeci al
PurposeDi git
al Comput er( SPDC) .Gener al Pur posecomput er
scanbeusedf orany
appli
cationslikeaccount s, payr
ol l
,datapr ocessi nget c.Whi l
eSpecial pur
posecomput ersare
usedforaspeci f
icjobsl i
ket hoseusedi naut omobi les,microwaveset c.Anot
herclassif
icat
ion
ofdigit
al comput ersi sdoneont hebasi soft heircapaci tytoaccessmemor yandtheirsizeand
theyare;Mi cr
ocomput ers,Mi ni
comput ers,Mai nframecomput er
sand
supercomput er s.

Hybri
dComput ers
Hybri
dComput ersareacombi nationofAnal ogandDi gi
talcomput ers.Theycombinethe
speedofanalogcomput er
sandaccur acyofdi git
alcomputers.Theyar emostlyusedin
speci
ali
zedappli
cati
onswher et heinputdatai sinananalogformi .e.measurement.Thisi
s
conver
tedint
odigit
alformforf urt
herpr ocessing.Thecomput ersacceptdatafrom sensor
s
andproduceoutputusingconvent i
onalinput/outputdevi
ces.

3
Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionofdi
git
alcomput
ers

Microcomput ers
Microcomputersarethemostwidelyusedandt hesmall
estofdi
git
alcomputers.Theyar
e
generall
yref
er r
edtoasPersonal
Comput er
s( PC).Theyar
eusedinhomesbecauseoft he
aff
ordablepri
ce.TheMi cr
ocomputerconsi
stsoftheCPU, Key
board,Moni
tor
, t
hediskdri
ve
pri
ntersetc.

Not eBookandLapt opComput ers

Theset ypesofdigi
talcomput ersarebatter
yoperat
ed.Theirstor
agedevicesar
eCDs,SDcards
etc.andoutputdeviceslikeprinter
scanbeconnectedtothesecomput ers.Not
ebook
comput ersaresmallerinphysicalsizet
hanlapt
opcomput ers.However,
bothhavepower
ful
processors,suppor
tgr aphi
cs,andcanacceptmousedr i
veninput.

HandHeldComputers
Thesety
pesofcomputer
sar
emainl
yusedinappl
i
cat
ionsl
i
kecol
l
ect
ionoff
iel
ddat
a.Theyar
e
evensmall
ert
hanthenot
ebookcomput
ers.

MiniComput ers
Thesecategoryofcomput er
saremor epowerf
ulthanmicrocomputers,theyaredesigned
speci
fi
call
yforthemul t
i-userenvi
ronmenti.
e.several
personscanuset hemachi neatthe
samet i
me.Mi niComput ershaveav er
yhighspeedandmor estoragecapaci t
y,theyaremost
ly
usedinprocesscontrolsy st
emsandhav eappli
cati
onsinpayrol
ls,f
inancialaccounti
ng,
computeraideddesignet c.

MainframeComput er
s
Thesear everylar gecomput ers;theycanpr ocessdataatav eryhighspeedofsever
almill
ion
i
nstructi
onspersecond.Mai nframecomput ersarelargegeneralpurposecomput
ersthatcan
servemor ethan100r emotet ermi nal
s.Theycanbel i
nkedintoanetwor kwit
hsmall
er
comput ers,
mi crocomput ersandwi thothertypesofcomput ers.Mainfr
amecomputersare
typi
call
yusedi nl argeorganization,governmentdepar tment
set c.

SuperComput ers
Thesearethefastest,
mostexpensi v
eandmostpower f
ulcomputers.Operateatspeeds
measuredinnanosecondsandev eninpi
coseconds.Theyareusedforcompl extaskst hat
requi
resalotofcomput ati
onal
power .Wi
thmul t
ipl
eprocessor
sembeddedi nthem, theycan
processmulti
pleinst
ructi
onsatthesamet i
me.Thisisknownaspar all
elprocessing.Super
computersarewidelyusedinadvanceappli
cati
onssuchaspr ocessinggeologi
cal data,
weatherf
orecasti
nget c.

1.
4Component
sofaComput
erSy
stem

Ever
ycomputeri
spartofasyst
em.Thecompl
etecomput
ersy
stem consi
stsoff
ourpar
ts,
namely
:har
dware,sof
twar
e,dat
aanduser.

Har
dwar
e
Har
dwar
ear
etheel
ect
ri
cal
andmechani
cal
dev
icest
hatmakeupacomput
er.Theyar
ethe

4
par
tsoft
hecomput
ert
hatcanbet
ouchedandf
elt
,suchaskey
boar
d,mouse,
moni
tor
,speaker
andpr
int
er.

