Computer Fundamentals

Lesson 1
Rogelio C. Agustin Jr.
Instructor
Data
• Data is a set of values of qualitative or
quantitative variables; restated, data are
individual pieces of information.
• Data in computing (or data processing) are
represented in a structure that is
often tabular (represented
by rows and columns), Data are typically the
results of measurements and can
be visualized using graphs or images.
Information
• Information is that which informs, i.e.
that from which data can be derived.
Information is conveyed either as the
content of a message or through direct
or indirect observation of some thing.
Data processing
• Data processing is, broadly, "the collection
and manipulation of items of data to produce
meaningful information. "In this sense it can
be considered a subset of information
processing, "the change (processing) of
information in any manner detectable by an
observer
Categories of Data
Processing
• Manual data processing
• Mechanical data processing
• Electronic data processing
Data Processing Cycle

Input Processing Output

Expanded Data Processing Cycle

Origination

input

processing Storage

Output

Distribution
Origination
• Is a step which refers to the process of
collecting the original data.
Input
• The initial data, or input data are
prepared in some convenient form for
processing
Processing

• The input data are changed, and usually

combined with other information, to produce
data in a more useful form.
Storage
• Is crucial in many data processing
procedures. Data processing results are
frequently placed in storage to be used
as input data for further processing at a
later date.
Output
• The results of the preceding processing
steps are collected.
Distributions

• Refers to the distribution of the output data .

Recordings of the output data are often called
report documents.
Lesson 2
Areas of Data Processing
• Business Data Processing (DBP). Business data
processing is characterized by the need to
established, retain, and process files of data for
producing useful information. Generally, it involves a
large volume of output. For example, a large retail
store must maintain a record for each customer who
purchases on account.

• Scientific Data Processing (SDP). In science, data

processing involves a limited volume of input and
many logical or arithmetic calculations.
Data Processing Operations
• Recording
• Verifying
• Duplicating
• Classifying
• Sorting
• Calculating
• Summarizing and Reporting
• Merging
• Storing
• Retrieving
• Feedback
METHODS OF PROCESSING DATA

1. Batch Processing - is a technique in which data to be processed or programs to

be executed are collected into groups to permit convenient, efficient, and serial
processing. It is the simplest form of data processing. With this method, data is
entered into the information flow in a large volumes, or batches.

Advantages of Batch Processing

a. Economical when a large volume of data must be processed
b. the most appropriate methods for those application( e.g. payroll) where the
delay caused by accumulating data into batches does not reduce the
value of the information.

Limitations of batch processing

a. It requires sorting prior to processing.
b. reduces timeless in some instances it takes a fixed time interval before current
data is added, and requires cannot be effectively made between
processing intervals
c. requires sequential file organization this may prove to be handicap if the
current status of a record near the end of a file needs to be determined.
• 2. On-line Processing. The term on-line
refers to equipment or devices under the
direct control of the central processing
unit(CPU) of a computer. An on-line
operation, then is one which uses devises
directly connected to the CPU either for data
entry or inquiry purposes. That is, with a
terminal we can either enter data or inquire
about the status of some record or file that is
stored by the computer.
3. Real-time Processing. Real-time processing is a method
of data processing which has the capability of a fast
response to obtain data from an activity or a physical
process, perform computations, and return response
rapidly enough to effect the outcome of the activity or
process.
4. Distributed Processing. The most complex level of
computer processing, distributed processing, generally
consists of remote terminals linked to a large central
computer system to help the user conduct inquiries about
accounts, process jobs, or other data processing
operations.
In distributed processing network a large number of
computers and significant software resources is being
shared among a large number of users. It may be used of
be used by a single organizations.
Advantages of distributed systems are:

1. Central processor idle time is reduced.

2. sophisticated computers and growing library of applications
programs may be immediately available to end-users whenever
needed.
3. skilled professionals are available to help users developed
their own specialized applications.
4. managers maybe able to react more rapidly to new
developments and interact with the system i order to seek
solutions to unusual problems.
Disadvantages
1. the reliability and cost of the data communications facilities
used, and the cost and quality of the computing service received,
may e disappointing in some cases.
2. input/output terminals are often rather slow and inefficient.
3. provisions for protecting the confidentiality and integrity and
integrity of user programs and data files are generally ineffective
against a skilled penetrator.
Lesson 3
History of Computer
• The electronic digital computer has had,
and continues to have, a profound impact
not only on business and science but on
society and general. History studies are
extremely useful in evaluating that impact
and understanding the process of change
that leads to even more advanced
technologies.
THE EARLIEST COMPUTING
DEVICES

• Abacus - The first manual data

processing device was the abacus
which was developed in china.
The device has a frame with
beads strung on wires or rods and
arithmetic calculations are
performed by manipulating the
beads.
 Napier's Bones

• John Napier was a Scottish

mathematician who became famous
for his invention of logarithms. The
used of "logs" enabled him to
reduce any multiplication problem.
His "bones" are set of eleven rods
side by side products and quotients
of large numbers can be obtained.
The sticks were called " Bones“
because they were made of bone of
ivory.
Oughtred's Slide Rule

