UNIT-2

Difference between Hardware and

Software
Computer Hardware:
Hardware refers to the physical components of a computer. Computer
Hardware is any part of the computer that we can touch these parts.
These are the primary electronic devices used to build up the
computer. Examples of hardware in a computer are the Processor,
Memory Devices, Monitor, Printer, Keyboard, Mouse, and the Central
Processing Unit.
Computer Software:
Software is a collection of instructions, procedures, documentation that
performs different tasks on a computer system. we can say also
Computer Software is a programming code executed on a computer
processor. The code can be machine-level code or the code written for
an operating system. Examples of software are Ms Word, Excel,
Power Point, Google Chrome, Photoshop, MySQL etc.
Difference Between Hardware and Software:
Hardware Software

Hardware is a physical parts computer Software is a set of instruction that

that cause processing of data. tells a computer exactly what to do.

It is manufactured. It is developed and engineered.

Hardware can not perform any task software can not be executed without
without software. hardware.

As Hardware are physical electronic

devices, we can see and touch We can see and also use the software
hardware. but can’t actually touch them.

It has four main categories: input It is mainly divided into System

device, output devices, storage, and software, Programming software and
internal components. Application software.

Hardware is not affected by computer Software is affected by computer

viruses. viruses.
Hardware Software

It can not be transferred from one

place to another electrically through
network. But, it can be transferred.

If hardware is damaged, it is replaced If software is damaged, its backup

with new one. copy can be reinstalled.

Ex: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Printer, Ex: Ms Word, Excel, Power Point,
CPU, Hard disk, RAM, ROM etc. Photoshop, MySQL etc.

Software and its Types

In a computer system, the software is basically a set of instructions or
commands that tells a computer what to do. Or in other words, the software is a
computer program that provides a set of instructions to execute a user’s
commands and tell the computer what to do. For example like MS-Word, MS-
Excel, PowerPoint, etc. The chart below describes the types of software:

Above is the diagram of types of software. Now we will briefly describe each
type and its subtypes :
 System Software
System software is software that directly operates the computer hardware and
provides the basic functionality to the users as well as to the other software to
operate smoothly. Or in other words, system software basically controls a
computer’s internal functioning and also controls hardware devices such as
monitors, printers, and storage devices, etc. It is like an interface between
hardware and user applications, it helps them to communicate with each other
because hardware understands machine language(i.e. 1 or 0) whereas user
applications are work in human-readable languages like English, Hindi,
German, etc. so system software converts the human-readable language into
machine language and vice versa.
Features of system software:
Let us discuss some of the features of System Software:
1. System Software is closer to the computer system.
2. System Software is written in a low-level language in general.
3. System software is difficult to design and understand.
4. System software is fast in speed(working speed).
5. System software is less interactive for the users in comparison to
application software.
Types of system software:
It has two subtypes which are:
1. Operating System: It is the main program of a computer system. When
the computer system ON it is the first software that loads into the
computer’s memory. Basically, it manages all the resources such as
memory, CPU, printer, hard disk, etc., and provides an interface to the user,
which helps the user to interact with the computer system. It also provides
various services to other computer software. Examples of operating systems
are Linux, Apple macOS, Microsoft Windows, etc.
2. Language Processor: As we know that system software converts the
human-readable language into a machine language and vice versa. So, the
conversion is done by the language processor. It converts programs written
in high-level programming languages like Java, C, C++, Python, etc(known
as source code), into sets of instructions that are easily readable by
machines(known as object code or machine code).
3. Device Driver: A device driver is a program or software that controls a
device and helps that device to perform its functions. Every device like a
printer, mouse, modem, etc. needs a driver to connect with the computer
system eternally. So, when you connect a new device with your computer
system, first you need to install the driver of that device so that your
operating system knows how to control or manage that device.
Application Software
Software that performs special functions or provides functions that are much
more than the basic operation of the computer is known as application software.
Or in other words, application software is designed to perform a specific task
for end-users. It is a product or a program that is designed only to fulfill end-
users’ requirements. It includes word processors, spreadsheets, database
management, inventory, payroll programs, etc.
Features of application software:
Let us discuss some of the features of Application Software:
1. An important feature of application software is it performs more
specialized tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, email, etc.
2. Mostly, the size of the software is big, so it requires more storage space.
3. Application software is more interactive for the users, so it is easy to use
and design.
4. The application software is easy to design and understand.
5. Application software is written in a high-level language in general.
Types of application software:
There are different types of application software and those are:
1. General Purpose Software: This type of application software is used
for a variety of tasks and it is not limited to performing a specific task only.
For example, MS-Word, MS-Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
2. Customized Software: This type of application software is used or
designed to perform specific tasks or functions or designed for specific
organizations. For example, railway reservation system, airline reservation
system, invoice management system, etc.
3. Utility Software: This type of application software is used to support
the computer infrastructure. It is designed to analyze, configure, optimize
and maintains the system, and take care of its requirements as well. For
example, antivirus, disk fragmenter, memory tester, disk repair, disk
cleaners, registry cleaners, disk space analyzer, etc.
Difference between system software and application software
Now, let us discuss some difference between system software and application
software:

