INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

Computers are an integral part of our lives. Wherever we are—sitting in our

homes, working in the office, driving on roads, sitting in a movie hall, staying in
a hotel, etc.—our lives are directly or indirectly affected by the computers. In
this era of information, we are dependent on the storage, flow and processing of
data and information, which can only be possible with the help of computers.
Definition of computer:
Computer is a programmable electronic device designed to accept data,
perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed,
and display the results of these operations with high speed and accuracy.

Computers are also used in schools, universities, organizations, music industry,

movie industry, scientific research, law firms, fashion industry, etc. The term
computer is derived from the word compute. The word compute means to
calculate.

DIGITAL AND ANALOG COMPUTERS

A digital computer uses distinct values to represent the data internally. All
information are represented using the digits Os and 1s. The computers that we
use at our homes and offices are digital computers.
Analog computer is another kind of a computer that represents data as variable
across a continuous range of values. The earliest computers were analog
computers. Analog computers are used for measuring of parameters that vary
continuously in real time, such as temperature, pressure and voltage. Analog
computers may be more flexible but generally less precise than digital
computers.

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER
The characteristics of computer are
 Speed: The computer can process data very fast, at the rate of millions of
instructions per second. Some calculations that would have taken hours and
days to complete otherwise, can be completed in a few seconds using the
computer.
 Accuracy: Computer provides a high degree of accuracy. For example, the
computer can accurately give the result of division of any two numbers up to 10
decimal places.
 Diligence: When used for a longer period of time, the computer does not get
tired or fatigued. It can perform long and complex calculations with the same
speed and accuracy from the start till the end.
 Storage Capability: Large volumes of data and information can be stored in
the computer and also retrieved whenever required. A limited amount of data
can be stored, temporarily, in the primary memory. Secondary storage devices
like floppy disk and compact disk can store a large amount of data permanently.
 Versatility: Computer is versatile in nature. It can perform different types of
tasks with the same ease. At one moment you can use the computer to prepare a
letter document and in the next moment you may play music or print a
document.
*Power of Remembering: Computer can store and recall any amount of
information because of its secondary storage capability. It forgets or loses
certain information only when it is asked to do so
* No I.Q.: A computer does only what it is programmed to do. It cannot take its
own decision in this regard
* No Feelings: Computers are devoid of emotions. Their judgement is based on
the instructions given to them in the form of programs that are written by human
beings.

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER
The computer has evolved from a large—sized simple calculating machine to a
smaller but much more powerful machine. The evolution of computer to the
current state is defined in terms of the generations of computer.
Each generation of computer is designed based on a new technological
development, resulting in better, cheaper and smaller computers that are more
powerful, faster and efficient than their predecessors.
Currently, there are five generations of computer. The generations of computer
are divided on the basis of,
1. The technology used by them (hardware and software),
2. Computing characteristics (speed, i.e., number of instructions executed per
second),
3. Physical appearance, and
4. Their applications.

First Generation (1940 to 1956): Using Vacuum Tubes

 Hardware Technology: The first generation of computers used vacuum
tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory. The input to the
computer was through punched cards and paper tapes. The output was
displayed as printouts

 Software Technology: The instructions were written in machine

language. Machine language uses 0s and 1s for coding of the instructions.
The first generation computers could solve one problem at a time.

 Computing Characteristics: The computation time was in

milliseconds.

 Physical Appearance These computers were enormous in size and

required a large room for installation.

 Application They were used for scientific applications as they were the
fastest computing device of their time.

 Examples UNIVersal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC), Electronic

Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC), and Electronic Discrete
Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC).
The first generation computers used a large number of vacuum tubes and thus
generated a lot of heat. They consumed a great deal of electricity and were
expensive to operate.
The machines were prone to frequent malfunctioning and required constant
maintenance. Since first generation computers used machine language, they
were difficult to program.

Second Generation (1956 to 1963): Using Transistors

 Hardware Technology Transistors (Figure 1.5) replaced the vacuum tubes
of the first generation of computers. Transistors allowed computers to
become smaller, faster, cheaper, energy efficient and reliable.
 The second generation computers used magnetic core technology for
primary memory. They used magnetic tapes and magnetic disks for
secondary storage.
The input was still through punched cards and the output using printouts.
They used the concept of a stored program, where instructions were
stored in the memory of computer

 Software Technology: The instructions were written using the assembly

language. Assembly language uses mnemonics like ADD for addition and
SUB for subtraction for coding of the instructions. It is easier to write
instructions in assembly language, as compared to writing instructions in
machine language.

High-level programming languages, such as early versions of COBOL

and FORTRAN were also developed during this period.

