COMPUTING

INDUSTRY
AND THE
PROFESSION
Lesson 1
Contents 1 Basics of Computer and its Operation

2 Basic operation done by a computer

3 Components of computer

4 Basics of computer: Software

5 Basics of computer: Hardware

Contents 6 Input Devices

7 Output devices

8 What is hardware and software

9 Computer languages

10 Compiler and assembler

Contents 11 Five Functional Areas of Computer

12 Using digital technologies to succeed in

different career

13 Using digital technologies to achieve

personal goals
BASICS OF
COMPUTER AND
ITS OPERATION
What is computer?
Computer is Electronic Device
that receives input from the
user, calculates, processes the
raw data into meaningful
information and provides the
desired results as output.
 Basic operation done by a
computer

Accept/Input Data Data Storage Data Processing Displaying the

Calculated Results

This refers to The data is required This refers to This refers to

collecting the data to be stored at processing the producing the
and instructions various levels while given data output on the
being given by the processing, before according to the output devices
processing, or even
user. It can also be given instructions once the result is
after processing to
termed as Data and producing the calculated.
store desired results.
Capturing. required output.
This is data storage.
 components of computer

Input Unit Output Unit CPU

Secondary Memory
Primary Memory
Input unit
The input unit basically includes the input
devices and its operation is to take the
input from the user. The input data is not
in machine language. Therefore, the input
unit converts it into the language of the
computer (binary code). Some important
input devices are Keyboard, Mouse,
Microphone, Scanner, Barcode Reader,
Light Pen, Joystick, etc.
Output Unit
The output unit basically involves the output
devices and its operation is to give the
processed information as an output on the
computer. The results of processing are
always in binary code. Humans cannot
understand this code. Therefore the output
unit converts it into a form that we can
understand. Some important output devices
are Monitors (also called Visual Display Unit),
Speakers, Printers, etc.
Central Processing
Unit (CPU)
This is a really important part of a
computer as it performs all the processing
parts of the computer. The CPU carries out
and performs different calculations and
other operations on the data and
instructions. It has two subparts:
 Subparts of cpu
Arithmetic and Logical Unit
As the name suggests, this
unit is responsible for
performing arithmetic tasks
like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division and
also making logical decisions
like greater than less than,
etc. Hence, its name is also
the ‘brain’ of the computer.
Control Unit
This unit is responsible for
looking after all the
processing being done. It
organizes and manages the
execution of tasks that the
CPU performs.
Primary Memory
This can also be named as the main memory
of the computer which is present internally.
Here, the data and instructions are stored
while the processing is taking place in the
CPU. RAM (Random Access Memory) is a
primary memory which is volatile (data is
lost when the power is disconnected).
Another primary memory is ROM(Read Only
Memory).
Secondary Memory
As we know that the primary memory is
volatile therefore, we need some devices
to store the data permanently so we use
some external storage devices for this
purpose which we name as the secondary
memory.
BASICS OF
COMPUTER:
SOFTWARE
Software is one of the important
terms we should understand to get
familiar with the basics of
computers. It is the set of programs
that perform various special tasks or
functions on the computer. The
software can be classified further
into two categories:
System software
The system software is responsible for
handling all the internal workings of a
computer. Some types of system software
are:

• Operating System
• Language processors
• System Utilities
• Device Drivers
 Operating System Language System Utilities Device Drivers
Processors
An operating
system is basically converts the code This software is This software
software used for given by the user responsible for the basically has the
interaction (source code) to proper and instructions in
between the user computer smooth order to run the
and the computer language functioning of hardware devices.
hardware. It (machine code). computers. And
controls all the also, keeping the
parts of a system safe.
computer system Examples are
and manages Antivirus Software,
them. Examples File Management
are Microsoft Tools, etc.
Windows, Linux,
etc.
Application
Software
This software performs only a specific
task. Examples are MS-Excel, PowerPoint,
Google Chrome, etc.
BASICS OF
COMPUTER:
HARDWARE
What is computer
hardware?
Hardware can be defined as the physical
components that a computer system
needs to function.
Peripheral
devices
Peripheral devices are connected to the
computer externally. These devices are
used for performing some specific
functions. Peripheral devices are as
follows:
• Input Devices
• Output Devices
• Other Peripherals
 Input devices 1

