Computers and their

Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 Hardware Software
Computer A computer system
The hardware components are physical devices,
A computer system and its components system consists of:
such as keyboards, monitors, and processing units.
The software component consists of programs
written in computer languages.

A machine that accepts data as input, processes data without human intervention by using stored instructions and outputs information
The instructions, also called a program, are step-by-step directions for performing a specific task, written in a language the computer
Computer can understand
Regardless of the programming language used, a program is also referred to as the source code.
This source code must be translated into object code consisting of binary 0s and 1s.

Central processing unit (CPU) with two components

Basic
Arithmetic logical unit (ALU) Control unit
components of
computer Arithmetic operations Comparative and relational operations Tells the computer what to do, such as instructing the
+, -, *, / >, <, = used to compare numbers computer which device to read from or send output to.

Link between devices connected to the computer.

Bus Can be parallel or serial
Can be internal (local) or external.

Disk drive A peripheral device for recording storing, and retrieving of information.

Also known as a computer chassis or tower.

CPU case It is the enclosure containing the computer's main components.

Additional The main circuit board containing connectors for attaching additional boards. Usually consists of:

components of CPU BIOS Memory Storage Parallel and serial ports Controllers
computer Some computers have a single processor; Basic input Main (primary) memory A serial port is a communication interface through which Controllers for standard
other computers, called multiprocessors, output is where computers information is transferred one bit at a time. peripheral devices, eg.
contain multiple processors, eg dual core, system store data and A parallel port is an interface between a computer and a display monitor
Motherboard quad core, hexa core and octa core that instructions, similar to a printer that enables the computer to transfer multiple bits disk drives
enhances performance. human brain. of information to the printer simultaneously keyboard
Other factors that affect computer
performance include the processor size
and the operating system (OS).
Graphics cards, also called video adapters,
also enhance performance.
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 Generation Date Major technologies Examples
The history of computer hardware and software
First 1946-1956 Vacuum tube ENIAC

Second 1957-1963 Transistors IBM 7094, 1401

Third 1974-1970 Integrated circuits IBM 360, 370

Remote data entry
Five generations Telecommunications
of hardware
Fourth 1971-1992 Miniaturization Cray XPM, Cray II
Very large integration (VLI)
Personal computers
Optical disks

Fifth 1993- Parallel processing IBM System zEnterprise EC12

Gallium arsenide chips
Optical technologies

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) Replace silicon in chips (far thinner that a human hair)
Future trends
Optical technologies involves the applications and properties of light, including its interactions with
lasers, fiber optics, telescopes, and so forth.

Five generations Machine Assembly High-level Fourth generation Natural language

of software language language language language processing
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
The impact of the three factors distinguishing computer Computers process data with amazing speed and far more efficiently than humans.
Typically, computer speed is measured as the number of instructions performed during the following fractions of a
second:
Speed Millisecond: 1/1,000 (10^3) of a second
Microsecond: 1/1,000,000 (10^6) of a second
Nanosecond: 1/1,000,000,000 (10^12) of a second
Picosecond: 1/1,000,000,000,000 (10^18) of a second

Unlike humans, computers do not make mistakes.

Accuracy
computing power

On a space mission, for example, computers are essential. For example, a small degree of inaccuracy a space craft to
land at the wrong place.

Computers can store vast quantities of data and locate a specific item quickly.
In computers, data is stored in bits. A bit is a single value of 0 or 1, and 8 bits equal 1 byte.
Every character, number, or symbol on the keyboard is represented as a binary number in computer memory.
Computers and communication systems use data codes to represent and transfer data between comput­ers and
network systems.
The most common data code for text files, PC applications, and the Internet is the American Standard Code for
Storage and
Information Interchange (ASCII), developed by the American National Standards Institute.
retrieval
In an ASCII file, each alphabetic, numeric, or special character is represented with a 7 bit binary number (a string of
capabilities
0s or 1s). Up to 128 (2^7) characters can be defined.
There are two additional codes used by may operating systems:
Unicode is capable of representing 256 (2^8) characters
Extended ASCII is an 8-bit code that also allows representation of 256 characters
Before the ASCII format, IBM's Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) was popular. In an
EBCDIC file, each alphabetic, numeric, or special character is represented with an 8-bit binary number.
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 All tasks are performed by one or a combination of only three basic tasks.

