COMPUTER

FUNDAMENTA
L

Submitted to:-
Submitted by:- Inderpreet Kaur
Class :- XII Commerce
 COMPUTER FUNDAMENTAL
 Today’s world is an information-rich world
and it has become a necessity for every one
to know about computers.
 A computer is an electronic data processing
device, which accepts and stores data input,
processes the data input, and generates the
output in a required format.
 Computer i s an Electronic Device. It is use to
calculate and manipulate data. I f we give
any instruction to the computer i t gives us
output (Result ) .
 FULL FORM OF COMPUTER
 C -Commonly
 O -Operating
 M -Machine
 P -Particularly
 U -Used For
 T -Technical
 E -Educational
 R -Research
 WHAT IS COMPUTER?
 The word computer comes from the word
”compute", which means “to calculate”.
 Thereby, A computer is an electronic device
that can perform Arithmetic operations as
well as logical operations at high speed.
 A computer is also called a data processor
because it can store, process and retrieved
data whenever desired.
 DATA PROCESSING

 The activity of processing data using a computer is called data

processing.
 Data is raw material used as input and information is processed
data obtained as output of data processing
 For example If we read a news paper there is lot of data is
available but we want read some particular news that is
information.
 FATHER OF COMPUTER
 Charles Babbage, British Mathematics
professor regarded as the Father of
Computers.
 He was born in England in 1792 as the son of
a rich banker.
 He began to design a "difference engine" in
1821
 It was very complicated machine for doing
calculations automatically.
 He began design of another machine "the
analytical machine“ which could carry out
many different types of calculations
 His machine was too ahead of the time of
development.
 Lack of better technology Babbage could not
complete their work and passed away in
1871 before he had completed his work.
FUNCTIONALITIES OF A COMPUTER
 If we look at it in a very broad sense, any
digital computer carries out the following
five functions:
 Step 1 - Takes data as input.
 Step 2 - Stores the data/instructions in its
memory and uses them as required.
 Step 3 - Processes the data and converts it
into useful information.
 Step 4 - Generates the output.
 Step 5 - Controls all the above four steps
 ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTER
Following are certain advantages of computers:-
High Speed
 Computer is a very fast device.
 It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of
data.
 The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond,
and even the
 picosecond.
 It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as
compared to man
 who will spend many months to perform the same task

Accuracy
 In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.
 The calculations are 100% error free.
 Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that the
input is correct.
Storage Capability
 Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.
 A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
 It can store large amount of data.
 It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.

Diligence
 Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness,
and lack of concentration.
 It can work continuously without any error and boredom.
 It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy.

Versatility
 A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
 This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various
fields.
 At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and
the very next moment it may be playing a card game.
 A computer is a very versatile machine.
Reliability
 A computer is a reliable machine.
 Modern electronic components have long lives.
 Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.
Automation
 Computer is an automatic machine.
 Automation is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once
the computer receives a program i.e., the program is stored in the
computer memory, then the program and instruction can control the
program execution without human interaction.
Reduction in Paper Work and Cost
 The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to
reduction in paper work and results in speeding up the process.
 As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the
problem of maintenance of large number of paper files gets reduced.
 Though the initial investment for installing a computer is high, it
substantially reduces the cost of each of its transaction.
DISADVANTAGES OF COMPUTER
Following are certain disadvantages of computers.
No I.Q.
 A computer is a machine that has no intelligence to perform any
task.
 Each instruction has to be given to the computer.
 A computer cannot take any decision on its own.
Dependency
 It functions as per the user’s instruction, thus it is fully dependent on
humans.
Environment
 The operating environment of the computer should be dust free and
suitable.
No Feeling
 Computers have no feelings or emotions.
 It cannot make judgment based on feeling, taste, experience, and
 knowledge unlike humans
Sr. No. Generation Description

1. First Generation The period of first

generation: 1946-1959.
Vacuum tube
Based.

2. Second Generation The period of second

generation: 1959- 1965.
Transistor based.
3. Third Generation The period of third
generation: 1965-1971.
Integrated Circuit based
4. Fourth Generation The period of fourth
generation: 1971 1980. VLSI
Microprocessor based.
5. Fifth Generation The period of fifth
generation:
1980-onwards. ULSI
microprocessor based.
 FIRST GENERATION
•The period of first generation was
from 1946-1959.
•The computers of first generation
used vacuum tubes as the basic
components for memory and circuitry
for CPU (Central Processing Unit).
•These tubes, like electric bulbs,
produced a lot of heat and the
installations used to fuse frequently.
• Therefore, they were very expensive
and only large organizations were able
to afford it.
•In this generation, mainly batch
processing operating system was
used.
•Punch cards, paper tape, and
magnetic tape was used as input
and output devices.
• The computers in this generation
used machine code as the
programming language.
 SECOND GENERATION
The period of second generation was from
1959-1965. In this generation, transistors
were used that were cheaper, consumed
less power, more compact in size, more
reliable and faster than the first
generation machines made of vacuum
tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores
were used as the primary memory and
magnetic tape and magnetic disks as
secondary storage devices.
In this generation, assembly language
and high-level programming languages
like FORTRAN, COBOL were used. The
computers used batch processing and
multiprogramming operating system.
 THIRD GENERATION
The period of third generation was
from 1965-1971. The computers of
third generation used Integrated
Circuits (ICs) in place of transistors.
A single IC has many transistors,
resistors, and capacitors along with
the associated circuitry.
The IC was invented by Jack Kilby.
This development made computers
smaller in size, reliable, and
efficient. In this generation remote
processing, time-sharing,
multiprogramming operating system
were used. High-level languages
(FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL
PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were
used during this generation.
 FOURTH GENERATION
The period of fourth generation was
from 1971-1980. Computers of fourth
generation used Very Large Scale
Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits
having about 5000 transistors and
other circuit elements with their
associated circuits on a single chip
made it possible to have
microcomputers of fourth generation.
Fourth generation computers became
more powerful, compact, reliable, and
affordable. As a result, it gave rise to
Personal Computer (PC) revolution. In
this generation, time sharing, real
time networks, distributed operating
system were used. All the high-level
languages like C, C++, DBASE etc.,
were used in this generation.
 FIFTH GENERATION
The period of fifth generation is 1980-
till date. In the fifth generation, VLSI
technology became ULSI (Ultra Large
Scale Integration) technology, resulting
in the production of microprocessor
chips having ten million electronic
components. This generation is based
on parallel processing hardware and AI
(Artificial Intelligence) software. AI is
an emerging branch in computer
science, which interprets the means
and method of making computers think
like human beings. All the high-level
languages like C and C++, Java, .Net
etc., are used in this generation.
ON THE BASIS OF SIZE/CAPACITY
TYPE OF COMPUTER
Sr.No. Type Specifications

