Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

by

Engr. Yakubu Usman

 CHAPTER ONE: Basic Functional Units of Computer
System and their Operations
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
• Understand computer benefits, applications and types.
• Know the working principle of a computer.
• Understand hardware and its various components.
• Understand the computer startup process, bootstrap, soft and hard boot.
• Understand the difference between system software and application software.
• Explain the different functions of an operating system and discuss some ways that
operating systems can differ from one another.
• List several ways in which operating systems can enhance processing efficiency.
• Name today‟s most widely used operating systems for desktop PCs and servers.
• Describe the five generations of programming languages.
• State several devices other than desktop PCs and servers that require an operating
system and list one possible operating system for each type of device.
• Discuss the role of utility programs and outline several duties these programs can
perform.
• Describe what the operating systems of the future may be like.
 INTRODUCTION
“Information is power and Computers are amplifiers of
information”

• The amount of available information doubles after

every two years or so, managing it becomes vital.

• The computer helps us to manage information.

• In the years to come, understanding the computer

and its uses and being able to use it will become as
necessary as being able to use a pen.
 BENEFITS OF COMPUTERS

Main benefits of using computers are:

• Speed
• Computer work at a very high speed and are much faster than
humans. The human equivalent of an average computer would be
more than one million mathematicians working 24 hours a day.

• Accuracy
• Computers are very accurate. If the input and the instructions are
accurate the output will also be accurate.

• Capacity to take large amount of work.

• Unlike humans, computers do not get bored or tired. The monotony
of repetitive work for long hours does not affect the computers.
 APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS

Some applications of computers are:

• Railway reservation
• Banking and Accounts
• Weather Forecast
• Space Research
• Medical Diagnosis
• Modeling and Analysis
 TYPES OF COMPUTERS

• Computers are categorized on the basis of size, use and

performance. Generally, the larger the system, the greater is
its processing speed, storage capacity, cost and ability to
handle large number of devices
The various types of computers are:
• Microcomputer
• Personal computers
• Minicomputers
• Mainframes
• Super computers
 SPECIAL PURPOSE AND GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
Special purpose computers: are designed to perform
specific functions only.
Computers used in industrial process control, for
example, in a washing machine, a space craft, or a
robot falls under this category.
General purpose computers: on the other hand, are
fast data manipulating systems. They are designed to
automatically accept and store input data, process it,
and output the information. Computers used in
scientific applications weather forecasting, research
and business data-processing like payroll fall under the
general purpose category.
 DATA AND INFORMATION
The word data is plural of datum, which means fact or
raw information.
Information is organized or processed data. For
example, 88, 99, 34 are numbers i.e., data. But they
alone do not give any information as to what they are.
However, if they are written as:
Subject Marks
English 88
Mathematics 99
History 34
Then they become meaningful and are referred to as
information.
 WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A COMPUTER
• Just as a human being can be seen as a
combination of body and mind, so can a computer.
• The computer is a two part system consisting of a
body that is the hardware and a mind that is the
software.
• Most activities can be described in terms of the
Input-Process-Output (I-P-O) cycle.
• i. The monitor or the visual display unit (VDU) for
output
• ii. The keyboard for input
• iii. The system unit (CPU) for processing
• iv. The printer for output
 HARDWARE
Computer hardware includes all the electrical,
mechanical, and the electronic parts of a computer.
Any part that we can see or touch is the hard ware.
Computer hardware includes:
• System Unit
• Peripheral devices
• Input devices i.e. keyboard, mouse etc.
• Output devices i.e. Display Unit, printer etc.
• Storage devices like hard disk, floppy disks etc.
 System Unit
• It is a box like structure of the computer. Inside this
box you can find the power supply, storage device,
hard disk and floppy drives, and the mother board
containing CPU and memory.
• It also contains expansion slots and cards to connect
various input and output devices.
• It can also contain optional cards like the modem
card, mouse card, video card, sound card.
• System unit or Main unit or Console comes in two
styles. Desktop model and Tower model.
• The processing part of the I-P-O cycle takes place in
the system unit.
 System Unit…
Outside The Main Unit
Indicators
Power on indicator : it glows when the power is on.
Hard disk activity indicator : this gives the information as to whether the hard
disk is being accessed (read from or written to) or not.
Turbo mode indicator : This indicator is found in the
PCs having dual speed operation. It lets you know
whether the system is running at a high or low speed.
When the indicator is ON, it shows that computer is
working in high speed mode (Turbo mode).
Power switch: Depending on the model of the
computer, power switch can be anywhere.
Reset switch: Pressing this switch restarts your
computer, your power supply.
Turbo switch: It is used for changing the speed of your
computer to the Turbo mode.
 System Unit…
Inside The System Unit
The Internal Power Supply
• The power supply directs electricity
to the other components in your
machine.

