Introduction IT

Introduction to
Information Technology
Chapter 1
Role of
Information Technology
Information Technology is ...
❖ Computers and Communications

 Computer technologies for processing, storing,
and retrieving information
 Communications technologies for transmitting
and receiving information
 Includes voicemail, FAX, transaction processing
systems, expert systems, desktop
videoconferencing, the Internet . . . where the basic
underlying technology is the computer
EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 3

IT Pervasiveness
Computer Systems (Chapter 2)
Computer Software (Chapter 3)
Telecommunications/Networking
(Chapter 4)

Working in the Information Age
❖ Knowledge worker
-- information and
knowledge are the
raw materials of
his/her work
❖ Teamwork -- a new
emphasis on
collaborative work
❖ Anytime, anywhere
work
Information Technology as a Strategic
Enabler
❖ IT provides New Ways to Compete -- enabling
lower costs, enabling product/ service
differentiation, both of above, leveraging
knowledge of employees
❖ IT enables New Organizational Forms --
reduced middle management, organize
around processes, electronically link
dispersed business units and separate
companies

New Ways to Compete
❖ Cost: being a low cost provider
❖ Differentiation: competing on customer

perceptions of quality and service
Example: SABRE reservation system
❖ BOTH Cost and Differentiation

New Organizational Forms
Small but connected
Formal alliances
Virtual organizations

Five IT Management Eras (I)
❖ Accounting Era -- through early 1960s -- focus

on accounting, batch transactions
❖ Operational Era -- mid 1960s to mid 1970s --
on-line systems dealing with critical
operational transactions
❖ Information Era -- late 1970s to early 1980s --
focus on use of information for decision-
making -- emergence of end-user computing

Five IT Management Eras (II)
❖ The Wired Society -- mid 1980s to mid 1990s

-- development of systems for competitive
advantage, often including linkages to
customers and suppliers
❖ The Global Wired Society -- late 1990s until ?
-- using IT, especially the Internet, to link
with customers and businesses around the
world

What Needs to be Managed?
❖ IT assets that need

to be managed well
in order for IT to
play a strategic role:
❖ Technology Asset
❖ Human Asset
❖ Relationship Asset

IT Management Roles
❖ IS Managers, including the Chief Information

Officer, or CIO
❖ IS Professionals, including systems analysts
and consultants
❖ User-Managers -- the internal customers of
the IS organization
❖ End-Users -- non-IS specialists who use
information technology

Chapter 2
Computer Systems
Definition – Computer
❖ A tool or an instrument that can perform the

computations fast and accurately using the
precise instructions given to it by a user
❖ Computation includes additions, subtraction,

multiplication, logical decisions etc

Characteristics of computer
Very high speed

Large storage and retrieval capacity
Accuracy
Reliable
Reduced cost

Computer Hardware
❖ The physical pieces of a

computer system, such
as a central processing
unit (CPU), a
microprocessor, a
printer, a disk drive, or
a modem
❖ Something you can touch

Evolution of Computer Systems
❖ First Generation - 1946-1959 - vacuum tubes,

rotating drum memory
❖ Second Generation - 1959-1964 - transistors,
magnetic core memory
❖ Third Generation - 1964-1979 - integrated
circuits, semiconductor memory, operating
systems
❖ Fourth Generation - 1979-present - LSI and
VLSI circuits, communications

Basic Components of Computers
Input/Output
Computer Memory
Arithmetic/Logical Unit
Computer Files
Control Unit

CPU
Control Arithmetic/ Logical

Unit Unit
Input Memory Output
Files

Stored Program Concept
❖ The concept of preparing a precise list of

exactly what the computer is to do (this list is
called a program), loading or storing this
program in the memory of the computer, and
then letting the control unit carry out the
program at electronic speed. The program
must be in a form that the control unit of the
computer has been built to understand.

Types of Computers
❖ Microcomputers
❖ Workstations
❖ Midrange computers (minicomputers)
❖ Mainframes
❖ Supercomputers
❖ These categories are listed in general order of
increasing size, power, and cost

Network Computer / NetPC
❖ Basic idea of both is a stripped down, less

expensive PC for users who will always be
connected to a network
❖ Network Computer would have minimal
memory, processor, disk storage (perhaps no
hard drive)
❖ NetPC (Microsoft) would be more powerful
so that Windows could be implemented
locally
Memory
A storage place where data & instructions

can be stored into and retrieved from
whenever required by other functional
blocks of computer
A volatile memory

Types of Memory
 Random Access Memory(RAM)

