COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

LECTURE NOTES
 computer hardware

Computer hardware is a collective term used

to describe any of the physical components
of an analog or digital computer.

The term hardware distinguishes the tangible

aspects of a computing device from software,
which consists of written, machine-readable
instructions or programs that tell physical
components what to do and when to execute
the instructions.
• Hardware and software are complementary. A
computing device can function efficiently and
produce useful output only when both hardware and
software work together appropriately.

• Computer hardware can be categorized as being

either internal or external components. Generally,
internal hardware components are those necessary for
the proper functioning of the computer, while
external hardware components are attached to the
computer to add or enhance functionality .
 internal computer hardware components

• Internal components collectively process or store the

instructions delivered by the program or operating system
(OS). These include the following:
Motherboard. This is a printed circuit board that holds the
central processing unit (CPU) and other essential internal
hardware and functions as the central hub that all other
hardware components run through.
CPU. The CPU is the brain of the computer that processes
and executes digital instructions from various programs;
its clock speed determines the computer's performance
and efficiency in processing data.
• RAM. RAM -- or dynamic RAM -- is temporary
memory storage that makes information immediately
accessible to programs; RAM is volatile memory, so
stored data is cleared when the computer powers off.
• Hard disk drive(HDD). Hard disk drives are physical
storage devices that store both permanent and
temporary data in different formats, including
programs, OSes, device files, photos, etc.
• Solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs are solid-state storage
devices based on NAND flash memory technology;
SSDs are non-volatile, so they can safely store data
even when the computer is powered down.
• Optical drive. Optical drives typically reside in an on-
device drive bay; they enable the computer to read and
interact with nonmagnetic external media, such as
compact disc read-only memory or digital video discs.

• Heat sink. This is a passive piece of hardware that

draws heat away from components to regulate/reduce
their temperature to help ensure they continue to
function properly. Typically, a heat sink is installed
directly atop the CPU, which produces the most heat
among internal components.
• Graphics processing unit. This chip-based device
processes graphical data and often functions as an
extension to the main CPU.
• Network interface card (NIC). A NIC is a circuit
board or chip that enables the computer to connect
to a network; also known as a network adapter or
local area network adapter, it typically supports
connection to an Ethernet network.
• Other computing components, such as USB ports,
power supplies, transistors and chips, are also types
of internal hardware.
 external hardware components

• External hardware components, also called peripheral

components, are those items that are often externally
connected to the computer to control either input or
output functions. These hardware devices are designed
to either provide instructions to the software (input) or
render results from its execution (output).

Common input hardware components include the

following:
• Mouse. A mouse is a hand-held pointing device that
moves a cursor around a computer screen and enables
interaction with objects on the screen. It may be wired
or wireless.
• Keyboard. A keyboard is an input device featuring a
standard QWERTY keyset that enables users to input
text, numbers or special characters.
• Microphone. A microphone is a device that translates
sound waves into electrical signals and supports
computer-based audio communications.
• Camera. A camera captures visual images and
streams them to the computer or through a computer
to a network device.
• Touchpad. A touchpad is an input device, external or
built into a laptop, used to control the pointer on a
display screen. It is typically an alternative to an
external mouse.
• USB flash drive. A USB flash drive is an external,
removable storage device that uses flash memory and
interfaces with a computer through a USB port.
• Memory card. A memory card is a type of portable
external storage media, such as a CompactFlash card,
used to store media or data files.
• Other input hardware components include joysticks,
styluses and scanners.

Examples of output hardware components include the following:

• Monitor. A monitor is an output device similar to a TV screen
that displays information, documents or images generated by
the computing device.
• Printer. Printers render electronic data from a computer into
printed material.
• Speaker. A speaker is an external audio output device that
connects to a computer to generate a sound output.
• Headphones, earphones, ear buds. Similar to speakers, these
devices provide audio output that's audible only to a single
listener.
 Hardware vs. software
• Hardware refers to the computer's tangible
components or delivery systems that store and run the
written instructions provided by the software. The
software is the intangible part of the device that lets
the user interact with the hardware and command it to
perform specific tasks. Computer software includes
the following:
 Software
• A software or computer software essentially a type of
programs which enable the users to perform some
particular specific task or actually used to operate their
computer.
• It essentially directs all of the peripheral devices on the
entire computer system- what exactly to do and how
exactly to perform a task. A software plays a key role of
a mediator between the user and the computer
hardware. In the absence of software, a user essentially
can’t perform any task on a computer
 Types of Software
• Generally, there are two main classifications of
software, which are namely,

