INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS

LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

Data and Information

Data according to La Putt (1984) is any collection of facts. Thus, sales
reports, inventory figures, test scores, customers’ name and addresses, and
weather reports are all example of data. Even photographs, drawings, and
maps are considered data as well. Data can be numerical or non-numerical.
And with the so called Era of technology nowadays, Data are considered as
the asset of the ones company.

But what is the difference of Information with Data? According to

oxforddictionaries.com “Information are data that is processed, stored and
transmitted by a computer.” It only means that data are just raw inputs, maybe
fields from a survey form or registration form. But once this data is processed
or transferred into a computer this raw data became useful information that an
organization or institution should be treasuring of.

Are you familiar with what we call the Hierarchy of Data? According
to Wikipedia.com Hierarchy of Data or Data Hierarchy is the systematic
organization of data, often in a hierarchical form.

Fig 1.11 – Hierarchy of Data and Its Example

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

Now, let us discuss and define each hierarchy form, so that you will
have a clearer view on what it is?

1) Bits – According to techterms.com is the short for “Binary Digit”.

The smallest unit of measurement used to quantify computer data.
It contains a single binary value of 0 or 1. Later on in this chapter,
we will be discussing more of the number system.

2) Bytes - According to techterms.com is a unit of measurement used

to measure data. One byte contains eight binary bits, or a series of
eight zeros and ones. Therefore, each byte can be used to represent
2^8 or 256 different values. When we combine multiple bytes, we
can create a field.

3) Fields - According to webopedia.com is a space allocated for a

particular item of information. A tax form, for example contains a
number of fields: one for your name, one for your social security
number, one for your income, and so on. Thus, combining different
form fields can create a record.

4) Records – According to techterms.com is a database entry that

may contain one or more values. Group of records are stored in a
table, which defines what types of data each record may contain.
Databases may contain multiple tables which may each contain
multiple records. Records are often called rows since each new
record creates a new row in the table. Individual fields are
sometimes called columns since they are the same for each record
within a table. Multiple records can result to a file.

5) Files – According to About.com is a self contained piece of

information available to any number of individual programs. This
file is a collection of different records and the collection of files
can create a database.

6) Databases – According to Britannica.com is any collection of data

or information that is specially organized for rapid search and
retrieval by a computer.

And this ends our lesson about the hierarchy of data or the Data
Hierarchy. But the learning doesn’t stop in that because the next topic is
another crucial and important lesson in the world of computer science and that
is the Number System. In this next lesson, we will be discussing some of the
known number system in computing science like binary, decimal, octal and
hexadecimal. We will also be dealing with the steps on how to convert binary
to decimal, octal to decimal and etc. And lastly, is that in the next lesson.
Students will learn how to do the basic mathematical operations with these
new number systems that you will learn. So let us define now what a number
system is?
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

Number system also known as numeral system according to

Wikipedia.com is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is, a
mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using digits or
other symbols in a consistent manner. It can be seen as the context that allows
the symbols “11” to be interpreted as the binary symbol for three, the decimal
symbol for eleven, or a symbol for other numbers in different bases.

Do you know that the most commonly used system of numerals is the
Hindu-Arabic numeral system! According to Wikipedia.com, Two Indian
mathematicians are credited with developing it. Some other names that is
incorporated with this numeral system are Aryabhata of Kusumapura who
developed the place-value notation in the 5th century and also Brahmagupta
who introduced the symbol for zero.

Fig. 1.12 – Photos of Aryabhata (Left) & Brahmagupta (Right)

According to La Putt (1984) In counting, the simplest system is not the

decimal system, but a one-to-one comparison between the objects to be
counted and the count, or tally. Thus, a checker makes a single mark each
time one bag of a shipment of cement bags is delivered to a warehouse and
keeps account of the delivery by tallying up the total number of marks and
that is called Unitary System. This system is still very popular for making a
count of things. In the unitary system, you add or subtract by making more
groups of single marks or by crossing some out, as necessary.