 Both reading and writing takes place
 Read Only Memory (ROM)
 Only reading is done
 May contain micro-program control instructions that cause
the machine to perform certain operations such as starting
the computer or instructions to the operating system
 Cache Memory

Cache Memory
❖ Very high speed, high cost storage unit

❖ Used as an intermediary between pieces of
the computer that operate at quite different
speeds
❖ Example -- between the control unit
(microprocessor) and main memory
❖ Example -- between disk drive and data
channel

Input and output Units
❖ Input devices
 Keyboard
 Mouse etc.
❖ Output devices
 Video display unit
 Printers
❖ I/O devices
 Floppy drive
 Hard disk drive

Controller
A hardware device to link

input/output or file devices to the CPU
and memory of large computer systems
A highly specialized processor which
manages the operation of its attached
devices to free the CPU from these tasks

Data Channel
A specialized input/output processor

(a computer) that takes over the
function of device communication from
the CPU
The role of the data channel is to correct
for the speed mismatch between the
slow peripheral devices and the very
fast CPU
Symmetric Multiprocessor
Multiprocessor machine in which all of

the processors (CPUs) are identical,
with each processor operating
independently of the others
This design technique is used in most
mainframes and an increasing number
of midrange machines

Parallel Processor (PP)
A multiprocessor configuration
(multiple CPUs installed as part of a
single computer system) designed to
give a separate piece of the same
program to each of the processors so
that work on the program can proceed
in parallel on the separate pieces

Changing Nature of Hardware
❖ Decreasing price/performance ratio --
faster and cheaper
❖ Increasing miniaturization
❖ Increasing multimedia (data, video, sound)
❖ More plug-and-play and portability
❖ Greater management complexity due to
linking of distributed, cross-platform
technologies

Stored Program Concept
❖ The concept of preparing a precise list of

exactly what the computer is to do (this list is
called a program), loading or storing this
program in the memory of the computer, and
then letting the control unit carry out the
program at electronic speed. The program
must be in a form that the control unit of the
computer has been built to understand

Chapter 3
Computer Software
Software
The set of programs that control the

operations of the computer system
These programs consists of a series of

instructions; each instruction is an
individual step or operation in a
program

Evolution of Computer Software (I)
❖ First Generation - machine language -

language that particular computer has been
built to understand
❖ Second Generation - assembly language -
substitute mnemonic operation codes and
symbolic addresses - translate to machine
language by assembler

Evolution of Computer Software (II)
❖ Third Generation - procedural language -

FORTRAN, COBOL, C - translate to machine
language by compiler or interpreter
❖ Fourth Generation - nonprocedural language
- tell what to do, not how to do it - order not
important - translate to machine language by
compiler or interpreter

Classification of Software
s o ftw a r e
A p p lic a t io n S o ft w a r e S y s t e m S o ft w a r e
Language s y s t e m U t ilit ie s
H ig h L e v e l L ow L evel
C o m p ile r B a s e d In te rp re te r B a s e d M a c h in e L a n g u a g e A s s e m b ly L a n g u a g e
FO R TR A N B A S IC
C O B O L P A S C A L

System Software (I)
❖ Programs that control and directs the

operations of computer hardware.
❖ Language
 Verbal written symbols and expressions to exchange
ideas and information
 Low Level Languages
• Compatible with computer hardware
• Binary and mnemonic codes
• Difficult for the programmer to understand
 High Level Language
• Better understood by the programmer

System Software (II)
❖ Three major subsystems

 Language systems/translators
• Assemblers,macro processors,compilers,interpreters
 Utility systems
• Programs to generate data
• Provides user interface to work with files and directories
and other system related settings
• Examples
– Formatters,editors, file manager etc

System Software (III)
Operating Systems
• A very complex program (software) that
controls the operation of the computer
hardware and coordinates all the other
software
• Examples: DOS, OS/2, System/7, Unix, VMS,
VM, MVS, Windows 95, Windows 98,
Windows NT

Compilers
❖ Translate source code instructions to object

code
❖ Checks the syntax of source code
❖ Allocates location address to each variable
name
❖ Checks for any library routine which the
program may wish to use
❖ Instructs control unit to begin executing the
object program

Interpreters
One statement of a program at a time is

executed by executing appropriate
instructions leading to the same
computations as required by that line of
code

Application Software (I)
A software that interface between the

user and the system software to allow
the user to perform specific tasks
Can be developed in two ways
 User written packages
• Payroll package,education Systems etc

Application Software (II)
Pre-written packages
• Word processor
• Data manager
• Electronic spreadsheet
• Graphic packages
• Communication package
• World Wide Web browsers