System Software .
Application Software.
 System Software
• It a software that helps the user as well as the hardware
to function and even interact with each other easily.
Essentially, it is a software which is used to manage the
behavior of the computer hardware in order to offer
basic functionalities which are needed by the user.
• In simpler word, it can be said that system software is
essentially an intermediator or even a middle layer
between the user as well as the hardware.
 common system software examples
• Operating System
Being a prominent example for system software, it is
essentially a collection of software which handles
resources as well as offers general services for various
other application which actually run over them. There
are different types of operating systems like embedded,
real-time, distributed, single-user, multi-user, mobile,
internet and much more. Full stack web development
services develop apps to operate on a mobile operating
system like Android and iOS.
Some of the key examples of operating systems are as
follows:

• MS Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• iOS
• Android
• Ubuntu
• Unix
Device Drivers
• This type of software controls particular hardware which is
essentially attached to the system. Different hardware
devices which require a driver to connect to a system easily
consist of displays, printers, sound cards, hard disks,
keyboard, and mice. Few of the examples of such drivers
are:
• BIOS Driver, Motherboard Drivers
• Display Drivers, ROM Drivers
• Printer Drivers
• USB Drivers
• Sound Card Driver
• VGA Drivers
• Utility
These software are designed to assist in analysing, as well
as optimizing, along with configuring and maintaining a
given computer system. It provides support to the computer
infrastructure. Software like disk cleanup and management
tools, anti-viruses, defragmenters, compression tools etc.
are all utility software.
Some of its examples are:
• Norton Antivirus
• McAfee Antivirus
• WinRAR
• WinZip
• Windows File Explorer
 Operating System
An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as
an interface between computer hardware components and
the user. Every computer system must have at least one
operating system to run other programs. Applications like
Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some
environment to run and perform its tasks.

The OS helps you to communicate with the computer

without knowing how to speak the computer’s language. It
is not possible for the user to use any computer or mobile
device without having an operating system.
 Types of Operating System (OS)
The Followings are the popular types of OS

• Batch Operating System

• Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
• Multiprocessing OS
• Real Time OS
• Distributed OS
• Network OS
• Mobile OS
• Batch Operating System
Some computer processes are very lengthy and time-
consuming. To speed the same process, a job with a similar
type of needs are batched together and run as a group.
The user of a batch operating system never directly interacts
with the computer. In this type of OS, every user prepares his
or her job on an offline device like a punch card and submit it
to the computer operator.

• Multi-Tasking/Time-sharing Operating systems

Time-sharing operating system enables people located at a
different terminal(shell) to use a single computer system at the
same time. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among
multiple users is termed as time sharing.
• Real time OS
A real time operating system time interval to process and respond to
inputs is very small. Examples: Military Software Systems, Space
Software Systems are the Real time OS example.
• Distributed Operating System
Distributed systems use many processors located in different
machines to provide very fast computation to its users.
• Network Operating System
Network Operating System runs on a server. It provides the
capability to serve to manage data, user, groups, security,
application, and other networking functions.
• Mobile OS
Mobile operating systems are those OS which is especially that are
designed to power smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices.
• Some most famous mobile operating systems are Android and iOS,
but others include BlackBerry, Web, and watchOS.
Functions of Operating System
In an operating system software, it performs each of the function:

• Process management: Process management helps OS to

create and delete processes. It also provides mechanisms
for synchronization and communication among processes.

• Memory management: Memory management module

performs the task of allocation and de-allocation of
memory space to programs in need of this resources.

