Introduction to Computing

Leiza Linda L. Pelayo

Instructor

Chapter 1
Computer Fundamentals

What Is A Computer?
A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions
(software) stored in its own memory unit, that can accept data (input), manipulate data
(process), and produce information (output) from the processing. Generally, the term is
used to describe a collection of devices that function together as a system.

Devices that comprise a computer system

What Does A Computer Do?
Computers can perform four general operations, which comprise the information
processing cycle.
■ Input
■ Process
■ Output
■ Storage

Input, Process, Output, & Store data

Data and Information

■ All computer processing requires data, which is a collection of raw facts, figures
and symbols, such as numbers, words, images, video and sound, given to the
computer during the input phase.
■ Computers manipulate data to create information. Information is data that is
organized, meaningful, and useful.
■ During the output Phase, the information that has been created is put into some
form, such as a printed report.
■ The information can also be put in computer storage for future use.
Why Is A Computer So Powerful?
■ The ability to perform the information processing cycle with amazing speed.
 ■ Reliability (low failure rate).
■ Accuracy.
■ Ability to store huge amounts of data and information.
■ Ability to communicate with other computers.

How Does a Computer Know what to do?

■ It must be given a detailed list of instructions, called a computer program or
software that tells it exactly what to do.
■ Before processing a specific job, the computer program corresponding to that job
must be stored in memory.
■ Once the program is stored in memory the computer can start the operation by
executing the program instructions one after the other.

What Are The Primary Components Of A Computer?

■ Input devices
■ Central Processing Unit (containing the control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit)
■ Memory
■ Output devices
■ Storage devices
Uses of Computer
PC at Home
Common uses for the computer within the home
■ Communication
■ Computer games
■ Working from Home
■ Banking from Home
■ Connecting to the Web
Office Applications
■ Stock Control
■ Stock control is ideal for automation and in many companies it is now
completely computerized. The stock control system keeps track of the
number of items in stock and can automatically order replacement items
when required.
■ Accounts / Payroll
■ In most large organizations the accounts are maintained by a
computerized system. Due to the repetitive nature of accounts a computer
system is ideally suited to this task and accuracy is guaranteed.
■ Automated Production Systems
■ Many car factories are almost completely automated and the cars are
assembled by computer-controlled robots. This automation is becoming
increasingly common throughout industry.
■ Design Systems
■ Many products are designed using CAD (Computer Aided Design)
programs to produce exact specifications and detailed drawings on the
computer before producing models of new products.
■ Computers in Daily Life
■ Accounts
■ Games
■ Educational
■ On-line banking
■ Smart ID cards
■ Supermarkets
■ Working from home (Tele-working)
■ Internet
History of Computers
Evolution of
Computing
Charles Babbage was considered to be the father of computing after his invention
and concept of the Analytical Engine in 1837. The Analytical Engine contained an
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), basic flow control, and integrated memory; hailed as the
first general-purpose computer concept.

Ada Lovelace has been called the world's first

computer programmer. What she did was write the
world's first machine algorithm for an early
computing machine that existed only on paper.
Timothy John Berners-Lee / Tim Berners-Lee - he inventor of the World Wide Web

Uses of Computers in different fields

■ Education Airlines
■ Healthcare Science
■ Government Engineering
 ■ Industries Agriculture
■ Manufacturing Foods
■ Business Transportation
■ Sports Communication

Business
A computer has high speed of calculation,
diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility
which has made it an integrated part in all
business organizations.
Computer is used in business organizations for −

● Payroll calculations
● Budgeting
● Sales analysis
● Financial forecasting
● Managing employee database
● Maintenance of stocks, etc.

Insurance
Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date with the help of
computers. Insurance companies, finance houses, and stock broking firms are widely
using computers for their concerns.
Insurance companies are maintaining a database of all clients with information showing
−

● Procedure to continue with policies

● Starting date of the policies
● Next due installment of a policy
● Maturity date
● Interests due
● Survival benefits
● Bonus
Education

The computer helps in providing a lot of

facilities in the education system.
● The computer provides a tool in the
education system known as CBE
(Computer Based Education).
 ● CBE involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning.
● Computer education is rapidly increasing the graph of number of computer
students.
● There are a number of methods in which educational institutions can use a
computer to educate the students.
● It is used to prepare a database about performance of a student and analysis is
carried out on this basis.