Addition
Subtraction
Arithmetic
Computer operations

Multiplication
operations
Division
Exponentiation

Logical
By comparing two numbers (eg. which is the largest)
operations

Storage and
retrieval Computers can store massive amounts of data in very small spaces and locate a particular item quickly.
operations
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 Input devices send data and information to Most used examples include a keyboard and mouse.
Input devices the computer. Others include touch screen, stylus, track ball, data tablet, barcode reader, optical character reader (OCR), magnetic ink character
recognition (MICR) system, optical mark recognition (OMR) system, camera and microphone

Visual
Audio
Output devices are capable of Soft copy Hard copy
Input, output and memory devices

representing information from a Visual display: Printers Voice synthesizer

Output devices computer. Cathode ray tube (CRT) Ink jet projecting droplets on page
The form of this output might be visual Plasma display Laser printer creates electrical charges on drum
audio, or digital. Liquid crystal display (LCD) attracting ink from cartridges
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) Cloud printing
Fold screen Plotters

Main (primary) memory Special types of storage

Stores data and information. Secondary memory
Holds data when the computer is off or Various technologies respond to an organization's
Use usually volatile; its contents are lost when electrical power is turned off. need for reliable and a lot of storage space.
during the course of a program's operation.
It plays a major role in a computer's performance. Nonvolatile. Redundant array of independent disks (RAID)
The most common type of main memory is a semiconductor memory chip made of Also serves as archival storage. system
silicon. Is a collection of disk drives used for fault
tolerance and improved performance and is
Random access memory (RAM) Read only memory (RAM) Magnetic disk typically found in large network systems.
Volatile memory. Non-volatile memory. Made of Mylar or metal. Cloud storage
Data can be written to and read Data only be read from it (hence read Used for random­access processing. Is used for online storage and backup
from it (hence read-write memory). only memory). In other words, data can be It involves multiple virtual servers that are
accessed in any order, regardless of usually hosted by third parties.
Types of data usually stored in ROM include its order on the surface. Customers buy or lease storage space from
Memory devices BIOS information Computer's system clock
Magnetic tape third parties based on their current or future
needs.
Made of a plastic material
Cache RAM Storage area network (SAN)
Two types Stores data sequentially.
Resides on processor. Is a dedicated high­speed network consisting
Records can be stored in a block or
Stores recently accessed memory. of both hardware and software used to
Why? It often must be accessed again
PROGRAMMABLE Erasable programmable separately, with a gap between each connect and manage shared storage devices,
READ-ONLY MEMORY read-only memory record or block, called the inter-
soon (PROM) (EPROM) such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical
Memory access from main RAM storage Is a type of ROM chip Similar to PROM, but
record gap (IRG) storage devices.
takes several clock cycles (a few that can be its contents can be Usually used for backup. Typically, SANs are used only in large
nanoseconds), so memory stored in programmed with a erased and Other secondary memory devices enterprises because of their cost and
cache RAM means that processor is not special device. reprogrammed. include optical disks, hard disks installation complexity.
waiting for the memory transfer. However, after it has Network-attached storage (NAS)
(internal or external), USB flash drives,
been programmed, the Is essentially a network ­connected computer
contents cannot be memory cards, and solid-state drives
dedicated to providing file-based data
erased. (SSD).
storage services to other network devices.
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 Basis of
Usually, computers are classified based on Cost Speed Amount of money Sophistication
classification

Using these criteria, computers are classified

Supercomputers Mainframes Minicomputers Personal computers Notebook Subnotebooks

Because all computers are steadily increasing by speed and sophistication, delineating different classes of computers is more
difficult now. For example, a notebook computer today has more power than a mainframe of the 1970s.
Classes of computers