Application Software – Examples(I)
Word Processor
A s/w that edits, manipulates and prints
text. It automates many manual tasks
associated with writing in long hand or
typing such as cutting and pasting
,centering and setting margins
• Ex : Word star, word perfect,ms word

Application Software–Examples (II)
❖ Data Manager
 Stores, organizes, manipulates, retrieves, displays
and prints data.
• Different types
– Database Management Systems
» Database is a collection of related files stored
together in a logical manner like address of person,
employee records etc.
» Ex : dBAse IV, FoxPro etc
– Relational DBMS

Application Software – Examples (III)
Electronics spreadsheet
• Display, manipulate and print rows and columns.
• data can be easily edited by the user and all other
dependent figures are recalculated automatically
Graphics Package
• Display data in the form of graphics images
Communication Package
• Allows the user to send and receive data over
communication lines

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
A type of computer programming

based on the creation and use of a set of
objects, each of which combines data
and methods (or chunks of programs)
Most popular OOP languages are C++
and Smalltalk

Chapter 4
Networks
Networks
❖ An arrangement that enables two or more

computers to communicate to each other
❖ Communication is established between
computers using
 Wires
 Network related s/w
• To make the h/w work
• Ensures that the information between these computers is
exchanged without any loss or distortion

The Need for Networking (I)
Sharing of technology resources

Sharing of data
Copying files from one system to other
Exchanging messages using electronic
mails

The Need for Networking (II)
Distributed data processing and

client/server systems
Enhanced communications, including

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and
access to the Internet

Network Types
Local area network (LAN)

Backbone network
Wide area network (WAN)
Internet

Local Area Networks (LAN)
❖ Group of computers confined to a building or

cluster of buildings
❖ Personal to an organization
❖ The network may contain a server which
provides services such as access to its file
store, printers etc to the other computers
connected to it.

Benefits of LAN
Software sharing
Printer sharing
Communication
Scope for expanded PC usage

Wide Area Networks (WAN)
❖ Spread across countries and continents

❖ Uses microwaves and satellites as a primary
medium
❖ Organizations having their installations
spread across the world, link all their
computers for faster and efficient exchange of
information

Backbone Networks
Middle distance networks that

interconnect LANs in a single
organization with each other and with
the organization’s WAN and the
Internet
Employ high-end LAN technology,
often operating at 100 mbps or more

Internet
Network of networks that use the

TCP/IP protocol, with gateways
(connections) to even more networks
that do not use TCP/IP
Internet applications - e-mail, Usenet,
FTP, World Wide Web etc

Intranet
A network operating within an

organization which employs the
TCP/IP protocol
The organization uses the same Web
browser, Web crawler, and Web server
software as it would on the Internet, but
the intranet is not accessible from
outside the organization
Chapter 2
Computer Systems
Chapter 5
Operating Systems
Operating System
A very complex program (software)

that controls the operation of the
computer hardware and coordinates all
the other software
Examples: DOS, OS/2, System/7,
Unix, VMS, VM, MVS, Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows NT

Operating System – Functions (I)
❖An interface between user and hardware.

❖Provides an environment in which a user may
execute programs
❖ controls the execution of user program and
other computer resources (I/O devices).
❖ provides a means for the proper use of
resources in the operation of the computer
systems.
Operating System- Functions (II)
Resource allocator
Job sequencer
Scheduler
Secondary storage Management
Error handling
Job Control Language (JCL)
The specialized computer language by

which computer users communicate
with the operating system
DOS examples: dir, cd, md, rd, copy
With GUI operating systems, JCL
becomes a series of mouse clicks or
drags

Multiprogramming
❖ A procedure by which the operating system

switches back and forth among a number of
programs, all located in memory at the same
time, to keep the CPU (processor) busy while
input/output operations are taking place
❖ Called multitasking on smaller machines

Virtual Memory
❖ A procedure by which the operating system

switches portions of programs (called pages)
between main memory and DASD (disk) so
that portions of enough programs are stored
in main memory to enable efficient
multiprogramming
❖ Appears to user as though main memory is
unlimited

Directory
Has an entry for each file that gives the

file’s name , extension and size in bytes,
the date and time it was created or last
modified

File
❖ A collection of related information, like

letters, memos,data, reports etc
❖ Types of Files
 Text files
• Data files containing characters, numbers and symbols
 Command files
• A set of DOS commands put together to perform a
specific task
 Application program files

File Characteristics
❖ File name
 Two parts
• File name (8 characters long)
• Extension (3 characters long)
❖ Date and Time
❖ File permissions
 Read
 Write
 Hidden
 Archive