Marketing
In marketing, uses of the computer are
following −

● Advertising − With computers,

advertising professionals create art and
graphics, write and revise copy, and print
and disseminate ads with the goal of selling
more products.

● Home Shopping − Home shopping has been made possible through the use of
computerized catalogues that provide access to product information and permit direct
entry of orders to be filled by the customers.

Healthcare
Computers have become an important
part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. They
are being used in hospitals to keep the record
of patients and medicines. It is also used in
scanning and diagnosing different diseases.
ECG, EEG, ultrasounds and CT scans, etc.
are also done by computerized machines.
Following are some major fields of health care
in which computers are used.

● Diagnostic System − Computers are used to collect data and identify the cause of
illness.
● Lab-diagnostic System − All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by
computer.
● Patient Monitoring System − These are used to check the patient's signs for
abnormality such as in Cardiac Arrest, ECG, etc.
 ● Pharma Information System − Computer is used to check drug labels, expiry dates,
harmful side effects, etc.
● Surgery − Nowadays, computers are also used in performing surgery.

Engineering Design
Computers are widely used for
Engineering purpose.
One of the major areas is CAD (Computer Aided
Design) that provides creation and modification of
images. Some of the fields are −

● Structural Engineering − Requires

stress and strain analysis for design of ships,
buildings, budgets, airplanes, etc.
● Industrial Engineering − Computers deal with design, implementation, and
improvement of integrated systems of people, materials, and equipment.
● Architectural Engineering − Computers help in planning towns, designing
buildings, determining a range of buildings on a site using both 2D and 3D drawings.

Military

Computers are largely used in defence.

Modern tanks, missiles, weapons, etc. Military also
employs computerized control systems. Some
military areas where a computer has been used are
−

● Missile Control
● Military Communication
● Military Operation and Planning
● Smart Weapons

Communication
Communication is a way to convey a
message, an idea, a picture, or speech that is
received and understood clearly and correctly by
the person for whom it is meant. Some main areas
in this category are −
 ● E-mail
● Chatting
● Usenet
● FTP
● Telnet
● Video-conferencing

Government
Computers play an important role in
government services. Some major fields in this
category are −

● Budgets
● Sales tax department
● Income tax department
● Computation of male/female ratio
● Computerization of voters lists
● Computerization of PAN card
● Weather forecasting

Types of Computers
Microcomputer
■ Can be classified into:
■ Desktop PCs
■ sits on desks, rarely moved, large and bulky.
■ Memory capacity, graphics capacity and software availability vary
from one computer to another Used both for business and home
applications
■ Portable PCs
■ Can be moved easily from place to place
■ Weight may varies
■ Small PCs are popular known as laptop
■ Widely used by students, scientist, reporters, etc

■ Advantages
■ Small size
■ Low cost
■ Portability
■ Low Computing Power
■ Commonly used for personal applications
■ Disadvantages
■ Low processing speed

Uses of Microcomputer
■ Word Processing
■ Home entertainment
■ Home banking
■ Printing
■ Surfing the internet
■ etc

Minicomputer
■ Medium sized computer
■ Also called the minis
■ e.g. IBM36, HP9000, etc
■ Computing power lies between microcomputer and mainframe computer
 ■ Characteristics
■ Bigger size than PCs
■ Expensive than PCs
■ Multi-User
■ Difficult to use
■ More computing power than PCs
■ Used by medium sized business organizations, colleges, libraries and
banks.

Uses of Minicomputer
■ Control of Automated Teller Machine (ATMs)
■ Payroll
■ Hospital patients registration
■ Inventory Control for supermarket
■ Insurance claims processing
■ Small bank accounting and customer details tracking

■ Advantage
■ Cater to multiple users
■ Lower costs than mainframes
■ Disadvantage
■ Large
■ Bulky
Mainframe

■ Known as enterprise servers

■ Occupies entire rooms or floors
■ Used for centralized computing
■ Serve distributed users and small servers in a computing network
■ Large, fast and expensive computer
■ Cost millions of dollar
■ e.g. IBM3091, ICL39, etc
■ Characteristics:
■ Bigger in size than minicomputers
■ Very expensive
■ Support a few hundred users simultaneously (Multi-Users)
■ Difficult to use
■ More computing power than minicomputers
■ Have to be kept in a special air-conditioned room
■ Used in big business organizations and government departments

