INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER AND ITS

APPLICATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
• A computer may be defined as a device that operates upon data.

• The name computer comes from a Latin word computer, meaning “to
reckon” or “to compute” which means to calculate.

 A computer is an electronic device used to process information.

 Electronic- very fast, operate at electronic speed.

 Processing- calculating numbers, and comparing logics, creating texts,

pictures, etc.
 Information – systematically analyzed data used to make a decision.

 Computer Science is a science concerned with information, that is,

representation, storage, manipulation or processing and presentation of
information.
  Like any other science, which uses different devices and lab
equipment, Computer Science uses a special device called
Computer.
 Is invented by man, built by man and process by man.
 Computers are used to store and manage large amount of
information in the form of words, numbers, pictures and
sounds.
Computer Is an electronic device that is used to accept,
process and store data according to the program(set of
instructions) and provides the result in printed or other form.

Figure 1.1 Computer system diagram.

 Computers vs. Human beings
Differences between Human Attitude and computer Attitudes

Human
Can Think
Gets Mental Tiredness
May do mistake
Has limited speed
Has limited Memory
Accuracy may be missing
Computer
Cannot think by itself
Never gets Tiredness
Can’t do mistake by itself
Very High Speed
More Amount of memory
Never missing
 Operations Performed Corresponding Actions
by a Computer Performed by a Human
Hold instruction in internal storage Remember a set of instructions

Read data in machine readable form Read data in written or printed form and
memorize it or file it.

Perform arithmetic Computations Can perform arithmetic operations

Make comparisons Can make comparisons

Retrieve any data from internal memory Remember data or retrieve data from
or secondary storage file

Output the results on an output device Speak or Write the result on paper
 What is Information Technology (IT) ?

• is the use of modern technology to aid the capture, processing,

storage and retrieval, and communication of information, whether
in the form of numerical data, text, sound, or image.

• It is the study of information handling and its use in society by

means of modern technology.

Components of IT:

Information technology is divided into three primary components. These are

1. Computers: It is any calculating device or machine, which is

electronic, mechanical or electromechanical.
2. Communications Networks: It is the connection of
stations at different locations through a medium that
enables people to send and receive data and information.

Telephone wires and cables are common communication

media

3. Know-how: knowing how to do something well.

Know- how includes

 familiarity with the tools of IT
 the skills needed to use these tools
 understanding when to use IT to solve a problem
 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTERS

1. Storage: Computers can handle large amount of data. Its storage capacity
is measured as follows:

• Bit = smallest information stored in a computer (0 or 1).

• Byte = character = 8 bits.
• Kilobyte (KB) = 1024 bytes.
• Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobytes.
• Gigabyte (GB) = 1024 Megabytes.
• Terabyte (TB) = 1024 Gigabytes.

2. Speed: Computers are very fast devices. They work at an incredible(very

difficult to believe) speed and perform millions of calculations and
comparisons in a fraction of seconds. Its speed is measured by:

• Millisecond = 1/1000 of a second.

• Microsecond = 1/1000,000 of a second.
• Nanosecond = 1/1000,000,000 of a second.
• Pico second = 1/1000,000,000,000 of a second.
3, Accuracy: Computers are very accurate. They process vast
amount of data in a very high speed without committing errors.

 If the input data is correct and program instructions are reliable,

then the output of a computer is accurate.
 But, Errors can occur mainly due to humans’ incorrect input data,

 Computer errors caused due to incorrect input data or unreliable

program is often called garbage-in-garbage out (GIGO).

4, Diligence: Computers are not bored or become tired of performing

many thousands of calculations repeatedly.