 Computing Characteristics: The computation time was in

microseconds.

 Physical Appearance: Transistors are smaller in size compared to

vacuum tubes, thus, the size of the computer was also reduced.

 Application: The cost of commercial production of these computers was

very high, though less than the first generation computers. The transistors
had to be assembled manually in second generation computers.

 Examples PDP-8, IBM 1401 and CDC 1604.

Second generation computers generated a lot of heat but much less than the first
generation computers. They required less maintenance than the first generation
computers.

Third Generation (1964 to 1971): Using Integrated Circuits

 Hardware Technology: The third generation computers used the

Integrated Circuit (IC) chips. In an IC chip, multiple transistors are placed on a
silicon chip. Silicon is a type of semiconductor.
The use of IC chip increased the speed and the efficiency of computer. The
keyboard and monitor were used to interact with the third generation computer,
instead of the punched card and printouts.
 Software Technology :The keyboard and the monitor were interface
through the operating system. Operating system allowed different applications
to run at the same time.
High-level languages were used extensively for programming, instead of
machine language and assembly language.
 Computing Characteristics The computation time was in nanoseconds.
 Physical Appearance The size of these computers was quite small
compared to the second generation computers.
 Application Computers became accessible to mass audience. Computers
were produced commercially, and were smaller and cheaper than their
predecessors.

 Examples
IBM 370, PDP 11.

The third generation computers used less power and generated less heat than the
second generation computers.
The cost of the computer reduced significantly, as individual components of the
computer were not required to be assembled manually.
The maintenance cost of the computers was also less compared to their
predecessors.

Fourth Generation (1971 to 1991): Using Microprocessors

The general features of the fourth generation computers were:
 Use of Very Large Scale Integration,
 Invention of microcomputers,
 Introduction of Personal Computers
 Networking,
 Fourth Generation Languages
 Super computers

* Hardware Technology They use the Large Scale Integration (LSI) and the
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology. Thousands of transistors are
integrated on a small silicon chip using LSI technology. VLSI allows hundreds
of thousands of components to be integrated in a small chip.
This era is marked by the development of microprocessor. Microprocessor is a
chip containing millions of transistors and components, and, designed using LSI
and VLSI technology.

This generation of computers gave rise to Personal Computer (PC).

Semiconductor memory replaced the earlier magnetic core memory, resulting in
fast random access to memory. Secondary storage device like magnetic disks
became smaller in physical size and larger in capacity.
The linking of computers is another key development of this era. The computers
were linked to form networks that led to the emergence of the Internet.
This generation also saw the development of pointing devices like mouse, and
handheld devices .Keyboard, CRT display (monitor), dot-matrix printers were
also set as peripherals. Inkjet, laser and line printers were also developed during
this period.
Hard disks were used as secondary memory. Hard disk drives of hundreds of
megabytes were available.
 Software Technology Several new operating systems like the MS-DOS
and MS- Windows developed during this time. This generation of
computers supported Graphical User Interface (GUI). GUI is a user-
friendly interface that allows user to interact with the computer via menus
and icons.
High-level programming languages are used for the writing of programs. Object
oriented language C++ was developed. Software packages for word processing,
spread sheet, database management etc. Were developed.

 Computing Characteristics The computation time is in picoseconds.

 Physical Appearance They are smaller than the computers of the

previous generation. Some can even fit into the palm of the hand.

 Application They became widely available for commercial purposes.

Personal computers became available to the home user.

 Examples
The Intel 4004 chip was the first microprocessor. The components of the
computer like Central Processing Unit (CPU) and memory were located on a
single chip.
In 1981, IBM introduced the first computer for home use.
In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh. The microprocessor has resulted in
the fourth generation computers being smaller and cheaper than their
predecessors.
Super computers- Cray-1, Cray-2, Hitachi etc..
The fourth generation computers are also portable and more reliable. They
generate much lesser heat and require less maintenance compared to their
predecessors

Fifth Generation (1991-Present ): Using Artificial Intelligence

The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop computers that are capable
of learning and self- organization.
The fifth generation computers use ultra large Scale technology (ULSI)
technology and Super Large Scale Integrated (SLSI) chips that are able to store
millions of components on a single chip. These computers have large memory
requirements.

This generation of computers uses parallel processing that allows several

instructions to be executed in parallel, instead of serial execution. Parallel
processing results in faster processing speed.
The Intel dual core microprocessor uses parallel processing.
The fifth generation computers are based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). They
try to simulate the human way of thinking and reasoning. Artificial Intelligence
includes areas like Expert System (ES),
Natural Language Processing (NLP), speech recognition, voice recognition,
robotics, etc.