• Although the slide rule

appeared in various forms of
Europe during the
seventeenth century. It
consists of tow movable rulers
placed side by side. Each
ruler is marked off in such a
way that the actual distances
from the beginning of the
ruler are proportional to the
logarithms of the numbers
printed on the ruler. By sliding
the rulers one can quickly
multiply and divide.
William Oughtred
Pascal's Calculator

• Blaise Pasacal was a French

mathematician and
experimental physicist who
was one of the first modern
scientists to developed and
build calculator. He devised
a calculating machine that
was capable of adding and
subtracting numbers. The
machine was operated by
dialing a series of wheels.
Leibniz's Calculator

• Like Pascal, Gottfried Leibniz

was a seventeenth -century
scientist who recognized the
value of building machines
that could do mathematical
calculations and save labor
too. It utilized the same
techniques for addition &
subtraction but could also
perform multiplication and
division, as well as extract
square roots.
Babbage's Analytical Engine

• This machine was based

on the principle that, for
certain formulas, the
difference between
certain values is constant.
This typed of procedure
was used frequently for
producing astronomical
tables, which are
particularly useful
 Hollerith's Punched-Card
Machine

• Herman Hollerith, a statistician

with the US Bureau of the
Census, completed a set of
machines to help process the
results of the 1890 census.
Using 3 by 5 inch punched cards
to record the data, he
constructed an electromagnetic
counting machine to sort the
data manually and tabulate the
data.
Lesson 4
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS IN
ELECTROMAGNETIC DATA PROCESSING

• All the early machine, except for Babbage's

analytical engine, were essentially single-
purpose devises. These machines were
designed to perform a specific task or set of
tasks. The major innovation of the first
modern-age machines was its capability to
perform automatically a long sequence of
varied arithmetical and logical operations.
 MARK I
• The official name of MARK I was Automatic
Sequence Controlled Calculator. It was
approximately 50 feet long and 8 feet high, and
consisted of some 700,000 moving parts and
several hundreds miles of wiring. The MARK I
could perform the four basic arithmetic
operations and could locate information stored
in tabular form. It processed numbers up to 23
digits long, and could multiply three eight-digit
numbers in a second. Internal operations were
controlled automatically with electromagnetic
relays and the arithmetical counters were
mechanical. It was not an electronic computer
but was rather an electromechanical one since
it was powered by an electric motor and used
switches ad relays. It was also the first
automatic general-purpose digital computer.
 THE ENIAC
• was developed during the period
1943 to 1946. It was the first Large
- scale vacuum-tubes computer.
The ENIAC is an acronym for
Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Calculator. It consisted of over
18,000 vacuum tubes and required
the manual setting of switches to
achieve desired results. It could
perform 300 multiplications per
second. Operating instructions
were not stored internally; rather
they were fed trough externally
located plug boards and switches.
THE EDVAC
In 1946 a Hungarian-born mathematician John
von Neumann proposed a modified version of
the ENIAC. The modified version, EDVAC
(Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer), would differ from the ENIAC in
two profoundly important respects. First, the
EDVAC would employ binary arithmetic. The
MARK I and the ENIAC both used decimal
arithmetic in all their calculations.
VonNeumann showed that binary arithmetic
would make for much simpler computer
circuitry. Second, the EDVAC would have
stored- program capability. He also proposed
wiring a permanent set of instructions within
the computer and placing these operations
under a central control. He further proposed The EDVAC was not the first stored-program
that the instructions codes governing the machine to go into operation. That honor went
to an English-made computer, the EDSAC
operations be stored in the same way that the (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic
data were stored - as binary numbers. Calculator).
COMPUTER GENERATIONS

o Fourth-generation computers represent the state

of the art today and the fifth generation is on the
way. The term "generation" it refers to major
developments in electronic data processing.
The Generation are:
o First Generation Computers
o Second Generation Computers
o Third Generation Computers
o Fourth Generation Computers
FIRST GENERATION
COMPUTERS(1951- 1959)
• With the beginning of the Korean
War in 1950, the demand of many
different kinds of computation
increased greatly. The appearance of
the first commercial computer, the
UNIVAC, in 1951, marked the
beginning of computers belonging to
the first generation. The major
innovation s then were the use of
vacuum tubes in place of relays as a
means of storing data in memory and
the use of the stored-program
concept. The addition of memory
made the punched card system and
the calculators virtually obsolete.
The wire board was replaced by
computer programs written in a new
languages for processing
Second Generation
Computers( 1959- 1964)

• Solid-State components ( transistors

and diodes) and magnetic core
storage formed the basis for the
second generation of computers.
The new transistor technology made
the previous generation obsolete. A
transistors performs the same
functions as a vacuum tube, except
that electrons move through solid
materials instead of through a
vacuum.
Third Generation Computers
(1965- 1970)

Integrated solid-state circuitry,

improved secondary storage devices,
and new input/output devices were
the most important advantages in this
generation. The new circuitry
increased the speed of the computer
by a factor of about 10, 000 over the
first generation computers.
Arithmetic and logical operations
were now being performed in
microseconds or even nanoseconds.
 Fourth Generation Computers (
1970- Present)
The major innovations were in the
development of microelectronics
and in the development of
different areas in computer
technology such as;
multiprocessing,
multiprogramming,
miniaturization, time-sharing,
operating speed, and virtual
storage. Because of
microprocessors, the fourth
generation includes large greater
data processing capacity than
equivalent-sized third generation
computers .
End