Software
Softwarei
sthesetofinst
r ucti
onst hatt
ell
sthecomputerwhattasktodo,andhowtodoit
.A
pieceofsoft
warei
sr ef
erredt oasapr ogram.Someprogramssuchasoper ati
ngsy
stemsexi
st
tohelpthecomputerperf
or mt asksandmanagei t
sresources.Ot
herprogr
amssuchasword
processor
sandspreadsheet sallowuserstocreat
eandmanagedocument s.

User
s
Thepeopl
ewhooperatecomputerssystemsareref
err
edt oasusers.Eventhoughacomput er
mayfunct
ionwi
thoutany
onesit
tinginfrontofi
tandoperati
ngit
,nocomput eriscompletel
y
aut
onomous.Humanbeingsar
est i
llneededtodesi
gn,buil
d,pr
ogram andrepaircomputers.

Uni
t2:
Comput
erHar
dwar
e
1.0Introduction
Comput erhardwarerefer
stothemechanical
andelect
roni
cpart
sofacomput
erthatcanbe
touchedandseen.Har dwareiswhatt
helaymanoftenref
erst
oasthecomput
er.Thi
sunit
discussest hedif
ferentpart
sofcomputerhar
dware.

1.
1Component sofComputerHardwar
e
Thef
ollowi
nghardwarecomponentsar
erequir
edbyal
lgeneral
-pur
posecomput
ers:
i Cent
ral
processi
ngunit(
CPU)forexecut
ingi
nst
ruct
ions
i
i Memor
yforst
ori
ngdat
aandpr
ogr
ams,
atl
eastt
empor
ari
l
y
i
i
i I
nputdev
icesf
orsendi
ngdat
aandi
nst
ruct
ionsi
ntot
hecomput
er
i
v Out
putdev
icesf
orbr
ingi
ngr
etr
iev
ingi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom t
hecomput
er
v St
oragedev
icesf
orr
etai
ningl
argeamount
sofi
nfor
mat
ionper
manent
ly.

Fi
gur
e2.0:Showshowt
hedi
ff
erenthar
dwar
ecomponent
sint
eracti
nagener
al-
pur
pose
comput
er.

I
nput CPU Out
put
dev
ices dev
ices

Memor
y

St
orage
Devi
ces 5
 Fi
gur
e2.
0.Par
tsoft
heComput
erHar
dwar
e

1.2Centr
alProcessingUnit
Thecentr
al pr
ocessingunitorsimpl
ytheprocessor
,isthepartoft
hecomputerthatexecutes
progr
am instr
uct
ionsandcont rol
stheoperati
onofallot
herhardwarecomponents.Itis
sometimesdescribedasthecomput er
’sbrai
n.Inamicrocomputer,
theCPUiscont ainedi
na
si
nglechi
pandr eferredt
oasami cr
oprocessor.

TheCPUi
smadeupoft
hreepar
ts-t
hear
it
hmet
ic-
logi
cuni
t,cont
rol
uni
tandr
egi
ster
s.

Contr
olUnit:i
tcoordi
natesotherhardwarecomponentsinordert
ocarryoutpr
ogr
am
i
nstr
ucti
ons.Duringprogram execut
ion,
itdi
rect
select
ronicsi
gnal
sbetweenmemor yand
ar
it
hmetic-
logicuni
taswel lasbetweenCPUandi nput
/outputdevi
ces.

Ari
thmet ic-
Logi cUni t:Theari
thmet i
c-l
ogicuni t(
ALU)performst wotypesofoper ati
ons–
ari
thmet icoper ati
onsandl ogicaloperat
ions.Ar i
thmeti
coperationsarefundament al
mat hemat i
cal operationssuchasaddi ti
on, subtr
acti
on,multi
plicat
ionanddivisi
on.Logical
operat i
onscompar et wovaluestodet er
mi newhet heroneislessthan,great
erthanorequal t
o
theot her.
Regist er
s:r egistersar ehi
ghspeedst oragel ocat
ionswithi
ntheCPUt hattemporaril
yholddata
andi nstructionsdur ingprocessing.Becauset heyarepartoftheCPU, regist
ercontentscanbe
handl edmuchf asterthanthecont ent
sofmemor y.

1.
3Memor y
Gener
al-
purposecomputer
shavetwoki
ndsofmemor
y:
i Random AccessMemory(RAM)and
i
i ReadOnl
yMemor
y(ROM)
.