 Hardware technologies
ICs with ULSI technology in which millions of transistors were placed in a
single IC. Intel’s Pentium 4 contains 400 million transistors.64 bit
microprocessors were developed.
Larger capacity main memory, hard disks with RAID support have been
developed during this period.
Optical disks were developed as portable read-only storage media Notebooks,
powerful desktop PCs and workstations, Powerful servers and supercomputers
were common.
Multimedia computers were also very common. Robots were developed. They
can work in any environment where human beings cannot do. Internet, Cluster
computing were very popular.
 software technologies
Micro-kernel based, multithreading, distributed OS , Parallel programming
libraries are in use.
Object oriented language JAVA for internet programming is widely used.
World Wide Web, Multimedia, Internet applications are common to public.
More complex supercomputing applications are developed. Robotics and
Development of expert systems to make decisions in real-life situations were
introduced.
 Application
Portable computers , Powerful, cheaper, reliable, and easier to use desktop
machines . Powerful supercomputers
Totally general purpose machines easier to produce commercially, easier to
upgrade , Rapid software development possible.

 examples
IBM notebooks
Pentium PCs
SUN Workstations
IBM SP/2
SGI Origin 2000
PARAM 10000

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
The digital computers that are available nowadays vary in their sizes and types.
The computers are broadly classified into four categories based on their size and
type
1. Microcomputers
2. Minicomputers
3. Mainframe computers
4. Super computers

Microcomputers
Microcomputers are small, low-cost and single-user digital computer. They
consist of CPU, input unit, output unit, storage unit and the software.
Although microcomputers are stand-alone machines, they can be connected
together to create a network of computers that can serve more than one user
Types of microcomputers:
a. desktop computers
b. notebook computers or laptop
c. tablet computer
d. handheld computer
e. smart phones
a. Desktop Computer or Personal Computer (PC)
This is the most common type of microcomputer. It is a stand-alone machine
that can be placed on the desk. It consists of keyboard, monitor, CPU, memory,
hard disk drive, etc. It is not very expensive and is suited to the needs of a single
user at home, small business units, and organizations. Apple, Microsoft, HP,
Dell
and Lenovo are some of the PC manufacturers.
Notebook Computers or Laptop
This type of computers resemble a notebook. They are portable and have all the
features of a desktop computer. The advantage of the laptop is that it is small in
size (can be put inside a briefcase), can be carried anywhere.It has a battery
backup and has all the functionality of the desktop. Laptops can be placed on
the lap while working (hence the name). Laptops are costlier than the desktop
machines.
Tablet
This computer has features of the notebook computer but it can accept input
from a stylus or a pen instead of the keyboard or mouse. It is a portable
computer. Tablet computer are the new kind of PCs.
Handheld Computer or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
This is a small computer that can be held on the top of the palm. It is small in
size. Instead of the keyboard, PDA uses a pen or a stylus for input. PDAs do not
have a disk drive. They have a limited memory and are less powerful. PDAs can
be connected to the Internet via a wireless connection. Casio and Apple are
some of the manufacturers of PDA. Over the last few years, PDAs have merged
into mobile phones to create smart phones.
Smart Phones
They are cellular phones that function both as a phone and as a small PC. They
may use a stylus or a pen, or may have a small keyboard. They can be
connected to the internet wirelessly. They are used to access the electronic-mail,
download music, play games, etc. Blackberry, Apple, HTC, Nokia and LG are
some of the manufacturers of smart phones.

b. Minicomputers
Minicomputers are digital computers, generally used in multi-user systems.
They
have high processing speed and high storage capacity than the microcomputers.
Minicomputers can support 4–200 users simultaneously. The users can access
the minicomputer through their PCs or terminal. They are used for real-time
applications in industries, research centres, etc.
PDP 11, IBM (8000 series) are some of the widely used minicomputers
Mainframe Computers
Mainframe computers are multi-user, multi-programming and high performance
computers. They operate at a very high speed, have very large storage capacity
and can handle the workload of many users. Mainframe computers are large and
powerful systems generally used in centralized databases. The user accesses the
mainframe computer via a terminal.
Mainframe computers are used in organizations like banks or companies, where
many people require frequent access to the same data. Some examples of
mainframes are CDC 6600 and IBM ES000 series.
Supercomputers
Supercomputers are the fastest and the most expensive machines. They have
high
processing speed compared to other computers. The speed of a supercomputer is
generally measured in FLOPS (FLoating point Operations per Second). Some of
the faster supercomputers can perform trillions of calculations per second.
Supercomputers are built by interconnecting thousands of processors that can
work in parallel.
Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks, such as, weather
forecasting, climate research (global warming), molecular research, biological
research, nuclear research and aircraft design. They are also used in major
universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories. Some
examples of supercomputers are IBM Roadrunner, IBM Blue gene and Intel
ASCI red. PARAM is a series of supercomputer assembled in India by C-DAC
(Center for Development of Advanced Computing), in Pune. PARAM Padma is
the latest machine in this series. The peak computing power of PARAM Padma
is 1 Tera FLOP (TFLOP).