1. PC (Personal Computer) It is a single user computer system having moderately

powerful microprocessor.

2. Workstation It is also a single user computer system, similar to

personal computer however has a more powerful
microprocessor.

3. Mini Computer It is a multi-user computer system, capable of supporting

hundreds of users simultaneously.

4. Main Frame It is a multi-user computer system, capable

of supporting hundreds of users simultaneously. Software
technology is different from minicomputer.

5. Supercomputer It is an extremely fast computer, which can execute

hundreds of millions of instructions per second.
 PC (PERSONAL COMPUTER)
A PC can be defined as a small, relatively
inexpensive computer designed for an
individual user. PCs are based on the
microprocessor technology that enables
manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one
chip. Businesses use personal computers for
word processing, accounting, desktop
publishing, and for running spread sheet and
database management applications. At
home, the most popular use for personal
computers is playing games and surfing the
Internet. Although personal computers are
designed as single-user systems, these
systems are normally linked together to
form a network. In terms of power, now a
days high-end models of the Macintosh and
PC offer the same computing power and
graphics capability as low-end workstations
by Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and
Dell.
 WORKSTATION
Workstation is a computer used for
engineering applications (CAD/CAM),
desktop publishing, software
development, and other such types of
applications which require a moderate
amount of computing power and
relatively high quality graphics
capabilities. Workstations generally
come with a large, high-resolution
graphics screen, large amount of RAM,
inbuilt network support, and a graphical
user interface. Most workstations also
have mass storage device such as a disk
drive, but a special type of workstation,
called diskless workstation, comes
without a disk drive. Common operating
systems for workstations are UNIX and
Windows NT. Like PC, workstations are
also single-user computers like PC but
are typically linked together to form a
local-area network, although they can
also be used as stand-alone systems.
 MINI COMPUTER

It is a midsize multi-
processing
system capable of supporting.
 MAIN FRAME

Mainframe is very large in size and

is an expensive computer capable of
supporting hundreds or even
thousands of users simultaneously.
Mainframe executes many programs
concurrently and supports many
simultaneous execution of
programs.
 SUPER COMPUTER
Supercomputers are one of the
fastest computers currently
available. Supercomputers are very
expensive and are employed for
specialized applications that require
immense amount of mathematical
calculations (number crunching).
For example, weather forecasting,
scientific simulations, (animated)
graphics, fluid dynamic
calculations, nuclear energy
research, electronic design, and
analysis of geological data (e.g. in
petrochemical prospecting).
The first supercomputer was
“param” developed by c-dac in 1991
 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
All types of computers follow the same basic
logical structure and perform the following five
basic operations for converting raw input data
into information useful to their users.
 CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING
UNIT)
Central Processing Unit (CPU) consists of the following
features:
CPU is considered as the brain of the computer.
CPU performs all types of data processing operations.
It stores data, intermediate results, and instructions
(program).
It controls the operation of all parts of the computer.
CPU itself has following three components.
•Memory or Storage Unit
•Control Unit
•ALU(Arithmetic Logic Unit)
 MEMORY & STORAGE UNIT
This unit can store instructions, data, and intermediate results. This unit
supplies information to other units of the computer when needed. It is
also known as internal storage unit or the main memory or the primary
storage or Random Access Memory (RAM).
Its size affects speed, power, and capability. Primary memory and
secondary memory are two types of memories in the computer. Functions
of the memory unit are −
 It stores all the data and the instructions required for processing.
 It stores intermediate results of processing.
 It stores the final results of processing before these results are released
to an output device.
 All inputs and outputs are transmitted through the main memory.
 INPUT DEVICE
An input device is any hardware device that sends
data to a computer,
allowing you to interact with and control the
computer.
Following are some of the important input devices
which are used in a computer:
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Joy Stick
 Light pen
 Track Ball
 Scanner
 Graphic Tablet
 Microphone
 Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
 Optical Character Reader (OCR)
 Bar Code Reader
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR
 OUTPUT DEVICE
An output device is any piece of
computer hardware equipment used to
communicate the results of data
processing
Following are some of the important
output devices used in a computer.
 Monitor
 Printer
 Speaker
 Plotter
 Screen image projector