5, Versatility (flexibility) A computer is capable of performing almost any

task provided that the task can be reduced to a series of logical steps.
 APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS
Today computes can find a role in nearly every aspect of our lives. In our
every day activities they can help us get things done better and faster,
making humans’ life simple and easy. So computers can be used in every
day activities in:-
IN OFFICES:
• like typing purpose
IN EDUCATION:
• CAL- Computer Aided Learning
• CAI- Computer Assisted Instruction

IN MEDICINE:
• Telemedicine
IN LBRARIES:
• to bibliographic information
 Cont. …

IN COMMUNICATION:
– Fax- hard copy
– Video conferencing
– Electronic mail
– Internet
– Teleconferencing
IN MANUFACTURING
• CAD- Computer-Aided Design
• CAM- Computer-Aided Manufacturing.

IN BUSINESS
IN RESEARCH
 ADVANCED APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS

Artificial Intelligence (AI) are computer programs that utilize special

programming routines that make decisions based on available evidence.
These programs are expected to give computers new capabilities for
understanding the human voice and for interpreting users’ natural
language responses to programs.
 Natural Language processing and speech recognition.

 Computer vision – ability to understand what they see.

E.g. X-ray results read by a computer.

 Problem solving – computers designed to give solutions by themselves.
 Generation of Computers
 Generation in computer language is a step in technology and provides a
framework for the growth of the computer industry.
 There are five distinct computer generation which are distinguished by the
following parameters.

– Dominant type of electronic circuit element used,

– Major secondary storage media used,
– Computer language used,
– Type or characteristic of operating system used,
– Memory access time (time to store or retrieve a word of data
from memory).
 First Generation computers (1944-1955)
 ENIAC, EDIAC, EDSAC & UNIVAC are examples of 1st generation
computers.
• ENIAC- Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.
• EDIAC- Electronic Delay Integrator and Calculator.
• EDSAC -Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator.
• UNIVAC- Universal Automatic Computer.
 Used vacuum tubes as the principal electronic components .
 Memory access time is expressed in milliseconds.
 Punched cards used as secondary storage devices to store data files and
input data to the computer.
 The general behaviors of the first generation computer are:
– They are fastest calculating device of their time.
– Very large in size, slow in performance and expensive in price.
– Have limited storage capacity.
– Thousands of vacuum tubes are used, hence produce
considerable heat. Need special environment or should be
properly air conditioned.
– Vacuum tubes consume much power.
– Prone to frequent hardware failure, due to limited life of
vacuum tubes leads to constant maintenance.
– Difficult to program and use, so limited commercial use.
– Mainly used for scientific computation.
 Second Generation Computers (1955-1964)

 vacuum tubes are replaced by transistor as the principal electronic

components .
 Memory access time is expressed in microseconds.
 Magnetic tape used as secondary storage devices.

 Machine language replaced by Assembly language. Also high level

language such as COBOL (Common Business Oriented
Language) and FORTRAN (Formula translator) introduced.
 Batch operating systems were introduced

 computers are smaller, faster, more energy efficient, and more

reliable than first generation computers.
• Use for business and industry & for commercial data processing
like payroll, inventory control, and marketing.
• New occupation “computer programmers” come into being.
• They are more than 10 times faster than 1 st generation computers.
• They are properly air conditioned.
• Consumes less power, more reliable, less prone to hardware
failure, has faster and larger primary and secondary storage
capacity than their predecessors.
• Commercial production of these computers was difficult and
costly.
 Third Generation Computers (1964-1975)
 Transistor were replaced by IC(Integrated circuit) as the principal electronic

components .Also uses LSI(Large scale integration).

 IC requires a small amount of power.

 Memory access time is expressed in nanoseconds.

 Magnetic disc used as secondary storage devices.

 Structured programming languages were introduced example PASCAL and

BASIC

 Interactive and Time sharing operating systems are used that allows

individual users to access their data files..

 Computers were more powerful, more reliable, less expensive and smaller to

operate than the 1st and 2nd generation computers.

 Fourth Generation Computers (1975-1989)

 Uses VLSI(very large scale integration) as the principal electronic components .

Memory access time is expressed in nanoseconds.

user oriented languages are being introduced.

 C Programming language, object oriented software, and object oriented programming

languages, C++, etc. emerged.