Random AccessMemor y:RAM i sthewor ki

ngmemor yofthet empor aryareaforholdi
ngr aw
dataforprocessing,i
nstructionsf orprocessi
ngthedat a,andi nf
ormat i
on.Itistheworking
memor yofthecomput er.Whenapr ogram i
sstarted,i
tisloadedf r
om st oragetoRAM.The
progr
am remai nsinRAM unt i
l i
tclosed.Whendat aisent er
edi nt
ot hecomput erthr
ought he
i
nputdev i
ce,itisfi
rststoredinRAM.Dur i
ngprocessing,dataandi nstructi
onsar ef
etchedf r
om
RAM andst oredinCPUr egisters.Attheendofpr ocessing,resul
tsarest oredinRAM bef ore
theycanbedi splayedtot heuser .

Ther
earetworeasonswhyRAM i satemporarystor
age:
i RAM i
sv ol
atil
e,meaningthati
trequi
reselect
ri
cpowert
ohol
ddat
a.Whent
hecomput
er
i
sturnedof
f,ev
erythingst
oredinRAM disappears.
i
i Dat
ast
oredi
nRAM caneasi
l
ybechanged

ReadOnl
yMemor y
ROM i
satypeofmemor
ythathol
dst
hebui
l
t-i
ninst
ruct
ionst
hatt
ell
thecomput
erwhatt
odo

6
whenitistur
nedon.Unli
keRam whi
chistemporaryandv ol
ati
l
e,ROM i
spermanentandnon-
vol
ati
l
e.Instr
ucti
onsstor
edinROM cannotbechanged,andtheyar
epreser
vedevenwhenthe
computeristur
nedoff
.

1.4StorageDev i
ces
Storagedevicesarenon-volat
il
e,long-t
erm memor i
es.Unl i
keRam whosecont ent
sarelost
whenpowersuppl ygoesoff,stor
agedev i
cespreservet hei
rcont entsev enwhenthereisno
powersuppl y.Asaresult
,storagedev i
cesarecommonl yusedt ot ransferdat
aandpr ograms
fr
om onecomput ertoanother.Theycanal sobeusedt obackupv aluabledat
a,sothatthe
datacanber estoredaft
eracomput ercrashresultsinlossofdat a.IncomparisontoROM
whosecont entscannotbechanged, i
nformati
onhel dinst oragedev i
cescanbeeasilyreplaced.
Examplesofst oragedevi
cesar eharddi sks,
opticaldiscsandf lashdr ives.

HardDisks
Aharddiskisthemai nst
oragedevi
ceinmostcomput
ers.Itisslower,l
essexpensi
veandhas
hi
ghercapacit
ythanRAM.Ahar ddi
skismadeupofseveralplat
ters,
whicharecoatedwit
h
magneticmateri
al.Eachpl
atterr
equi
resr
ead/
writ
eheadst oretr
ieveormodifythei
nfor
mation
st
oredintheplat
ter.

OpticalDisks
Opticaldi
sksall
owdatatoberead(i.
e.,
ret
ri
eved)orwri
tt
en( i
.e.
,changed)bylaser
s.The
processofcreati
nganopti
caldi
skiscall
edburni
ng.Eventhoughopticaldi
skscantoler
ate
temperaturefl
uct
uati
onsbett
erthanharddi
sks,t
heycaneasilygetscrat
chedhencetheyneed
tobest or
edinacaseorjacket
.Thetypesofopti
caldi
sksincl
ude:

i CompactDiskReadOnl
yMemory:CompactDiskReadOnl
yMemory(CDROM)cont
ains
datastor
edonthediskwhi
l
eitwasbei
ngmanufact
ured.Thedat
acanber
eadmanyti
mesbut
cannotbemodi
fied
i
i CompactDi
skWr
it
eOnceReadManyt
imes:Dat
acanbewrit
tenint
oaCompactDi
sk
Wri
teOnceReadManyt
imes(
CDWORM)once,butaft
ert
hati
tbehavesli
keaCDROM.
i
ii CompactDi
skRewr
it
eabl
e:ACompactDiskRewri
teabl
e(CDRW)al
l
owsdat
atobe
wri
tt
enandreadasmanyt
imesasdesi
red,
justl
ikeahar
ddisk.