Dos Commands
An executable program that performs a

specific action
Two types
Internal commands
• Loaded into memory at the time of loading of
OS
External commands
• Executable files loaded into memory by the
user

Internal Commands (I)
❖ Dir
 Displays the contents of the directory of the
current disk
 Options
• /s
– includes listing of subdirectories
• /p
– Page wise listing
• /ad
– Listing of directories only

Internal Commands (II)
❖ Chkdsk (check disk)

 Examines the status of the hard disk and displays
a status report
 Looks for errors, lost clusters and allocation errors
❖ md or mkdir
 Creates a new directory
 Example
• md user1

Internal Commands (III)
Chdir or cd
Change from one directory to other
Displays the current directory
Example
• C:> Cd C:\user

Internal Commands (IV)
❖ rmdir or rd
 To delete the empty directory
❖ Path
 Creates a search path for program files having
extensions .exe, .com, .bat, .sys
 Provides access to files located in other directories
 Example
• Path;
– Clears all search paths
• Path =c:\dos;c:\word;c:\lotus

Internal Commands (V)
❖ Copy
 Copy files from one drive/directory to other
drive/directory with same/different file name
 Example
• Copy c:\user\*.exe c:\user1
❖ Print
 Prints the documents or files
 Example
• Print report.doc

Internal Commands (VI)
❖ Del
 Deletes the specified or all files from the specified
directory
 Example
• Del *.* (deletes all files)
• Del c:\user\report.doc
❖ Cls
 Clear screen

Internal Commands (VII)
❖ Path
 Sets the path to search the directory structure
 Example
• Path = c:\durga;c:\;c:\Dos
❖ Type
 Displays the contents of text file
 Example
• Type c:\durga\autoexec.bat

External commands (I)
❖ Format
 Prepares disk for use
 Example
• Format a:\
❖ Diskcopy
 makes an exact duplicate of any disk , including
the hidden and system files on the disk
 Example
• Diskcopy a: c:

External commands (II)
❖ Backup
 Backs up one or more files from a hard disk to
floppy disc
 Example
• Backup c:\work
❖ Restore
 Restores one or more files from a floppy disk to a
hard disk
 Example
• Restore A:\ C:\project

Microsoft operating system family
Windows 95/98
Windows NT workstation
Windows NT server

Microsoft Windows 95/98 (I)
❖ Designed to provide 32-bit platform

❖ Meets criteria for desktop operating system
❖ Internet explorer
 Provides a fast and simple to use browser that is
compatible with existing standards
❖ Microsoft messaging
 Receives and stores electronic mail, includes files
and objects created in other applications

Microsoft Windows 95/98 (II)
❖ Compatibility with existing H/W

 Runs on most personal computers in current use,
including H/W that is seven years old
• The minimum H/W requirements are
– PC with 386 or higher processor
– 4 MB of RAM (8 MB recommended)
– 40 MB of free disk space
❖ Plug and play support

 Provide power management support for laptops
etc

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Introduction to

❖ Computers and Communications

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 3

Computer Systems (Chapter 2)

Computer Software (Chapter 3)

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 4

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 6

❖ Cost: being a low cost provider

❖ Differentiation: competing on customer

❖ BOTH Cost and Differentiation

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 7

Small but connected

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 8

❖ Accounting Era -- through early 1960s -- focus

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 9

❖ The Wired Society -- mid 1980s to mid 1990s

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 10

❖ IT assets that need

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 11

❖ IS Managers, including the Chief Information

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 12

❖ A tool or an instrument that can perform the

❖ Computation includes additions, subtraction,

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 14

Very high speed

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 15

❖ The physical pieces of a

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 16

❖ First Generation - 1946-1959 - vacuum tubes,

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 17

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 18

Control Arithmetic/ Logical

Input Memory Output

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 19

❖ The concept of preparing a precise list of

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 20

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 21

❖ Basic idea of both is a stripped down, less

A storage place where data & instructions

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 23

 Random Access Memory(RAM)

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 24

❖ Very high speed, high cost storage unit

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 25

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 26

A hardware device to link

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 27

A specialized input/output processor

Multiprocessor machine in which all of

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 29

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 30

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 31

❖ The concept of preparing a precise list of

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 32

The set of programs that control the

These programs consists of a series of

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 34

❖ First Generation - machine language -

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 35

❖ Third Generation - procedural language -

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 36

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 37

❖ Programs that control and directs the

EMIS Training for Sri Lankan Officials 38