System Software Application Software

It is designed to manage the resources of It is designed to fulfill the

the computer system, like memory and requirements of the user for
process management, etc. performing specific tasks.

Written in a low-level language-\ Written in a high-level language

Less interactive for the users More interactive for the users

Application software is not so

System software plays vital role for the important for the functioning of the
effective functioning of a system. system, as it is task specific.
 System Software Application Software

It is independent of the application

software to run. It needs system software to run.
 Free Cours es

Input Devices of Computer |

Output Devices of Computer
Input and Output devices are a major part of the computer. They are a type
of hardware device that makes up the computer system. These allow the
system to function properly with external help. They both deal with data but
in different ways.
The input allows the user to send data while the output completes the task
related to the data. These all are auxiliary devices that connect to the device
and complete all the tasks accordingly. Keyboards, mouse, scanners, etc are
some of the input devices while printers, monitors, headphones, etc are
some of the output devices.
Another important element of a hardware system is computer memory. It is
where all the data goes either temporarily or permanently. It is mainly of
two types – volatile memory and nonvolatile memory. Volatile
memory needs the power to function and store information like static RAM
or dynamic RAM.
Dynamic one is complicated to handle in terms of interface and thus
requires regular refresh cycles. Meanwhile, SRAM has a better interface but
requires six transistors per bit. Non Volatile Memory doesn’t require power
to retain information and some of the examples are – ROM, Flash memory,
Optical Disks, etc.

Input Devices of Computer

As mentioned above the input devices allow the users to send signals to the
computer to perform a certain task. The receiver at this end is the Central
Processing Unit (CPU) which then sends the signal to the output devices.
Input devices further classify according to modality like visual or audio,
discrete or continuous, and is it direct or indirect.
Some of the classifications are –
1. Keyboard Devices
 Keyer
 Keyboard
 Lighted Program Function Keyboard (LPFK)
2. Pointing Devices
 A mouse sitting on a desk.
 A computer mouse
 3D mice
 Joysticks
 Pointing sticks
3. Composite Devices
 Wii Remote
 Wii Remote with attached strap
4. Game controller
 Gamepad (or joypad)
 Paddle (game controller)
 Jog dial/shuttle (or knob)
 Wii Remote
5. Visual Devices
 Digital camera
 Digital camcorder
 Portable media player
 Webcam
 Microsoft Kinect Sensor
 Image scanner
 Fingerprint scanner
 Barcode reader
 3D scanner
 Laser rangefinder
 Eye gaze tracker
 Medical Imaging
 Computed tomography
 Magnetic resonance imaging
 Positron emission tomography
 Medical ultrasonography
6. Audio Input Devices
 Microphones
 MIDI keyboard or another digital musical instrument
Some of the important input devices are −
1. Keyboard
The most basic input device to enter data on the system or any other device
with the help of the keys is a keyboard. They establish a connection with the
computer either by wifi or by a USB system. There are keys for everything –
numbers, letters, characters, and functions.

The typing keys are A – Z and number keys till 09. The numeric keypad has
17 keys allowing users to perform different calculations. Then there are
function keys for special computer features at the top row. The control keys
have arrow signs on them allowing users to scroll on the page and select.
Then there are special-purpose keys like space, enter, shift, etc.