Three waves of development: the first wave was identified by mainframe computers, the second wave by personal computers, and
the third wave by small computers embedded into many devices.
Classification Wearable devices are part of the third wave.
In addition to their applications in health care, wearable devices could also be used in other fields for improving productivity.
For example, in the manufacturing field they might:
Improve employee safety by providing a hands-free environment to work.
Improve employee monitoring by helping to keep track of what's going on.
Provide service support by helping employees to access online tools aiding in resolving issues faster.
Provide support for plant monitoring by offering warnings when a component fails.
Provide support for video applications by offering hands-free real-time video that can be saved and analyzed later.

Current trends in input/output (IO) devices may be summarized as

Thinner and lighter laptops and tablets
Current trends
Faster and larger memory
in IO devices Widespread applications of wireless devices
Increased applications of interactive computing using gesture, touch, and voice.

Servers are A server is a computer and all the software for managing network resources and offering services to a network. Examples include:
imporant features Application servers Fax servers Print servers
in information Database servers File servers Remote access servers
systems Disk servers Mail servers Web servers
 Computers and their
Software
business applications

A computer system and

Classes of computers its components

Input, output and

The history of computer
memory devices
hardware and software

The impact of the three factors distinguishing

Computer operations
computer computing power
 What is software Software is all the programs that run a computer system.

Systems (operating system) software Application software

This type of software works in the background and takes care of housekeeping tasks, Performs a variety of specialized tasks on a personal computer.
such as deleting files that are no longer needed. Can be commercial software or software developed in-house.
An Operating System (OS) is a set of programs for controlling and managing
Word-processing software Presentation software Financial planning and
computer hardware and software. Spreadsheet software Graphics software accounting software
It provides an interface between a computer and the user and increases computer Data base software Desktop publishing Project management
Two broad efficiency by helping users share computer resources and by performing repetitive software software
Computer-aided design (CAD)
tasks for users.
categories of A typical OS consists of Control programs Supervisor programs
software

software
Control programs manage computer hardware and resources by performing the following functions: The supervisor program, also known as the
Job management – Control and prioritize tasks performed by the CPU. kernel, is responsible for controlling all
Software

Resource allocation – Such as memory and storage. Done by a control program in a network, eg. assigning printing jobs other programs in the OS, such as
Data management – Control data integrity by generating checksums compilers, interpreters, assemblers, and
Communication – Control the transfer of data among parts of a computer system, such as communication between the CPU utilities for performing special tasks.
and I/0 devices.

Computer Machine Assembly High-level Fourth generation Natural language

language language language language processing
languages
(generations)
Consists of a series of 0s Is a higher-level language Are machine Use macro codes that can Use some of the AI technologies, such
and 1s representing data than machine language independent and part of take the place of several as knowledge­based systems, natural
or instructions. but is also machine the third generation of lines of programming. language processing (NLP), visual
It is dependent on the dependent. computer languages. The commands are programming, and a graphical
machine, so code written It uses a series of short Many languages are powerful and easy to approach to programming.
for one type of computer codes, or mnemonics, to available, and each is learn, even for people Designed to facilitate natural
does not work on another represent data or designed for a specific with little computer conversations between you and the
type of computer. instructions. purpose. training. computer.

The language is organized Objects represent the real Abstraction is used to handle Polymorphism is the ability to Modularity - writing, modifying

The four principles

Object oriented around a system of objects world as opposed to a series complexity by hiding process objects differently and troubleshooting codes easier

Benefits of OPP
that represent the real world of computational steps used unnecessary details from the depending on their data type or and easy to add a module
programming as
of OPP
as opposed to a series of in traditional languages user class.
Reuse of codes for other purposes
methodology computational steps used in
A class defines the format of
Inheritance enables new Encapsulation means grouping
Effective problem solving - Solve
traditional languages objects to take on the related items into a single unit
the object and the action problems one object or module at
properties of existing objects.
that it performs. a time
Reference:
Hossein Bidgoli MIS (10th ed)