Uni
versalSer
ialBusFlashdr i
ves:Uni
versalSer
ialBusFlashdri
vesorsi
mplyf
lashdr
ivesare
amongstthemostpopul arstor
agedevices.Thereareseveral
reasonsf
ort
hei
rpopul
ar i
ty:
i Theyareportabl
ei .
e.,
easytocarryabout
i
i Vi
rt
ual
l
yal
lcomput
ershav
eUSBpor
tsi
ntowhi
chf
lashdr
ivescanbepl
ugged
i
i
i Fl
ashdr
ivescanbeusedwi
thoutbul
kydev
icesorbur
ner
s

1.5I
nputDevices
Aninputdevi
ceisanymachineusedtosenddat
aandi nst
ruct
ionsi
ntothecomputer.
Examplesofinputdev
icesar
ekeyboar
d,mouse,j
oyst
ick,di
git
alcamerasandscanners

Keyboar
d:Thekeyboar
disthemostimport
anti
nputdevi
ceonacomputer
.Comput
er
key
boardshavethesamelayoutasst
andar
dtypewr
it
ers.Thel
ayouti
scal
l
edQWERTY,

7
becausethefir
stsixlet
tersonthetopr
owoflett
ersar
eQ, W,E,R,TandY.i
naddi
ti
ont otypi
ng
keys,computerkeyboardshavearr
owkeysfornavi
gat
ion,
funct
ionkeysf
orcomputer
-specif
ic
tasks,andacalcul
ator-
li
kenumerickey
pad.

Mouse:Amouseisadevi
ceforcont
rol
l
ingthemovementofapoint
erorcur
soronthescr
een.
I
tconsi
stsofabal
lwhi
chisrol
ledonasurf
ace.Themouseder
ivesi
tsnamef r
om i
ts
r
esemblancet
oarealmouse.

Joysti
ck:Ajoyst
ickresembl
esacar’
sgearsti
ck.Movingt
hest
icki
nanydir
ect
ionresul
tsi
na
corr
espondingmov ementofanon-
screenobj
ectsuchasapoi
nter
.Joy
sti
cksaremostl
yused
forpl
ayingcomputergames.

Digi
talcameras:Theyareusedtocapt
urest
il
lormovingi
mages,whichcanbet
ransf
err
edt
oa
comput erandmanipul
atedusi
ngimageorvi
deoprocessi
ngsof
tware.

1.
6Out putDevi
ces
Outputdevi
cesretr
iev
einformat
ionfrom t
hecomputerandpr
esenti
ttot
heuser
.Exampl
esof
out
putdev i
cesaremonitors,
pri
nter
s,pl
otter
sandspeaker
s.

Moni t
ors:Themonitori
sthecomput er’
sdispl
ayscreen.Iti
salsoknownasv i
sualdi
splayuni
t.
Thet wocommonl yusedtechnologi
esformonitor
sar eli
quidcryst
aldispl
ayandli
ghtemi t
ti
ng
diodes,whichhav
ereplacedcathoderaytubemonitorsthatresembledbulkyol
d-f
ashioned
telev
isi
ons.

Pri
nter
s:Apr int
erisadev i
cethatexpressestextori
ll
ustrationonpaperandot hermedia.The
twomostcommonl yusedt ypesofpri
nterstodayareinkjetandl aserpri
nters.Inkj
etpri
nters
workbyspr ayi
nginkonpaper stoproducetextandchar acters.Ont heotherhand, l
aser
pri
nter
s
passabeam onacy l
indr
icaldrum,whichcoll
ectspowder edi nk(toner
)andt ransfer
sthet oner
topaper.Laserpri
ntersworkinthesamewayasphot ocopi ers.

Pl
ott
ers:Aplot
teri
sadev icethatdrawspictur
esbymov i
ngoneormorepensonpaper.
Pl
ott
erscanbeusedt oproducelargeprint
outs.Theyaretypi
cal
l
yusedbyengineer
s,
ar
chi
tectsandi
nter
iordesignerswhor equi
remor epreci
siont
hancanbeoff
eredbypri
nter
s.

ReferencesandFur t
herReadi ngs
Norton,P.(2005)Pet
, erNorton'sIntr
oduct i
ontoComput ers6thediti
on,McGraw-Hi
ll
/I
rwi
n
Pfaff
enberger,B.(
2002),Comput ersiny ourFutur
e4t hedi
ti
on,Prenti
ceHall
Parsons,J.J.,Oj
a,D.(2011),Practi
calComput erLit
eracy3rdedi
tion,Cent
ageLearni
ng.
Norton,P.(2005)Pet
, erNorton'sIntr
oduct i
ontoComput ers6thediti
on,McGraw-Hi
ll
/I
rwi
n
Leon,A.,Leon,M.,(
1999),Fundament alsofInformati
onTechnology ,
leonVikasHal
l