Hardware & Software
Hardware
• Hardware are the physical
components of the
Computer System.
• Examples :
• All the electronic parts.
• All cables.
• All accessories.
Software
• SOFTWARE are the logical
components of the computer
system. These are basically
the programs and
information stored in the
computer.
• Examples:
• Microsoft Office
• Windows
 BASIC STRUCTURE
The computer receives input, processes it and
delivers output.
To perform these tasks it has different units and
each unit is responsible for a specific task.
The units are INPUT, MEMORY, CONTROL
UNIT (CU), ARITHMETIC & LOGIC UNIT
(ALU) AND OUTPUT.
The CU and ALU together are called CENTRAL
PROCESSING UNIT (CPU).
 INPUT DEVICE
It is used for transferring data from the
users’ end to the computer.

OUTPUT DEVICE
It is used to transfer processed
information from the computer to the
user in a way required by the user.
 MEMORY UNIT
It stores instruction and data and provides them
to the various other units as and when required.
It is basically the working memory of the
computer system. This memory unit is volatile,
i.e. it is temporary memory and nothing can be
stored here permanently. The information is
stored in the main memory as long the
computer is switched on or as long as it is
required by the computer.
 CONTROL UNIT
Controls the various operations within a
computer. It basically manages all the
other units and devices of the computer
system. It does so by transmitting
timing and control signals to the various
devices and units.
 ARITHMETIC & LOGIC UNIT
It performs the various arithmetic and
logical operations on the data stored in
memory, as dictated by the instruction.
There are various basic circuits to
perform these operations.
 SECONDARY STORAGE
It stores the various data, information
and programs permanently for future
retrieval. The information is organised
in such a way to retrieve it in minimum
time whenever required. The stored
information remains as long the user
wants it.
 BLOCK DIAGRAM
DATA FLOW CONTROL FLOW

SECONDARY
STORAGE

INPUT MEMORY OUTPUT

DEVICE UNIT DEVICE

CONTROL
UNIT

ARITHMETIC
& LOGIC UNIT CPU
 BUS
These are a set of connecting wires used
for setting interconnection between the
various devices in the system. Each set
of bus has a specific function to perform
like carrying data, carrying control
signals and addresses.
 DATA & INFORMATION
DATA is described as some FACTS, FIGURES
and STATISTICS about a particular instance.

For example : MARKS in individual subjects.

INFORMATION is some FACTS, FIGURES

and STATISTICS which help us in decision
making. Generally information is the result of data
processing.

For example : PERCENTAGE & GRADE.

 DATA REPRESENTATION WITHIN A COMPUTER

CHARACTER :
A character is the smallest amount of information
that can be communicated to the computer. All
data, information and instruction are represented
by a combination of these characters.
A series of 0s and 1s from a pattern which
represents a character.
All alphabets, digits and symbols are
characters. Even a blank space is a
character.
 ASCII
American Standard Code for
Information Interchange.
It is difficult for us to remember all the 256 bit
patterns and their corresponding characters.
Hence we can convert the bit pattern to a decimal
number. This way each bit pattern will have a
different number and this number, fixed for a
character is called the ASCII code of the
character. All computers follow the same ASCII
code and bit pattern to represent characters.
There are eight such positions to represent
0 or 1 and each such position is called a
BIT. Hence the pattern generated to
represent a character is a BIT PATTERN.
BIT
1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1

Two digits, 0 and 1 can generate 256

unique combinations if represented in
eight places. Hence we can represent 256
different characters in any computer.
 How does the computer
understand a character?
Computer being an electronic device,
can represent only two states –
VOLTAGE and NO VOLTAGE.

Voltage is represented as 1
No voltage is represented as 0
 BINARY
The number system involving two
digits, 0 & 1 is called BINARY.

By using this system a bit pattern

(treated as a binary number) can
be converted to the decimal
number system.
 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
32 16 8 1

= 57

 Starting from right to left, raise 2 to

the power of 0 to 7.
 Add the values corresponding to the
BIT positions having the value 1.
1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
128 32 16 8 1 32 8 1

= 185 = 41

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

= 255 =0
 BIT ASCII CODE CHARACTER
PATTERN
01000001 65 A
01100001 97 a
00110001 49 1
00101011 43 +
00100000 32
00101101 45 -
00011100 28 (
00101100 44 ,
 UNIT FOR MEASUREMENT OF
INFORMATION

8 BIT = 1 CHARACTER = 1 BYTE

1024 BYTES = 1 KILO BYTE (KB)

1024 KB = 1 MEGA BYTE (MB)

1024 MB = 1 GIGA BYTE (GB)

1024 GB = 1 TERA BYTE (TB)