CHAPTER 2

COMPUTER SYSTEM
WHAT IS SYSTEM?
 System is a group of components,
consisting of subsystems or procedures
that work in a coordination fashion to
achieve some objective.
 A Computer System is composed of
components that are classified either as
Computer hardware or Computer
software.

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COMPUTER HARDWARE
 Computer hardware is the physical part of
the computer that can be touched, seen,
broken.
 What a computer in general does is, that
 It takes input (in various forms)
 Process it (according to a given set of
instructions) and
 Produce an output (in required form).
 Store the information
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INPUT DEVICES
 The function of input devices is to accept
data and convert it into a form suitable for
computer processing.
 In other words, input hardware allows
people to put data into the computer in a
form that the computer can use.
 It includes: keyboard, mouse, scanner and
so on.

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INPUT DEVICES
 Keyboard: Keyboards are designed for the
input of text and characters and also to
control the operation of a computer.
 The keys on the keyboard are grouped
according to their functions as follows:
Alphanumeric keys: The group of keys that
comprises the alphabets, punctuation marks,
and digits.
Function keys: The group of keys found at
the top of keyboard labeled from F1 to F12.
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INPUT DEVICES
 Numeric keypad: Found at the right most
of the keyboard, is the numeric keypad.
 Cursor movement keys: used to move the
cursor around the text on the screen.
 Editing keys: used to make our text stylish.
Includes: Spacebar, Enter, Delete,
Backspace, etc.
 Special keys: used to execute some
commands. Includes: Shift, Alt, Ctrl etc.
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INPUT DEVICES
 Mouse: a mouse is a pointing device designed
to be gripped by one hand.
 Consists of: Primary button (Left button) and
Secondary button (Right Button).
 Operations performed using mouse:
 Selection(Single click)
 Giving Commands (Double click)
 Dragging Objects (By pressing mouse button
and moving the mouse)
 Dropping Objects (By releasing mouse button)
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INPUT DEVICES
 Scanner: used to convert images such as a
picture or text into electronic signals that can
be manipulated by a computer.
 Joystick: a Joystick is a pointing device that
consists of a vertical handle mounted on a base
containing one or two buttons.
 Microphone: A microphone is a device for
converting sound into signals that can then be
stored, manipulated, and played back by the
computer.
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PROCESSING DEVICES
 CPU(Central Processing Unit): referred as the
brain of the computer.
 It is used to control the operations of the
computer and performs arithmetic and logical
operations.
 Composed of:
The arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which
performs arithmetic (+, -, X, & /) and
logical (comparison, negation, conjunction,
and disjunction) operations.
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PROCESSING DEVICES
 The control unit (CU), which extracts
instructions from memory and decodes
and executes them, calling on the ALU
when necessary.
 The Memory unit or registers, which store
intermediate results of ALU

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STORAGE DEVICES
 Used to store data.
 There are two types of storage units: Primary
and Secondary.
 Primary Storage
 ispart of the main computer system.
 The processor directly stores and retrieves
information from it.
 implemented by two types of memory
technologies (Random Access Memory (RAM)
and Read Only Memory (ROM))
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STORAGE DEVICES
 RAM(Random Access Memory)
 Defined as a block of sequential memory
locations, each of which has a unique address
determining the location and those locations
contain a data element.
 It stores programs and data that are in active
use.
 It is volatile in nature

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STORAGE DEVICES
ROM(Read Only Memory)
can only be read, not written.
It is non-volatile in nature.
The instructions in ROM are built
into the electronic circuits of the
chip.

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STORAGE DEVICES
 Secondary storage devices
 Has the ability to hold data after the
computer’s power has been turned off i.e.
non-volatile and has higher storage capacity.
 Example: hard disk, CD-R, floppy disk, flash
disk, etc.

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OUTPUT DEVICES
 An output device is a peripheral device that
enables a computer to communicate (send out)
information to the user.
 It receives information from a computer RAM
and transforms it into human readable form
(that the user can understand).
 Example: printer, monitor, plotter, etc.

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OUTPUT DEVICES
 Printer: Printers are devices for producing
permanent output on paper.
 Plotters : A plotter is a specialized output
device designed to produce high-quality
graphics in a variety of colors. used for
creating large hardcopy items, such as maps,
architectural drawings.
 Monitor: softcopy output.
 Speaker: It is used in computer system to
produce sound or voice output.
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COMPUTER SOFTWARE
 Software: is a collection of programs and
routines that support the operations of
performing a task using a computer.
 Computer software is classified into two,
they are:
System software and
Application software.

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SYSTEM SOFTWARE
 System software is a collection of programs
that manages the equipment resources of the
computer system and provides supporting
functions for application programs.
 The important categories of system software
are:
 Operating system
 Language software

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OPERATING SYSTEMS
 Operating system coordinates the activity
between the user and the computer.
 An operating system has three major functions:
 It coordinates and manipulates computer hardware
 It organizes files on a variety of storage
media
 It manages hardware errors and the loss of
data.
 Current operating system includes: Windows,
UNIX and Linux Types
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LANGUAGE SOFTWARE
 Language, in computer science, artificial
language used to write a sequence of
instructions (a computer program) that can
be run by a computer.
 Examples: COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, C,
C++, Java, etc.

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APPLICATION SOFTWARE
 Application, in computer science, a
computer program designed to help people
perform a certain type of work.
 Examples:
 Word processing: is a computerized
typewriter which permits the electronic
creation, editing, formatting, filing and
printing text. e.g., WordStar,
WordPerfect, Microsoft word
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APPLICATION SOFTWARE
 Spreadsheet: is an electronic worksheet
display on the VDU. e.g., Lotus 1-2-3,
Microsoft Excel, Quatropro.
 Database management system: Allow you
to store information on a computer, retrieve
it when you need it and update it when
necessary. e.g., Dbase IV, FoxPro, Microsoft
Access.

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