INTRODUCTION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Modern computer systems lecture 2

Objectives
What makes up a computer system

Various types of computers

Components of a computer system Software (makes the computer useable) Data representation in computers

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What is a computer?
Computer: An electronic system that can be instructed to accept, process, store, and present data and information. Computers come in three most common sizes:

Super computers Mainframes - Micro computers

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Sizes/shapes of computers today

Supercomputers are the most powerful computers., and physically are some of the largest. These computers are built to process huge amounts of data. They can perform more than 1 trillion calculations per second. Because of their speed and power, supercomputers are ideal for handling large and highly complex problems that require extreme calculating power. Examples where Supercomputers can be used4 3/2/2013 Charles Asiimwe

Computer shapes/sizes contd..

Mainframe computers are not as powerful, generally not as large, and typically not as expensive as super computers. Mainframe computers are used in large organizations where data processing is centralized and there is need for this data/information to be shared by staff in different departments or different geographical locations. These computers can house large volumes of data and can process 1 billion instructions per second.

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Computer shapes/sizes contd..

Microcomputers: The smallest and least expensive category of general-purpose computers is called micro computers or personal computers.
They may be sub-divided into five classifications ; Desktop Computers Notebook Computers/Laptop Computers Tablet PCs Personal Digital Assistants Palm PCs
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Classifications of Microcomputers
Image of desktop computer with separate but connected monitor, keyboard and CPU
Palmtop is small enough to be held in one hand.

Laptop/Notebook

PDA uses a pen rather than a keyboard for input.

Tablet PCs
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Computer system

Computer System: A computer and all the hardware interconnected with it. Hardware Software/Programs Data/Information People Procedures

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Components of a computer system

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Computer
Hardware
(Physical Parts)

Software
(Instructions/ Programs )

Data & Users

Input Devices
Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, etc

System Software

Operating System Software MS-Windows xp, Linux, Unix

Processor(CPU) Output Devices

Monitor, Speakers

Application Software

Ms Word (Secondary Memory)

Storage

Database S/W Graphics S/W

Hard Disk drive, Floppy disk, Flash Disks, Compact Disk

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Components of a computer system : Hardware

A computer's hardware consists of electronic physical devices; the parts you can see and touch. The term "device" refers to any piece of hardware used by the computer, for example a keyboard, monitor, modem, mouse, etc.

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Examples of hardware

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Classifications of hardware
Hardware can be classified into four categories i.e. input devices, processors, output devices and secondary storage devices.

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Hardware contd..
input devices Input: The data or information entered into a computer or the process of entering data or information into the computer for processing, storage and retrieval, or transmission.
Keyboards Mouse Touch screen Digital camera Scanner Bar code reader
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Hardware contd..
Processor/Central Processing Unit (CPU): A set of electronic circuits that perform the computers processing actions. Output Devices Output: The results of inputting and processing data and information returned by the computer, either directly to the person using the system or to secondary storage.

Printer Speakers Monitor Microphone Projectors

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Hardware contd..
Secondary Storage Devices Secondary Storage (Auxiliary Storage): A storage medium that is external to the computer, but that can be read by the computer; a way of storing data and information outside the computer itself.

floppy Diskettes Flash disks External hard drives Zip disks CD-ROM disk: Short for compact disk read only memory,
an optical storage medium that permits storage of large amounts of information. CD-ROM disks canonly be writtenAsiimwe cannot be to and 3/2/2013 Charles
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Components of a computer system : Software

Software is a general term for a set of instructions that controls the computer and tells it what to do. A Program is a set of instructions that directs a computer to perform certain tasks and produce certain results. Software controls the operations of a computer, and without it, a computer is just a dump machine.

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Software contd..
Software are of two types; System software Application software System software System software is computer software designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide and maintain a platform for running application software. One major type of system software is the operating system (OS). All computers require an operating system.

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Software contd
The OS defines the interface between the computer user and the computer. It also monitors the way the other software use the hardware. It controls and ensures that the computer operates in the way intended in a systematic, reliable and efficient manner. Common operating systems include Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Unix (Linux these days) .

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Software contd
Application software. Tells the computer how to accomplish tasks the user requires, such as creating a document or editing a graphic image. Some important kinds of application software are;

Word processing programs Spreadsheet software Database management Presentation programs Graphics programs Networking software Web design tools and browsers Internet applications Communications programs Utilities 3/2/2013 Charles Asiimwe Entertainment and education Multimedia authoring

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Components of a computer system : Data

Data consists of raw facts, which the computer can manipulate and process into information that is useful to people. Computerized data is digital, meaning that it has been reduced to digits, or numbers. The computer stores and reads all data as numbers. Although computers use data in digital form, they convert data into forms that people can understand, such as text, numerals, sounds, and images

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Data contd
Computer data is usually organized into files. A file is a set of data that has been given a name. A file that the user can open and use is often called a document. Although many people think of documents as text, a computer document can include many kinds of data e.g. a text file such as a letter, a group of numbers such as a budget, a video clip which includes images and sound, or any combination of these items.