There are several types of keyboards according to geographic location but

the most popular one is QWERTY. The go-to keyboard of the modern-day,
even the Latin-based countries use this type of keyboard very frequently.
The top six letters of the keyboard are qwerty, giving us the name of the
keyboard. Many people even think that this is the only keyboard that exists.

2. Mouse
A hand-supported input device that allows users to move the cursor on the
screen is a mouse. It works on a flat surface with a wheel between the left
and right buttons. Laptops have a touchpad as does the function of a mouse.
The invention of the mouse took place in 1063 by Douglas C. Engelbart.
The earliest version of the mouse had a rollerball underneath but the modern
ones are made with optical technology with a light beam. The port of the
mouse connection depends on the computer and mouse type. Its advantages
are –
 Easy to use
 Affordable
 Moves the cursor faster
3. Joystick
Joystick is a pointing device to move the cursor on the monitor screen but
not the same as a mouse. It has a spherical ball stick-type structure. It can
move in all directions and is a computer aid design mainly for gaming
purposes.

4. Light Pen
Again a pointing device with a pen-like structure allowing users to select on
the screen and even draw on it. Photocells and optical systems are inbuilt
inside the small tube allowing the flow of signals to the CPU. The tip of the
pen moves on the screen with the button pressed, the CPU receives the
signals.

5. Track Ball
A common accessory for notebooks and laptops, that works as a
replacement for a mouse. With a similar structure, it has a half inserted ball
which the fingers move to send signals for cursor movement. It is kind of
stationary taking very little space. It comes in a ball, button, and square
shape as well.

6. Scanner
A scanner works like a photocopy machine is an input device to make
information available on a pc from paper. This is mainly to manipulate the
information by converting an image into a digital form and then printing it.

7. Digitizer
Responsible for converting analog information into digital form, a digitizer
converts signals into numeric values stored in a computer. The computer can
now do anything with it as long as the camera is pointing out the image. A
graphic tablet is also a digitizer converting graphics into binary data. It is
ideal for drawing and image manipulation applications.
8. Microphone
It is an inbuilt voice input device to take in the sound signals and then
convert them into digital form. It is a very common device present in
multimedia presentation and music-related applications.

9. Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

MICR is a device commonly present in banks as they deal with many
cheques every day. The bank’s code number and cheque number have
magnetic ink present in them allowing machines to read the letters. This
process is Magnetic Ink Character Recognition that has fewer errors and is
very fast.

10. Optical Character Reader (OCR)

It is also a reading device that reads printed text by scanning it character by
character. It first converts them into machine-readable code and saves them
in the system memory.

11. Bar Code Readers

Again a reading device but to read barcode data like on goods, books, etc. It
can be a handheld scanner or a stationary one but they both scan the image
by converting it to alphanumeric value on the computer.

12. Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

It is an optical scanner to recognize marks by pen and pencil and is
commonly present in educational institutions to check objective exam
papers.

Output Devices of Computer

The output devices take care of displaying the result after data processing by
the input device. It may be in image, graphic, textual or audio form. These
devices show the visual elements on the display. The information on the
screen is soft copy and some of the important output devices are –
1. Monitors

The visual display units are the most important output device responsible for
showing the visual made of pixels to the user. The pixels decide the image
sharpness. There are two types of viewing screen on the monitor:
a. Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
The pixels make up the image on the CRT display. The smaller pixels mean
the image is more clear. Even a single character like ‘k’ is made of
numerous pixels on the screen. A screen can have limited pixels at once, it is
usually 80 by 20 characters horizontally and vertically.

Disadvantages of CRT Monitor −

Large Size
Power consumption is high

b. Flat-Panel Display Monitor

These are high-level video devices with low volume, lightweight, and low
power requirements. From wall hanging to smartwatches, they are
everywhere. There are either emissive displays or non-emissive displays.
Emissive displays convert electrical energy into light like LEDs in plasma
panels. While the non-emissive display converts sunlight to light energy like
LCDs.

2. Printers

The primary feature is to print information on paper. It is mainly of two

types –

a. Impact Printers
They have a ribbon on the front which prints characters on the paper by
pressing it.
Characteristics –
 Consumable cost is less
 Noisy in nature
 Good for bulk printing
 Physical contact between paper and machine
b. Character Printers
These printer print only one character at a time and are of two types –
i. Dot Matrix Printer
They have a very economical price and are easy to use. Each character print
has a dots pattern of the size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7, or 9*9) creating a complete
symbol.
Its advantages are –
 Inexpensive
 Accessible
 Multilingual Printing
Its disadvantages are –
 Slow Speed
 Quality is poor
ii. Daisy Wheel
With head lying on the wheel, the pins next to the characters form a petal
shape thus giving it its name. They print nice quality characters and are
mostly present at word-processing offices that need a few letters only.