Areas where mainframes are used

■ Airline reservation
■ Big banks with hundreds of branches located all over the world
■ Big universities with thousands of enrollment
■ Natural gas and oil exploration companies
■ Space Vehicle control
■ Weather forecasting
■ Animated Cartoon
■ Some mainframes are designed to be extremely fast and called super
computers. It is used for space launching, monitoring and controlling.
 ■ Advantage
■ Supports many users and instructions
■ Large memory
■ Disadvantage
■ Huge size
■ Expensive

Supercomputer
■ Fastest and expensive
■ Used by applications for molecular chemistry, nuclear research, weather reports,
and advanced physics
■ Consists of several computers that work in parallel as a single system
■ Advantage
■ Speed
■ Disadvantage
■ Generate a large amount of heat during operation

The Computer System

A computer system consists of three primary units:

■ Input units – accept data
■ Processor unit & Memory – processes data by performing comparisons and
calculations
■ Output units – present the results

Input Devices
Data are facts, numbers and characters that are entered into the computer via
keyboard. Other types of input devices are mouse, joystick, light pens, scanners,
camera, etc.
The System Unit – The CPU
Every computer has at least one processor, also called a central processing unit
(CPU). The CPU contains millions of tiny transistors and pathways that take in data and
instructions, process (calculate) the data according to the instructions, and output the
results of the calculations.
 Every CPU includes the following components:
1. Control Unit – manages the flow of data through the CPU. It directs to and
from the other components within the CPU.
2. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) components does the actual processing. It
receives data and instructions and delivers a result. For example, if it received
the numbers 3 and 5, and the instruction Sum, it would return 8.
3. Registers are holding areas for both data and instructions. There are many
different registers, each with its own special purpose. For example, there are
registers that hold data, registers that hold instructions, and registers that
store logical states (yes/no), temporary values that serve as increment
counters, and so on.

CPU Data Processing Example

The Machine Cycle
 The process of accepting input, processing it and ejecting output is something
referred to as a machine cycle. A machine cycle consist of these steps:
1. Fetch. The control unit requests that the data and instructions it needs to be
fetched from memory and moved into the CPU.
2. Decode. The control unit translate the instructions into a form the ALU
understands
3. Execute. The ALU processes the instructions
4. Store. The control unit releases the result from the CPU, and it is stored in
memory.

The Memory
 Like the human brain, memory stores and retrieves data. There is both short-
term (temporary) and long-term (permanent) memory storage. Some memory is
dynamic, in that it stores data only until the computer is turned off. Dynamic memory
(also called volatile memory) must be constantly refreshed. Static memory (also called
non-volatile memory) retains whatever you put in it indefinitely; the transistors do not
require constant electrical power to retain their contents.

Types of Memory
1. Random Access Memory (RAM) - Memory on the motherboard that is short
term; where data, information, and program instructions are stored
temporarily on a RAM chip or a set of RAM chips. Known as the main
memory. This memory is considered volatile. The computer can read from and
write to RAM. When the computer is turned off or if there is loss of power, whatever
is stored in RAM disappears. “Temporary Memory” – Short Term
2. Read Only Memory (ROM) - Memory on the motherboard that is long term;
where the specific instructions that are needed for the computer to operate are
stored. This memory is nonvolatile and your computer can only read from a ROM
chip. The instructions remain on the chip regardless if the power is turned on or off.
Most common is the BIOS ROM; where the computer uses instructions contained on
this chip to boot or start the system when you turn on your computer. “Permanent
Memory” – Long Term

Output Devices
After the data has been processed, the results are output in the form of useful
information.
 Output units such as monitors and printers make the result accessible for use by
people.

■ Monitor - screen that display information such as text, numbers, and pictures-
softcopy.
■ Printer - gives you information from the computer in printed form – hardcopy.
■ Speakers - allow you to hear voice, music, and other sounds from your computer.

Secondary Storage

Secondary storage is used to protect inactive data written from a primary

storage array to a nonvolatile tier of disk, flash or tape. Secondary storage is
synonymous with the terms secondary memory, auxiliary storage and external storage.
It is also store files for future use.