Major components of a Digital Computer

The major components of a digital computer are CPU, memory, input device
and output device.
The schematic diagram of a digital computer can be represented as ,

Input devices Output devices

CPU

Memory
Block Diagram
Input Unit
The user interacts with the computer via the I/O unit. The Input unit accepts
data from the user and the Output unit provides the processed data i.e. the
information to the user. The Input unit converts the data that it accepts from the
user, into a form that is understandable by the computer. The input is provided
to the computer using input devices like keyboard, trackball and mouse
Output Unit
The Output device displays the output in a form that is understandable by the
user. The computer send the information to an output device in the binary
format. The output device converts it into suitable form so that users can access
it in the printed format or voice output.
Some of the commonly used output devices are monitor and printer.
Central Processing Unit
CPU controls, coordinates and supervises the operations of the computer. It is
responsible for processing of the input data. CPU consists of Arithmetic Logic
Unit (ALU) and Control Unit (CU).
 ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic operations on the input data.
 CU controls the overall operations of the computer i.e. it checks the
sequence of execution of instructions, and, controls and coordinates the
overall functioning of the units of computer.
Additionally, CPU also has a set of registers for temporary storage of data,
instructions, addresses and intermediate results of calculation.
The schematic diagram of CPU can be represented as shown below.

Accumulator
ALU
General and special purpose
registers

Timing and control unit

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

The function of an ALU is to perform arithmetic and logic operations such as
addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, AND, OR, NOT etc.
It also performs increment, decrement, shift, clear operations.
Timing and Control Unit
The timing and control unit generates timing and control signals necessary for
the execution of instructions. It provides status, control and timing signals to
other parts of the CPU, memory and I/O devices. It controls the entire
operations of a computer. So this section of the CPU is always called the brain
of the computer.
Accumulator, general and special purpose registers
The accumulator is a register which holds the operands prior to the execution
of an instruction and stores result of most of the arithmetic and logic operations.
It is the most frequently used register.
General purpose registers store data and intermediate results during the
execution of a program.
Special purpose registers are used for different purposes like program counter,
stack pointer etc..
General purpose registers are accessible to programmers in assembly language
programming. .Special purpose registers are not accessible to users.

Memory Unit
Memory unit stores the data, instructions, intermediate results and output,
temporarily, during the processing of data. This memory is also called the main
memory or primary memory of the computer. The input data, to be processed is
brought into the main memory before processing. The instructions required for
processing of data and any intermediate results are also stored in the main
memory. The output is stored in memory before being transferred to the output
device.
CPU can work with the information stored in the main memory. Another kind
of storage unit is also referred to as the secondary memory of the computer. The
data, the programs and the output are stored permanently in the storage unit of
the computer. Magnetic disks, optical disks and magnetic tapes are examples of
secondary memory.

Booting Process
The process of turning on your computer and allow it to go through instructions
to bring up the operating system is called booting. The operating system is the
program that makes all your software applications and hardware work together.
The boot process loads the operating system into main memory or the random
access memory (RAM) installed on your computer. The term booting is derived
from boot strapping.
When the computer starts up by pressing the power button, the first thing that
occurs is to send a signal to the motherboard which in turn starts the power
supply. After supplying the correct amount of power to each device, it sends a
signal “power OK “to BIOS, which resides in the motherboard.
Once the BIOS receive the power ok signal, it starts the booting process by first
initializing a process called POST. POST first checks that every device has the
right amount of power and then it checks whether the memory is not corrupted.
Then it initializes every devices and finally passes the control to BIOS for
further booting.
Once the POST is complete, the BIOS, or Basic Input/output System, is
activated. The BIOS is actually stored in read only memory (ROM).
Now the final step of booting begins. The boot loader program opens or wakes
up the BIOS, which then finds the complete loading instructions on a bootable
device, typically the hard disk. For this the BIOS finds a record called Master
Boot Record (MBR).
The Master Boot Record (MBR) is the information which is in the first sector
(boot sector) of any hard disk that indicates how and where an operating system
is located so that it can be boot (loaded) into the computer's main memory or
random access memory. Its size is less than 512 bytes

The program that starts the “chain reaction” which ends with the entire operating
system being loaded is known as the boot loader (or bootstrap loader).
The boot loader’s only job is to load other software for the operating system to
start
The priority of booting devices is set by the user in BIOS setting. The normal
priority is hard disk. If a valid boot sector is not found, BIOS checks for the next
device in the boot sequence until it finds a valid boot sector. If the BIOS fails to
get a valid boot sector, it stops execution and gives another message “Disk Boot
Failure”.