Multiprocessing operating systems are used that permits many users to share

the use of the computer while simplifying the programming task.

A variety of mass storage devices is being introduced.

 Creation of MICROPROCESSOR. (for PCs)

 Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides icons and menus for users.

Computers were smaller ,more powerful, cheaper and more reliable to operate

than the 1st ,2nd and 3rd generation computers.

Spread of high-speed computer networking. (LAN & WAN).

Several new operating systems were developed, like MS-DOS, Ms-

Windows, and UNIX.

PC based applications, made PCs more powerful for office and

home use.
 Fifth Generation computers (1989- Present)

Fifth generation computer is now being developed and differ from the
previous four generations, not only due to its technology such as new
memory organization and new programming languages, but also in its
functionality.
Uses Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) as the principal electronic
components .
Distributed operating system for computer network.
JAVA programming language introduced & become popular.
More compact, more powerful and cheaper computers introduced.
Optical disks emerged named as CD-ROMs.
• Portable notebook computers, powerful desktop PCs, and
workstations, powerful servers and supercomputers.
• Larger main memory > = 256 Mb, and hard disk >= 80 GB
are common.
• Tremendous growth of computer networks and Emergence
and popularity of Internet.
o Electronic mail (e-mail).

o World Wide Web (www).

o Electronic commerce.

o Virtual libraries.

• Tremendous processing power & massive storage capacity

Multimedia applications.
Types of Computers

1. Classification by the method of operation (processing). Computers

are classified by the type of data they are designed to process.

I) Analog: Analog computers operate by measuring. they don’t compute

directly with numbers, rather, they operate by measuring physical magnitude
such as, temperature, current etc. Example:
• Thermometer
• Speedometer etc.
They are special purpose computers.
II) Digital: Digital computers deal with discrete variables, they operate
by counting rather than measuring. They operate directly up on numbers (or
digits) that represent numbers, letters, or other special symbols. Examples:
• Abacus
• Desk & pocket computers
They are general purpose computers
Digital computers have very high accuracy and speed than the analog ones.

III) hybrid Computers: The best features of analog and digital

computers.

A hybrid computer processes the information by collecting input data with

analog method, convert it into digital quantities, processes the digital values
and convert the output from digital to analog form.
Eg. insensitive-care unit analog devices in hospital
2. Classification by purpose of application
Based upon their application, they are classified as special purpose or
general purpose computers.

I) Special purpose computers

They are designed to solve a single type of problem, that is their components
and their functions are uniquely adopted to a specific situation involving
specific application. Example:

• The public telephone box

• Traffic control system
• Ticket machines (used in grocery, super market etc.)
• Pocket-calculators etc.

Most analog computers are special purpose computers.

 II. General purpose computers

They are designed to solve variety of problems through the use of

“store program concept”. Examples:

• Micro computers
• Mini computers
• Super computers etc.

3. Classification by physical size, price, capacity and performance

I) Micro computers: - are the most widely used type of computers.

Microcomputers are sometimes referred as personal computers.
Basically they can be grouped into three: Laptop, Palmtop and
Desktop computers.
II) Mini computers: They are midrange computers that are larger and more
powerful than most microcomputers but are smaller and less powerful than
mainframe computer systems.

They are popularly used in scientific laboratories, research centers etc.

III) Mainframe computers

They are large, powerful computers that are physically larger than micros
and minis and usually have processors with faster instruction processing
speeds.

Can process 10 to 200 million instructions per second.

Because of the computer's cost and the value of the information stored
there, the rooms in which mainframes are located have security systems
allowing only authorized personnel to enter.
IV) Supercomputer

 It is being the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive

computer.

 In addition, highly trained data processing professionals are

required to operate supercomputers.

 These computers can take inputs from over 10,000 individual

computers and users at the same time.

 Super computers are largely used by research organizations,

military defense systems, national weather forecasting agencies,
large corporations, aircraft manufacturers, etc.
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