Another counting system that Mr. La Putt introduced in his book

Introduction to Computer Concepts is the Decimal System. The Decimal
system according to hm is the counting system that is widely used. It is based
upon the ten fingers of a man. In decimal system the following digits are used:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. These symbols are called the Arabic numerals.
The decimal number system is simple since it is necessary to learn only the 10
basic numerals and the positional notation system in order to count to any
desired figure.

According to tutorialspoint.com, the value of each digit in a number

can be determined using the digit, the position of the digit in the number, the
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

base of the number system (where base is defined as the total number of digits
available in the number systems). Living in the Information Technology and
Computing Ages there are various number systems that we encounter like
Binary Number System, Octal Number System and Hexa-Decimal Number
System.So let us define and discuss it one by one.

1) Binary Number System – According to La Putt (1984) is a method of

notation that can be used to describe the setting of binary components.
This binary system is the positional numeration system to the base 2.
Binary notation uses only two symbols: 0 and 1. In any position of the
notation, the symbol 0 represents the absence of an assigned value; the
symbol 1 represents the presence of an assigned value. Now let’s
proceed with conversion of Binary numbers into Decimal numbers.
Using the tutorialspoint.com way of coverting Binary numbers to
Decimal, let us follow the step by step

Fig. 1. 13 – Steps in Calculating Binary to Decimal Digits.

2) Octal Number Systems – According to La Putt (1984) was adapted

because of the difficulty of dealing with long strings of binary 0s and
1s in converting them to decimals.Binary numbers are extremely
akward to read or handle. It requires many more positions for data than
any other numbering system and the octal number systems overcomes
this problem since it is essentially shorthand method for replacing
group of three binary digits by a single octal digit. Octal numbers are
important in digital computers although many computer specialist and
users are not thoroughly familiar with binary, octal and other
numbering system used by compters. The octal number system has a
base or radix of eight. The eight basic digits of the octal system are 0,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. These digits have exactly the same physical
meaning as decimal symbols. In order for us to convert octal to
decimal, let us follow the step by step procedure of tutorialspoint.com:
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

Fig. 1.14 – Steps in Converting Octal to Decimal

3) Hexa-Decimal Number System – According again to La Putt (1984),

Hexadecimal number system provides another convenient and simple
method for expressing values represented by binary numerals. This
system is a combination of the ten numbers, 0 through 9 and a choice
of six letters of the alphabet, which are also treated as numbers.The
letters representing digits 10 through 15 may be the alphabetic
sequence A through F. Any other six alphabets could be used equally
well, as long as the total adds up to 16 symbols to represent the 16
possible combination of 4 bits.Thus, each of the symbols in the
hexadecimal system exactly replaces one four-digit binary
combination, permitting direct conversion. Now after knowing the
concepts of the hexa-decimal, let us proceed and discuss the way on
how to convert Hexa-decimal to Decimal. For this we will again be
using the step by step procedure of tutorialspoint.com:

Fig. 1.15 – Steps in converting Hexadecimal into Decimal

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

After knowing the different Number system especially the one that we
use in the information technology world. Let us try to discuss some of the
basic mathematic operations with these types of data. Based on the book
Introduction to Computer Concepts by Juny Pilapil La Putt, there are four
different mathematic operations for binary numbers which is Binary
Addition, Binary Subtraction, Binary Multiplication and Binary Division.

Binary Addition is simple to learn since there are only two characters,
0 and 1, to consider. It is performed in the same manner as decimal
addition. There are only four possible combinations when adding these
two numbers and this is shown by the following table for binary addition.