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Components of a computer system : People

Users and Creators of IT Applications

User (End User): The people who use IT in their jobs or personal lives Programmer/Analyst: A person who has joint responsibility for determining system requirements and developing and implementing the systems. Computer Engineer: An IT professional who designs, develops, and oversees the manufacturing of computer equipment. Systems Engineer: An IT professional who installs and maintains hardware
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Components of a computer system : Procedure

Procedure: A step-by-step process or a set of instructions for accomplishing specific results. Operations Backup and Recovery Security Development

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Procedures contd

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Procedures contd
Operations Procedure: A procedure that describes how a computer system or application is used, how often it can be used, who is authorized to use it, and where the results of processing should go. Backup Procedure: A procedure that describes how and when to make extra copies of information or software to protect against losses. Recovery Procedure: An action taken when information or software must be restored.

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Procedures contd
Security Procedure: A procedure designed to safeguard data centers, communications networks, computers, and other IT components from accidental intrusion or intentional damage. Security Software: Software that is designed to protect systems and data. Development Procedure: A procedure that explains how IT professionals should describe user needs and develop applications to meet those needs.

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Representing Data and Information

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How computers represent Data

Binary Numbers The Binary Number System Bits and Bytes Binary Codes

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How computers represent Data

computers can understand only one language consisting of two symbols; the binary language also known as the language of a computer which consists of two symbols 0 and 1. Unfortunately, the most common way to represent data is use of numerals 0 to 9 and the alphabets A - Z along with some special symbols such as +, -, / etc. The computer is unable to understand the supplied data represented by these symbols.

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How computers represent Data

The limitation of a computer to understand the human languages necessitated the changing of data to binary form, known as coding of data. In other words, to make communication possible between a computer and man, data must be coded in a form understandable to the computer. The information also supplied by the computer as a result of processing must be decoded in the form understandable to the user.

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How computers represent Data

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The Binary Number System

To convert data into strings of numbers, computers use the binary number system. Humans use the decimal system (deci stands for ten). The binary number system works the same way as the decimal system, but has only two available symbols (0 and 1) rather than ten (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9).
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Base 10 0 1 2 3 4

Base 2 0 1 10 11 100

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6 7 8 9

101
110 111 1000 1001

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Binary Representations
The representation in binary follows the same rules as decimal. 110(binary) = 1 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 0 x 20 = 6(decimal) We can convert from decimal to binary also
2 2 6 3 0

110(binary)
1

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Binary Representations
Binary Arithmetic
Operation using binary are the same as decimal, but with the following simple rules.
0+0 = 0 0+1 = 1

1+0 = 1

1 + 1 = 10

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Binary Addition

Decimal Addition

1 1 1 0 11 1 1 1 1 0 1
1+0 = 1 1 + 1 = 10

= 6
= 7 = 13

Why use a binary system in a computer?

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Assignment

Discuss why computers use the binary number system..

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Bits and Bytes

As discussed earlier, computers use the binary system of measurement as their basis of working, that is 0 and 1. Therefore, computer memory is measured in terms of Binary digiTS (BITS), which are the smallest units of data that can be used by computer. To make up a single character in a computer, a group of 8 bits will be needed. Therefore, one character is equivalent to 8 bits. And eight bits are equivalent to one byte.

For example if we are to type a word AGE a single character A will be represented asAsiimwe 3/2/2013 Charles 010000001.

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Binary codes

Various groups of binary codes have been developed to represent the 26 alphabetical letters and the special keys in accordance with a specific standards and codes.

An early binary code system, called EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) , uses eight-bit codes, but is used primarily in older mainframe systems.

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Binary codes
ASCII is the most common binary-code which stands for American Standard Code for information Interchange. In ASCII, each character consists of eight bits (one byte) of data. ASCII is used in nearly all personal computers.

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ASCII binary code

Symbol A B C Binary 01000001 01000010 01000011 Symbol a b c Binary 01100001 01100010 01100011

D
E

01000011
01000101

d
e

01100100
01100101

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Memory measurements
A bit is a binary digit, the smallest unit measurement of data on a computer. A bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1, corresponding to the electrical values of off or on, respectively. Because bits are so small, you rarely work with information one bit at a time. Bits are usually assembled into a group of eight to form a byte. A byte contains enough information to store a single ASCII character, like "h".

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Memory measurements
1 Kilobyte (KB) 1,024 bytes

1 Megabyte (MB) 1 Gigabyte (GB) 1 Terabyte (TB)

1,048, 576 bytes

1,073,741,824 bytes

1,099,511,627,776 bytes

1 petabyte (TB)

1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
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Memory measurements

Computer storage and memory is often measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). A medium-sized novel contains about 1MB of information. 1MB is 1,024 kilobytes, or 1,048,576 (1024x1024) bytes.

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