Chapter-Two

Introduction to Computers
Introduction
 Information is becoming vital for carrying out day-to-day
activities in government, the industry, business and even
for personal tasks.
 Computers and associated communication technologies
(ICTs) have become important tools in the production,
processing and sharing of information.

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 What is a computer?

 A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of

instructions stored in its own memory that can accept data (input),
process the data according to specified rules, produce information
(output), and store the information for future use.

 A computer is a machine which can take instructions/data

(input) and produce results (output)

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 Functionalities of a computer
Any digital computer carries out five functions in gross terms:
 Takes data as input
 Stores the data/instruction in its memory and use them when
required
 Processes the data and converts into use full information.
 Generates the output
 Controls all the above four steps

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What are computers used for?
 Computers are very widely used for areas such that
 Accounting System
 Banking System
 Design & Manufacturing
 Shopping & Education
 For communication
 For a research purpose and
 For Aviation System etc…

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 Characteristics of Computer
Speed: The computer can process data very fast, at the rate of millions
of instructions per second.
Accuracy: Computer provides a high degree of accuracy.
Consistency: Unlike human beings, computers are highly consistent.
They never get tired and are suitable to carryout repetitive and
voluminous work.
Storage Capability: Large volumes of data and information can be
stored in the computer and also retrieved whenever required.

 Flexibility:- Computer is a versatile in machine. It can perform

different types of tasks with the same ease like play music, watch
films, etc.
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 History of Computers
In order to understand today’s computers, it is important to study how
computers evolved through time by discussing some of the major
achievements. This section deals with the history of computers and
identifies the major technological achievements of the four computer
generations.
Many people agree that the history of calculation began with the
Abacus around 5000 B.C. in Egypt and China. It has a wooden frame
with balls or beads strung on parallel wires. It is used for calculations.
Afterwards, other developments include the invention of the slide rule
in the 1620’s and the first mechanical calculating machine in 1642.
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 Abacus

Probably the first computer was designed by Charles Babbage in 1822.

He devised a
machine called the difference engine. In 1834, Babbage proposed a
more elaborate computing machine, called the analytical engine. It was
completely mechanical and needed thousands of components. Babbage
was unable to produce most of these parts due to the technological
limitations of his time.
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 Generations of computers

Depending on the kind of technology they use, computers are classified

into five generations. The following are the common improvements
that were made from one generation to the next.
 Enhanced power in terms of the speed at which computers process
data, the amount of data they could store, and the range of
activities they could accomplish,
 More convenient to use,
 Better reliability,
 Reduced physical size, less expensive
 
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First Generation (1945-1955):- Computers in this generation were
characterized by the use of vacuum tubes as the main component. As a
result, they were very big, filling up entire rooms with tens of thousands
of vacuum tubes.

The Second World War has also contributed in the development of

computers. A machine called Colossus was built in 1943 by the British to
speed up the breaking of the Lorenz cipher. The Lorenz cipher was used
by the German Army High Command to communicate by radio in
complete secrecy.

Vacuum Tube 1st generation

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Second Generation (1955-1965):- The transistor was introduced
in the mid-1950s and replaced vacuum tubes. As a result, computers
became smaller in size, faster, and more reliable.

These machines could be controlled using high level programming

languages such as COBOL(Common Business Oriented Language) and
FORTRAN(FORmula TRANslator). These programming languages allow
the use of English like statements to write programs. Magnetic tapes
were also introduced in this generation as storage devices.

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 Third Generation (1965-1975):- Integrated circuits (ICs) also
called chips replaced transistors. In ICs, several transistors are held in
a silicon chip, whose size and power requirement is very small. As a
result, computers became faster, smaller, and more reliable than
before. Magnetic disks took the place of magnetic tapes as storage
devices.

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Fourth Generation (1976 - Present):- The development of
VLSI(Very Large-Scale Integration)technology helped to manufacture
computers that are small in size, cheaper in price, more powerful,
efficient, and reliable. Microprocessors were developed as a result of
VLSI technology.