• if you have a high performance computer with a

fast processor, a graphics card, and a few hard
drives, you'll need a higher wattage power
supply than you would if you were building a
low-end PC.
 The Microprocessor
The Processor (CPU) is the "brain" of
your computer. is the most important
chip on the motherboard.
The entire design of the PC is based on
this chip.
• The computer‟s performance depends directly
on the CPU. The performance of CPU depends
on the model, version and speed. The speed is
measured in Megahertz. The higher the value,
the faster is the information processed by CPU. It
comprises the ALU and CU.
 Primary Storage
Primary storage is used for four
purposes.
• To store the input data until the CPU
is ready for processing.
• As a working storage space like a
sheet of paper used for calculations. The RAM
• As an output storage area that holds
the finished results.
• As a program storage area that
stores the processing instructions.
Primary storage consists of RAM, ROM,
and cache.
 Secondary storage
• Computer‟s primary storage or main memory is volatile
and expensive.
• So, one need some storage device to store data and
other information.
• It should be cheap and should not loose the content
when power is switched off.
• This storage is called as the secondary storage.
• All secondary storage devices act both as input and
output devices.
• Hard Disk
• Floppy Disk
• Magnetic tapes
 The Motherboard
• The motherboard connects all the
other components to one another,
and is the physical base upon which
you build everything else.
• It contains a lot of your machine's core
features, like the number of USB ports,
the number of expansion cards you
can put in (such as video, sound, and
Wi-Fi), and also determines how big
your computer will be.
 THE START-UP PROCESS
• Every time a computer is switched on, it goes through a
series before the user is permitted to interact with it.
• Stored in the ROM is a set of instructions that check
each functional areas of the computer.
• These instructions are called the power on self test
(POST) program. Forms a part of the ROM-BIOS.
• The POST checks the entire RAM area and tests the
connections to the various hardware devices attached,
like the keyboard, the disk drive, etc.
• If problem occurs with any of the connections to the
hardware devices or with the RAM, POST program
reports this on the screen.
 The bootstrap process
• Once the POST is over the next stage is called the
„bootstrap‟ process.
• In the BIOS itself, there is small program called the
bootstrap loader, which copies the Operating System
from the floppy or hard disk to the RAM.
• The bootstrap loader first checks the „A‟ drive for a
bootable disk.
• If the floppy is not there in the drive, the hard disk drive
is checked. If the hard disk also does not have the
operating system then the computer reports „Boot disk
failure‟. This process of loading or copying the
operating system is called booting.
 Soft boot and Hard boot

• The Computer system can be restarted by

pressing the keys <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Del>
simultaneously. This is known as a soft boot.

