1.
Introduction to Computer Science
1.1. What is Computer Science?
Computer Science is the discipline that seeks to build a scientific foundation for
such topics as:
Hardware
Computer hardware is the collection of physical parts of a computer system. This
includes the computer case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It also includes all the
parts inside the computer case, such as the hard disk drive, motherboard, video
card, and many others. Computer hardware is what you can physically touch.
Software
Computer software, also called software, is a set of instructions and its
documentations that tells a computer what to do or how to perform a task. Software
includes all different software programs on a computer, such as applications and
the operating system.
Programing
Computer programming is the process of designing and building an executable
computer program for accomplishing a specific computing task.
Networks
A computer network is a set of computers connected for the purpose of sharing
resources. The most common resource shared today is connection to the Internet.
Other shared resources can include a printer or a file server. The Internet itself can
be considered a computer network.
Graphics
Computer graphics is the discipline of generating images with the aid of
computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography,
film, video games, cell phone and computer display, and many specialized
applications.
Robots
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer— capable of
carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Robots can be guided by an
external control device or the control may be embedded within
Database
Database, also called electronic database, any collection of data, or information,
that is specially organized for rapid search and retrieval by a computer. Databases
are structured to facilitate the storage, retrieval, modification, and deletion of data
in conjunction with various data-processing operations. A database management
system (DBMS) extracts information from the database in response to queries.
Security
Security are those controls that are put in place to provide confidentiality, integrity,
and availability for all components of computer systems. These components
include data, software, hardware, and firmware.
Algorithmic Solutions
An algorithm is a set of instructions designed to perform a specific task.
Information Processing
Information processing refers to the manipulation of digitized information by
computers and other digital electronic equipment, known collectively as
information technology (IT). Information processing systems include business
software, operating systems, computers, networks and mainframes.
We will be learning the details of these terms throughout the courses in different
modules.
1.2. Computer Science Applications
Furthermore, Computer Science has applications in almost all domains such as:
Telecom
Banks
Hospitals
Software Development
Service Industry ü Pak Army
Freelancing
and many more
Local Job Market
According to famous Job market website in Pakistan, most of the jobs are available
in Computer Science, for example Figure 1 shows job opportunities when filtered
using “By Function”, and Figure 2 represents job opportunities when filtered using
“By Industry”. In both cases, the job opportunities in Computer Science are higher
than rest of the fields.
International Job Market
Similarly, internationally, jobs related to Computer Science are ranked on the top.
For example, forbes magazin one of the acclaimed agencies in US claims that
Software Developer has been ranked as Number 1 job in the US. In Computer
Science, the following areas have been ranked by the Forbes magazine.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Data Science
Virtual Reality ü IoT
Back-End Developer
Front-End Developer
UI Designer
Full-Stack Engineer
IT Manager
Quality Assurance Expert
All of this discussion would be helpful to make you motivated all the time and to
be happy with the decision you have made to choose Computer Science and a
career.
1.5. Are you not a student of Computer Science?
Those who are not studying CS, even then this course will be helpful for them too.
As this course covers all basic concepts of Computer Science which you would
require in whatever field of study you are working. You know studying basics of
Computer Science is compulsory for everyone even you are studying Business,
Engineering, or Sciences. This course has been made very easy and interactive to
make sure that you learn properly the basics of Computer Science and can apply
them in your own studies.