0+0=0

0+1=1

1+0=1

1 + 1 = 0 Plus a carry-over of 1

To add two numbers, you can either count two digits in sequence or
you can simply remember the results of adding the four possible
combinations of digits, as given in the addition table. Carry-overs are
performed in the same manner as in decimal arithmetic. Since 1 is the
largest digit in the binary system, any sum greater that 1 requires that a
digit be carried over.Here are samples of binary addition also taken from
La Putt’s book.

a) BINARY DECIMAL

11 3
+100 + 4
111 7

b) BINARY DECIMAL

1010 10
+1100 +12
10110 22

c) BINARY DECIMAL

11.01 3.25
+101.11 + 5.75
1001.00 9.00

So now you practice by yourself converting binary to decimal then

adding two binary numbers as well as decimal numbers. Later on, we will
have a simple activity on Binary addition.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

Next is Binary Subtraction, based on the same book: Binary

subtraction is a bit more complicated than that of addition. It is because of the
inverse operation of addition. Just as in decimal arithmetic, subtraction is
performed column by column. To subtract, it is necessary to establish a
procedure for subtracting a larger from a smaller digit. The only case in which
this occurs using binary number is when 1 is subtracted from 0. The remainder
is 1, but it is necessary to borrow 1 from the next column to the left. The table
for binary subtraction is as follows

0 - 0 = 0

1 - 0 = 1

1 - 1 = 0

0 - 1 = 0 with a borrow of 1

Binary numbers can also be negative, just like decimal numbers. If a

larger number is subtracted from a smaller number, the negative sign is
prefixed in the answer.

Here are some binary subtraction samples from the book

“Introduction to Computer Concepts by Juny Pilapil La Putt.”

a) BINARY DECIMAL

1010 10
- 100 - 4
110 6

b) BINARY DECIMAL

1111 15
-1000 - 3
111 7

c) BINARY DECIMAL

1000.11 8.75
- 11.01 - 3.25
101.10 5.50

So again, I will leave it up to you to practice on the binary subtraction

but don’t worry we will be having an activity with regards to this at the end of
this chapter. So next, is what we call the Binary Multiplication?

Binary multiplication based on the Introduction to Computer Concept

book is somehow the same as to the rule of decimal multiplication. But Binary
multiplication, in fact is much simpler since multiplying a number by the bit 0
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

or 1 yields respectively 0 or the number. According to La Putt “In any number

system, multiplication consists of adding a number to itself as many times as
is specified by the multiplier. Most computers refer to a multiplication table
stored in memory, thus avoiding the time consuming process of repetitive
addition. In actual practice, binary multiplication reduces to copying the
multiplicand (or writing zeros) whenever the multiplier digit is zero.

According to La Putt (1984) this is the table for binary multiplication:

0 x 0 = 0 0 x 1 = 0
1 x 1 = 1 1 x 0 = 0

And the following are the samples of binary multiplication from the
same book:

a) BINARY DECIMAL
111 (multiplicand) 7
X 101 (multiplier) x 5
111 35
000
111
100011

b) BINARY DECIMAL
11.00 3.0
X 10.10 x 2.5
0000 7.5
1100
0000
1100 .

111.1000

And last but not the least topic for the Binary Number Systems
Mathematic Operation is what we call the Binary Division. According to the
same book that we are using althrough-out the number systems, Binary
division is a very simple process. As in the decimal system, division is the
inverse of multiplication and division by zero is similarly meaningless.
Division is defined as the process of determining how many times one
number, the divisor, can be subtracted from the other number, the divident
while still leaving a positive remainder. The number of times this can be done
is the result, or the quotient.

There is ease in performing long binary division as compared with the

decimal system. In binary division we never need to try multiple of the divisor
to find the largest one that will go into the dividend. We are either able to
subtract the divisor, in which case the quotient digit is 1, or we are not able to
subtract the divisor, yielding a quotient digit of 0.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 4 – DATA AND INFORMATION

The division of binary fraction is handled the same way as the division
of decimal fractions; that is, one converts the divisor to an integer by moving
the binary point in both the divisor and the divident the same number of
places. The complete table for the binary division is as follows:

0 / 1 = 0 1 / 1 = 1

Now, let us look at the example given by Mr. La Putt in his book:

a) BINARY DECIMAL
1100 ÷ 100 12 / 4 = 3
= 11

Are you now ready to try it yourself? At the end of this chapter are
different activities that you can try to test your understanding about our topics
in Chapter 1. See you!

After discussing, lots of theories and concepts about Data and

Information. Let’s now move on to Network Connectivity fundamentals topic
of this chapter.