• Using the reset switch or switching off and then

switching on the computer is known as a hard
boot.
 COMPUTER SOFTWARE

• Computer hardware is only as effective as the

instructions given to it, and those instructions are
contained in software.
• Software not only directs the computer to
manage its internal resources, but also enables
the user to tailor a computer system to provide
specific business value.
• At the corporate level, software expenditures
typically are at much larger cost than hardware.
 Software fundamentals
• Software consists of computer programs, which are
sequences of instructions for the computer. The process
of writing (or coding) programs is called programming,
and individuals who perform this task are called
programmers.
• Modern software uses the stored program concept, in
which stored software programs are accessed and
their instructions are executed (followed) in the
computer‟s CPU.
• Once the program has finished executing, a new
program is loaded into main memory and the
computer hardware addresses another task.
 Software fundamentals…
• There are two major types of software: Systems software
and Application software.
• Systems software is a set of instructions that serves
primarily as an intermediary between computer
hardware and application programs.
• Systems software provides important self-regulatory
functions for computer systems, such as loading itself
when the computer is first turned on, managing
hardware resources such as secondary storage for all
applications, and providing commonly used sets of
instructions for all applications to use.
 Software fundamentals…
• Application software is a set of computer instructions
that provide more specific functionality to a user. That
functionality may be broad, such as general word
processing, or narrow, such as an organization‟s payroll
program.
• An application program applies a computer to a
certain need.
• In summary, application programs primarily manipulate
data or text to produce or provide information. Systems
programs primarily manipulate computer hardware
resources.
 OPERATING SYSTEM
• The operating system supervises the overall operation of
the computer, including monitoring the computer‟s
status and scheduling operations, which include the
input and output processes.
• In addition, the operating system allocates CPU time
and main memory to programs running on the
computer, and it also provides an interface between
the user and the hardware.
• This interface hides the complexity of the hardware
from the user.
• It provides services that include process management,
virtual memory, file management, security, fault
tolerance, and the user interface.
 Categories of Operating Systems
Operating Systems can be classified into several
categorise such as:
1 Mainframe operating systems
2 Server operating systems
3 Multiprocessor operating systems
4 Personal computer operating systems
5 Real time operating systems
6 Embedded operating systems
7 Smart card operating systems
 FUNCTIONS OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM
1. Memory management
2. Spooling print jobs
3. Configuring devices
4 Monitoring system performance
5. Administering security
6. Managing storage media and files
 SYSTEM SUPPORT PROGRAMS
• System support programs, supports the operations,
management, and users of a computer system by
providing a variety of support services. Examples of
system support programs are system utility programs,
performance monitors, and security monitors.
• They include :
• System utilities
• System performance monitors
• System security monitors
 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
Programming languages provide the basic building blocks
for all systems and application software. Programming
languages allow people to tell computers what to do and
are the means by which software systems are developed.
This section will describe the five generations of
programming languages.
• Machine Language
• Assembly Languages
• Procedural Languages
• Nonprocedural Languages
• Natural programming Languages
 OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
• Open source software is software made available in source
code form at no cost to developers.
• There are many examples of open-source software, including
the GNU suite of software (gnu.org) developed by the Free
Software Foundation (fsf.org); the Linux operating system;
Apache Web server (apache.org); sendmail SMTP (Send Mail
Transport Protocol) e-mail server (sendmail. org); the Perl
programming language (perl.com), the Netscape Mozilla
browser (mozilla.org); and Sun‟s Star Office applications suite
(sun.com).
• Open source software is, in many cases, more reliable than
commercial software. Because the code is available to many
developers, more bugs are discovered early and quickly, and
are fixed immediately.
 THE FUTURE OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
• The OS will continue to become more user-friendly and
will eventually be driven primarily by a voice interface.

• It will likely to continue to become more stable and self

healing.

• It will likely continue to include improved security

features and to support multiple processors and other
technological improvements and may be used
primarily to access software available through the
Internet or other networks.
 Exercises: Questions/Answers
Differentiate between the two major types of software.
Solution:
Software consists of computer programs (coded instructions)
that control the functions of computer hardware. There are
two main categories of software: systems software and
application software. Systems software manages the
hardware resources of the computer system and functions
between the hardware and the application software. Systems
software includes the system control programs (operating
systems) and system support programs. Application software
enables users to perform specific tasks and information-
processing activities.
 Exercises: Questions/Answers…
Describe the general functions of the operating system.
Solution:
Operating systems manage the actual computer
resources (i.e., the hardware). Operating systems
schedule and process applications (jobs), manage and
protect memory, ensure cache consistency, manage the
input and output functions and hardware, manage data
and files, and provide clustering support, security, fault
tolerance, inter-application communications, graphical
user interfaces, and windowing.
 Exercises: Questions/Answers…
Describe the major types of application software.
Solution:
The major types of application software are spreadsheet,
data management, word processing, desktop publishing,
graphics, multimedia, communications, speech
recognition, and groupware.
Software suites combine several types of application
software (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, and data
management) into an integrated package.
 Exercises: Questions/Answers…
Explain how software has evolved and trends for the future.
Solution:
Software and programming languages continue to become more
user oriented. Programming languages have evolved from the first
generation of machine languages that is directly understandable
to the CPU to higher levels that use more natural language and
that do not require users to specify the detailed procedures for
achieving desired results. This trend ensures that end users and the
information systems staff will become more productive. In
addition, software is becoming much more complex, expensive,
and time consuming to develop. As a result, the trend is toward
purchasing off-the-shelf software, often in the form of
components, rather than developing it in-house. In the future,
organizations will tend to buy component-based software
modules to reduce costs and development time.