• File management: It manages all the file-related activities

such as organization storage, retrieval, naming, sharing,
and protection of files.
• Device Management: Device management keeps tracks of all
devices. This module also responsible for this task is known as
the I/O controller. It also performs the task of allocation and
de-allocation of the devices.
• I/O System Management: One of the main objects of any OS
is to hide the peculiarities of that hardware devices from the
user.
• Secondary-Storage Management: Systems have several
levels of storage which includes primary storage, secondary
storage, and cache storage. Instructions and data must be
stored in primary storage or cache so that a running program
can reference it.
• Security: Security module protects the data and information of
a computer system against malware threat and authorized
access.
• Command interpretation: This module is interpreting
commands given by the and acting system resources to
process that commands.
• Networking: A distributed system is a group of processors
which do not share memory, hardware devices, or a clock. The
processors communicate with one another through the
network.
• Job accounting: Keeping track of time & resource used by
various job and users.

• Communication management: Coordination and assignment

of compilers, interpreters, and another software resource of the
various users of the computer systems.
 Advantage of Operating System
• Allows you to hide details of hardware by creating an
abstraction
• Easy to use with a GUI
• Offers an environment in which a user may execute
programs/applications
• The operating system must make sure that the computer
system convenient to use
• Operating System acts as an intermediary among applications
and the hardware components
• It provides the computer system resources with easy to use
format
• Acts as an intermediator between all hardware’s and
software’s of the system
 Disadvantages of Operating System

• If any issue occurs in OS, you may lose all the contents which
have been stored in your system

• Operating system’s software is quite expensive for small size

organization which adds burden on them. Example Windows

• It is never entirely secure as a threat can occur at any time

 Application Software
• They are also popularly known as end-user programs or
even productivity programs which assist the user in
completing various tasks like conducting online
research, making notes, designing graphics,
maintaining accounts, carrying out calculations or even
playing computer games. They essentially lie above the
system software. They are actually used by the end-user
as well as have specific functionality or tasks which
they are designed to perform. These software are often
developed through custom software development,
based on the requirements of the users.
• There is a variety of application software. Some of
them are:
• Word Processors
Such applications are meant for documentation. It
also assists in storing as well as formatting and even
printing of the documents. Key examples of such
software are:
• MS Word
• Apple iWork-Pages
• Corel WordPerfect
• Google Docs
• Database Software
It is used to create as well as manage a database and
also known as Database Management System or in
short, DBMS. Such software assists in the data
organization.
Some of the examples of DBMS are:
• MS Access
• MySQL
• Multimedia Software
This is a software which is able to play, create as well as
record images, audio or even video files. These software
are utilized for animation, video editing, graphics as
well as image editing. Due to the high demand for such
software, every software product development
company has vast avenues in developing them.
Some of the examples of such software are:
• Adobe Photoshop
• VLC Media Player
• Windows Media Player
• Windows Movie Maker
• Web Browsers
These software are utilized to browse the internet. Web
browsers assist the users in locating as well as
retrieving data well across the web. Some of the key
examples of them are:
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Internet Explorer
• Opera
• UC Browser
• Safari
However, there also exists classification of the software. They can easily
be classified on the basis of their availability as well as sharability .
Their classification is as below:
 Freeware
These software are available free of cost. A user can easily
download them from the internet and can easily use them
without paying any charges or fees. However, they don’t provide
any type of liberty to modify the entire software or charging a
fixed fee for its distribution. A best software development
company can develop its own freeware to reach out to more
customers. Some of the examples of these software are:
• Adobe Reader
• Skype
• Team Viewer
• Yahoo Messenger
Shareware
This software is distributed freely to users on a fixed
trial basis. It generally comes with a set time limit, and
on the expiration of the time limit, the user is finally
asked to pay a fixed fee for the continued services.
There are different types of shareware such as
Freemium, Donationware, Adware, Demoware etc.
Few of the examples of shareware are:
• Adobe Acrobat
• PHP Debugger
• WinZip
• Getright
• Open-source
Such types of software are usually available to
users along with their source code which means that
the user can easily modify and distribute the
software as well as add additional features to them.
They can either be chargeable or free. Few of the
examples of such software are:
• Mozilla Firefox
• Thunderbird
• Moodle
 Conclusion
• With the increasing role of software in the daily lives of
the people, full stack web development services are
now offering the latest software to fulfill their demands.
As we know, there are various types of software where
the market of system software is already saturated with
big players like Microsoft, Apple etc.
• while application software have stiff competition with
established players and new players competing to gain
the extra edge. Mentioned above is the explanation of
what a software is and the types of software.