2
Keyboard

Mouse
Input devices accept data and
instructions from the user. 3 Lightpen

Following are the examples of 4 Optical Scanner

various input devices, which are 5 Touchscreen

connected to the computer for this 6 Microphone
purpose.
7 Trackball
Keyboard
A keyboard (as shown in figure 1.3) is the
most common input device. Several kinds
of keyboards are available, but they
resemble each other with minor variations.
The keyboard in most common use is the
QWERTY board. Generally standard
keyboard has 104 keys. In these keyboards,
the cursor control keys are duplicated to
allow easier use of the numeric pad.
mouse
A mouse is an electro-mechanical, hand-
held device (as shown in figure 1. 4). It is
used as a pointer. It can perform functions
like selecting menu commands, moving
icons, resizing windows, starting programs,
and choosing options.
lightpen
An input device that utilizes a light-sensitive
detector to select objects on a display
screen. A light pen is similar to a mouse (as
shown in figure 1.5), except that with a
light pen you can move the pointer and
select objects on the display screen by
directly pointing to the objects with the
pen.
lightpen
An input device that utilizes a light-sensitive
detector to select objects on a display
screen. A light pen is similar to a mouse (as
shown in figure 1.5), except that with a
light pen you can move the pointer and
select objects on the display screen by
directly pointing to the objects with the
pen.
optical scanner
These devices are used for automatic data
collection. The devices of this category
completely eliminate manual input of data.
For example, the bar-code reader is actually
just a special type of image scanner. An
image scanner translates printed images
into an electronic format that can be stored
in a computer’s memory, and with the right
kind of software, one can alter a stored
image.
Touchscreen
Touch panel displays and pads are now
being offered as alternatives to keyboard.
Here the input can be given through the
computer screen, that accepts the input
through monitor; users touch electronic
buttons displayed on the screen or they
may use light pen.
MICrophone
Microphone is an input device, which takes
voice as input. The voice communication is
more error-prone than information through
keyboard. There are two types of
microphones available (as shown in figure
1.8):
• Desktop Microphone
• Hand held Microphone
trackball
Trackball, a pointing device, is a mouse lying on
its back (as shown in figure 1. 9). To move the
pointer, you rotate the ball with your thumb,
your fingers, or the palm of your hand. There are
usually one to three buttons next to the ball,
which you use just like mouse buttons. The
advantage of trackballs over mouse is that the
trackball is stationary so it does not require much
space to use it. In addition, you can place a
trackball on any type of surface, including your
lap. For both these reasons, trackballs are
popular pointing devices for portable computers.
output devices
Output devices return processed 1 Monitors

data that is information, back to

2 Printers
the user. Some of the commonly
used output devices are:
3 Plotters

4 Speakers
Monitor
Out of all the output devices, monitor (as
shown in figure 1.10) is perhaps the most
important output device because people
interact with this device most intensively
than others. Computer
information is displayed, visually with a
video adapter card and monitor.
 three types of monitor

CRT LCD LED

CRT or Cathode Ray This type of monitors are A LED display is a flat
Tube Monitor is the also known as flat panel panel display that uses
typical monitor that you monitor. Most of these an array of light-
see on a desktop employ liquid crystal emitting diodes as
computer. It looks a lot displays (LCDs) to render pixels for a video
like a television screen, images display.
and works the same
way. This type uses a
large vacuum tube
Printer
After a document is created on the
computer, it can be sent to a printer for a
hard copy (printout). Some printers offer
special features such as colored and large
page formats.

plotter
A plotter is a special kind of output device
that, like a printer, produces images on
paper, but does so in a different way.
Plotters
are designed to produce large drawings or
images, such asconstruction plans for
buildings or blueprints for mechanical
objects. A plotter can be connected to the
port normally used by a printer.
Plotters usually come in two designs:
1. Flat Bed: Plotters of small size to be kept
on table with
restriction of paper size.
2. Drum: These plotters are of big size
using rolls of paper of
unlimited length.
COMPUTER
LANGUAGES
Languages are a means of communication.
Normally people interact with each other
through a language. On the same pattern,
communication with computers is carried out
through a language. This language is
understood both by user and the machine. Just
as every language like English, Hindi has its
grammatical rules; every computer language is
bound by rules known as SYNTAX of that
language. The user is bound by that syntax
while communicating with the computer
system.
Low Level Language
The term low level means closeness to the
way in which machine understand. The
low level languages are:

• Machine Language
• Assembly Language
Machine Language
This is the language (in the form of 0’s
and 1’s, called binary numbers)
understood directly by the computer. It is
machine dependent. It is difficult to learn
and even more difficult to write
programs
Assembly Language
This is the language where the machine
codes comprising of 0’s and 1’s are
substituted by symbolic codes (called
mnemonics) to improve their
understanding. It is the first step to
improve programming structure.
Assembly language programming is simpler
and less time consuming than machine
level programming, it is easier to locate and
correct errors in assembly language than in
machine language programs. It is also
machine dependent. Programmers must
have knowledge of the machine on which
the program will run.
High Level Language
You know that low level language requires
extensive knowledge of the hardware since
it is machine dependent. To overcome the
limitation, high level language has been
evolved which uses normal English like,
easy to understand statements to solve
any problem. Higher level languages are
computer independent andprogramming
becomes quite easy and simple
COMPILER AND
ASSEMBLER
As you know that High Level language is machine independent and assembly language
though it is machine dependent yet mnemonics that are being used to represent
instructions are not directly understandable by machine. Hence to make the
machineunderstand the instructions provided by both the languages, Compiler and
Assembler are required to convert these instructions into machine language.

The software (set of programs) that reads a program written in high level language and
translates it into an equivalent program in machine language is called as Compiler.
The program written by the programmer in high level language is called source program
and the program generated by the compiler after translation is called as object program.
The software (set of programs) that reads a program written in assembly language and
translates it into an equivalent program in machine language is called as Assembler.
FIVE
FUNCTIONAL
AREAS OF
COMPUTERS
five areas 1 Computation

2 Automation

3 Communication

4 Entertainment

5 Information
Computation
Computation is what you do when you
calculate something or calculating solution
to a mathematical problem. Much of what
made computers so revolutionary was that
in a relatively short time they could do a
complex mathematical computation that
would take a human many lifetimes to do.
Automation
Automation describes a wide range of
technologies that reduce human
intervention in processes, namely by
predetermining decision criteria,
subprocess relationships, and related
actions, as well as embodying those
predeterminations in machines. The most
advance technologies in today's world in
the artificial intelligence(AI) and robotics
(machine learning).
communication
People use computers and networks to
communicate with one another, makes
communication across great distances and
different time zones convenient,
eliminating the time and geographic
constraints of in-person communication.
This includes email, video conferencing,
text and instant messaging and etc using
internet.
entertainment
Computers are widely used for viewing
films and television shows online, creating
Cartoon animation, playing video games,
and using computer applications for
picture, video editing, digital drawing like
3D, streaming and vlogger.
information
We use them to collect data from all sorts
of different sources and to turn all that raw
data into useful information. The
information that is created is shown to us in
many ways. It can be in the form of reports,
graphs, images, or even sounds
USING DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
TO SUCCEED IN
DIFFERENT
CAREER
 Digital technologies to succeed in career
Computer-based Business and
profession Communications

Science and
Engineering
Mathematics

Social Sciences Fine Arts

Sports, Nutritions and Government and

Exercise Law

Medicine and Criminology, Law

Healthcare Enforcement and
Security
Education and Training
USING DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
TO SUCCEED IN
PERSONAL
GOALS
personal finance
Personal finance is the financial
management which an individual or a
family unit performs to budget, save,
and spend monetary resources over
time, taking into account various
financial risks and future life events.
personal information
A personal information system is defined as
a system for supporting the acquisition,
storage and retrieval of information by
individuals. A computerized personal
information system should also be
integrated with other personal software,
such as electronic mail and word-processing
packages.
Personal research
The web is increasingly used as the first
and primary information source for
personal questions and needs. People are
relying more heavily on the internet to
provide information during important life
changes starting from career, planning a
marriage, buying a home and having a
baby. The web helps to uncover options
and learning strategies for choosing the
correct path.
personal relations
Many people are turning into the web to
make new friends. Facebook and other
social networks are popular ways to renew
old friendships and meet new friends with
similar interests. Many other social platform
are used in order to communicate and find
new friends and other relatives.
END OF LESSON