Its advantages are –

 Reliable than the dot matrix printer
 Quality Characters
 Exchangeable Fonts
Its disadvantages are –
 Slow in speed
 Noisy Nature
 A bit expensive
c. Line Printers
They print one line at a time. They are of two types –

i. Drum Printer
They have a drum-like shape with track division equal to paper size, like
100 width paper will have 100 tracks. Each track has a character set
embossed either 48 character set, 64 or 96 characters set. Each drum prints
one line and is as fast as 300 to 2000 lines per minute.
Its advantages are –
 High speed
Its disadvantages are
 Very Costly
 Only one set of font available in one printer
ii. Chain Printer
This printer uses a character chain to print like 48, 64, or 96 characters.
Its advantages are –
 Interchangeable character fonts
 Multilingual printing
Its disadvantages are –
 Noisy in nature
d. Non-impact Printers
They don’t use a ribbon to print but instead print an entire page in one go.
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
 Very fast
 Don’t make noise
 High-Quality printing
 Many fonts and character size available
e. Laser Printers
These use laser lights for producing dots to form characters on a page.
Its advantages are –
 Fast Speed
 Quality Output
 Great graphic quality
 Supports multiple fonts and size
Its disadvantages are –
 Very Costly
 Can’t print multiple copies at a time
Inkjet Printers
These are the new generation printers that use the spray to print the papers.
They produce high-quality characters with a focus on details. They make
relatively lower voices and also have an option to do color printing.
Its advantages are
 High quality
 Reliable
 Multiple copy printing
Its disadvantages are –
 Expensive
 Slow compared to laser printer
3. Speakers
An output device that produces sound after receiving a command from the
computer. They support the computers as well as other hardware devices.
Now we also have wireless speakers with Bluetooth technology.
4. Projector
This is an optical device that presents visuals on the screen, stationary and
moving both. They are present at movie theatres, auditoriums, etc. It
connects to the computer and displays the image on it on a larger screen.

5. Plotter
It is a device to make graphics, prints and other vector images to give a real
life illustration vibe. It is mandatory to have a graphic card to use the device.
The pen like device that comes with it helps in replicating the exact design
on the computer.

6. Braille Reader
Made for the blind users, this device is to process computer data in braille
format. It allows users with low or no vision to recognize the data as the
braille reader put data on the paper in embossed format. They can run their
fingers over it to understand everything easily.
7. Television
A very common output device present in most of the households is a display
output device. It portrays video and audio files on the screen according to
the user’s needs. Before we had CRT screens but now most of us use plasma
displays.
8. Video Card
This device goes inside the sockets of a motherboard of the computer
system. It improvises the digital content appearance in other output devices.
It is very important now with many people having multiple devices just for
personal use.

9. Global Positioning System

A device to help users with directions, GPS uses satellite technology to track
geographical location of the users. There is a continuous latitudinal and
longitudinal calculation to have an accurate result every time. Most of the
vehicles and smart devices have GPS as an inbuilt feature.

10. Headphones
Similar to speakers, this device has a lower sound frequency. They can’t be
easily heard in large areas like grounds and parks but are only accessible to
a single person using the device. A headset is another name for them.

Both Input and Output Devices of

Computer
There are many devices that have characteristics of both input and output
devices. They can receive data as well as give out a result becoming useful
for both purposes.
Some of them are –
 1. USB Drive – It is a detachable device which can receive data from any
computer as well as send out data to other devices.
2. Modems – It is responsible for transmitting data from one device to
another using telephonic lines.
3. CD and DVD Drives – Saves data from the computer in the given format
and can also send out data to other devices with disk space.
4. Headset – It has a speaker which is an output device and a microphone
which is an input device.
5. Facsimile – This is a fax machine with scanner being an input device and
printer being the output device.
Difference between Input Devices and
Output Devices
INPUT DEVICE OUTPUT DEVICE
Accepts user data Reflects user data
The user commands them Processor commands them
Conversion of friendly instruction into a machine friendly Conversion of machine’s instructions to user needs
Sends data to the processor for execution Sends processed data back to the user.
Helps computer in receiving data Helps computer in displaying data
Complex design structure Less complex design structure
Example – Keyboard, Image Scanner, etc. Ex: Monitor, Printers, etc.