Boot Devices
The boot device is the device from which the operating system is loaded. A
modern PC BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) supports booting from various
devices. These include the local hard disk drive, optical drive, floppy drive, a
network interface card, and a USB device. Typically, the BIOS will allow the
user to configure a boot order. If the boot order is set to:

1. CD Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive
3. Network

then the BIOS will try to boot from the CD drive first, and if that fails then it will
try to boot from the hard disk drive, and if that fails then it will try to boot from
the network, and if that fails then it won’t boot at all.

Steps in Booting Process

The following are the steps involved in a system boot process −

 The CPU initializes itself after the power in the computer is first turned
on

 After this, the CPU looks for the system’s ROM BIOS to obtain the first
instruction in the start-up program. This first instruction is stored in the
BIOS and it instructs the system to run POST (Power On Self Test)

 POST first checks the BIOS chip and then the CMOS. If there is no
battery failure detected by POST, then it continues to initialize the CPU.
  POST also checks the hardware devices, secondary storage devices such
as hard drives, ports etc. And other hardware devices such as the mouse
and keyboard. This is done to make sure they are working properly.

 After POST makes sure that all the components are working properly,
then the BIOS finds an operating system to load.

 The CMOS chip tells the BIOS, where the operating system is found.

 The order of the different drives that CMOS looks at while finding the
operating system is known as the boot sequence. This sequence can be
changed by changing the CMOS setup.

 After finding the appropriate boot drive, the BIOS first finds the boot
record which tells it to find the beginning of the operating system.

 After the initialization of the operating system, the BIOS copies the files
into the memory. Then the operating system controls the boot process.

 In the end, the operating system does a final inventory of the system
memory and loads the device drivers needed to control the peripheral
devices.

 The users can access the system applications to perform various tasks.

Memory capacity
Memory capacity is the amount of memory that can be used for an electronic
device such as a computer, laptop, smartphone or other smart device.
Every hardware device or computer has a minimum and maximum amount of
memory. The performance of a device and the efficiency of its input/output
operations is dependent on memory capacity
The memory capacity of a device is commonly expressed in bytes, kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes or terabytes.
The memory capacity of a device depends on many factors such as the number
of available address registers in the CPU. In the case of 32-bit CPUs, they can
only address a memory capacity of up to 4 GB. As for a 64-bit computer, the
memory capacity is unlimited.

Memory Units

Memory unit is the amount of data that can be stored in the storage unit. This
storage capacity is expressed in terms of Bytes.
The following table explains the main memory storage units −

S.No Unit & Description

.

Bit (Binary Digit)

1
A binary digit is logical 0 and 1 representing a passive or an active state of a
component in an electric circuit.

Nibble
2
A group of 4 bits is called nibble.

Byte
3 A group of 8 bits is called byte. A byte is the smallest unit, which can represent a
data item or a character.

4 Word
A computer word, like a byte, is a group of fixed number of bits processed as a
unit, which varies from computer to computer but is fixed for each computer.
 The length of a computer word is called word-size or word length. It may be as
small as 8 bits or may be as long as 96 bits. A computer stores the information in
the form of computer words.

The following table lists some higher storage units −

S.No. Unit & Description

1 Kilobyte (KB)
1 KB = 1024 Bytes

Megabyte (MB)
2
1 MB = 1024 KB

GigaByte (GB)
3
1 GB = 1024 MB

TeraByte (TB)
4
1 TB = 1024 GB

PetaByte (PB)
5
1 PB = 1024 TB

ExaByte
6
1 EB=1024 PB

ZettaByte
7
1 ZB=1024 EB

8 YottaByte
 1 YB=1024 ZB

Memory Speed
The amount of time that it takes RAM to receive a request from the processor
and then read or write data. The faster the RAM, the faster the
processing speed. RAM speed is measured in Megahertz (MHz), millions of
cycles per second.

Clock Speed

Clock speed is the rate at which a processor can complete a processing cycle. It
is typically measured in megahertz or gigahertz. One megahertz is equal to one
million cycles per second, while one gigahertz equals one billion cycles per
second. This means a 1.8 GHz processor has twice the clock speed of a 900
MHz processor.