Relationship between Hardware and Software

 Mutually dependent. Both of them must work together to make
computer produce a useful output.
 Software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware.
 Hardware without set of programs to operate upon cannot be utilized
and is useless.
 To get a particular job done on the computer, relevant software should
be loaded into the hardware
 Hardware is a onetime expense.
 Software development is very expensive and is a continuing expense.
 Different software can be loaded on hardware to run different jobs.
 Software acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
 If hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then software is its
'soul'. Both are complimentary to each other.

Memory Hierarchy Design and its

Characteristics
In the Computer System Design, Memory Hierarchy is an enhancement to
organize the memory such that it can minimize the access time. The Memory
Hierarchy was developed based on a program behavior known as locality of
references.The figure below clearly demonstrates the different levels of
memory hierarchy :

This Memory Hierarchy Design is divided into 2 main types:

1. External Memory or Secondary Memory –
Comprising of Magnetic Disk, Optical Disk, Magnetic Tape i.e. peripheral
storage devices which are accessible by the processor via I/O Module.
2. Internal Memory or Primary Memory –
Comprising of Main Memory, Cache Memory & CPU registers. This is
directly accessible by the processor.
We can infer the following characteristics of Memory Hierarchy Design from
above figure:
1. Capacity:
It is the global volume of information the memory can store. As we move
from top to bottom in the Hierarchy, the capacity increases.
2. Access Time:
It is the time interval between the read/write request and the availability of
the data. As we move from top to bottom in the Hierarchy, the access time
increases.
3. Performance:
Earlier when the computer system was designed without Memory Hierarchy
design, the speed gap increases between the CPU registers and Main
Memory due to large difference in access time. This results in lower
performance of the system and thus, enhancement was required. This
enhancement was made in the form of Memory Hierarchy Design because
 of which the performance of the system increases. One of the most
significant ways to increase system performance is minimizing how far
down the memory hierarchy one has to go to manipulate data.
4. Cost per bit:
As we move from bottom to top in the Hierarchy, the cost per bit increases
i.e. Internal Memory is costlier than External Memory.

Random Access Memory (RAM) and

Read Only Memory (ROM)
Memory is the most essential element of a computing system because without
it computer can’t perform simple tasks. Computer memory is of two basic
types – Primary memory(RAM and ROM) and Secondary memory (hard drive,
CD, etc). Random Access Memory (RAM) is primary-volatile memory and
Read-Only Memory (ROM) is primary-non-volatile memory.

Classification of Computer Memory

Random Access Memory (RAM) –

 It is also called read-write memory or the main memory or the primary
memory.
 The programs and data that the CPU requires during the execution of a
program are stored in this memory.
 It is a volatile memory as the data is lost when the power is turned off.
 RAM is further classified into two types- SRAM (Static Random Access
Memory) and DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
 Difference between SRAM and DRAM

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

 Stores crucial information essential to operate the system, like the
program essential to boot the computer.
 It is not volatile.
 Always retains its data.
 Used in embedded systems or where the programming needs no change.
 Used in calculators and peripheral devices.
 ROM is further classified into four types- MROM, PROM, EPROM,
and EEPROM.
Types of Read-Only Memory (ROM)
 PROM (Programmable read-only memory) – It can be programmed
by the user. Once programmed, the data and instructions in it cannot be
changed.
 EPROM (Erasable Programmable read-only memory) – It can be
reprogrammed. To erase data from it, expose it to ultraviolet light. To
reprogram it, erase all the previous data.
 EEPROM (Electrically erasable programmable read-only
memory) – The data can be erased by applying an electric field, with no
need for ultraviolet light. We can erase only portions of the chip.
 MROM(Mask ROM) – Mask ROM is a kind of read-only memory,
that is masked off at the time of production. Like other types of ROM, mask
ROM cannot enable the user to change the data stored in it. If it can, the
process would be difficult or slow.