 Artificial Intelligence (Rehoboth) 5th generation now days

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 There are two types of computer applications by their purpose

A. Special purpose computers

computer is designed to do a specific task. An example is a computer
that is capable of doing only word processing. Standalone special
purpose computers were popular in the 1930s and early 1940s.

B. General purpose computers

 Computer can solve any problem that can be expressed as a program
and executed within the capacity of the computer, the size of the
program, and the speed of program execution.

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 Types of Computers
General purpose computers are subdivided on the way in which they are
used and their size, cost, and speeds.
1. Microcomputer (Personnel Computer)

Desktop computer: are the most widely used type of computers by

most offices, organizations, and individuals, including in our country.
Unlike laptop and palmtop computers, desktop computers have
detachable parts.

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Laptops: also called notebooks, are smaller versions of
microcomputers.

Palmtops: are more commonly known as Personal Digital Assistants

(PDAs). They are the smallest microcomputers, about the same size of a
pocket calculator.

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 2. Mini Computers
Mini computers are multi-user systems that can handle the computing
needs of a smaller corporation or organization.
 Medium Sized Computers
 Used by several users at a time.
 Used at
-Laboratories
-Industrial Processes
-Engineering Firms

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 3. Main Frame Computer

Mainframes are huge, multi-user systems designed to handle huge processing jobs in large

corporations or government agencies.

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 4. Supper Computers

Super computers are ultra fast computers designed to process huge

amounts of scientific data then display the underlying patterns that have
been discovered. Used in:-
 Research organization
 Military Defense System
 Weather Forecasting
 Aircraft Manufacturing etc.

 Components of a Computer System

The computer system is composed of two components namely, the
hardware and software.

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 1. Computer Hardware
Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that
constitutes a computer system. All of which are physical objects that
can be touched.

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 The common parts of computer hardware are:

A.Input Devices
B. Output Devices
C. Control System Devices

D. Storage Devices

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 A. Input Device

•Input devices are the part of the computer hardware through which the
computer gets data and instructions from the outside world. Keyboard,
light pen, graphics tablet, barcode reader, mouse, scanner, digital
camera, and microphone are some examples of input devices.

•An Input device lets you talk to the computer

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 B.Output Devices

•Output Devices are parts of the computer that are designed to receive
output from the computer and provide it to the user. Examples of
output devices are monitors, speakers, and printers.

•An Output lets the computer Talk to you

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 C. Control System Devices
The Control System: controls the fetching of instructions from main
memory and the execution of these instructions. Among other tasks
carried out are the control of input and output devices.
Has two parts:-
1.CPU (central Processing Unit) &
2.Main Memory
1.CPU:-The brain of the computer.
It has three components
 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): For every calculations.
 Control Unit (CU) :Used to directing the system .
 Registers: Stores the data that is to be executed next.
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 D.Storage Devices
1. Memory Unit (Primary Storage):-Internal
RAM (Random Access ROM (Read Only Memory)
Memory)

 Used to store data &  It is none-volatile

instruction temporarily
 It is volatile memory space
 Stores start up instructions
 ROM is written only by the
manufacture
 Used to store data &
instruction Permanently

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2. Secondary Storage (External Storage)
 Used to store huge data for later access
 They are none-volatile

*There are different types of secondary storage devices

Magnetic Tape:-used for data backup
Magnetic Disks
e.g.
•Hard Disk 1GB_TB Has fast read /write operation
•Floppy Disk 1.4MB
Optical Disks
e.g. Compact Disk (CD)
• CD-ROM 700 MB
• CD-R/W
Digital Video Disks DVD
• DVD-R 4.7GB-17GB
• DVD-R/W
Flesh disk: from 128MB and above eg.2GB, 4GB, 8GB and so on.
External hard disk: above 30GB
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 How the Computer System Works

Motherboard
•The Motherboard is the backbone of a computer – all other parts plug
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 2.Computer Software – The Instructions

Software is the set of instructions that tells the computer what to do,
how to do it and when to do it.

Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data

and instructions, often broken into two major categories: System software
that provides the basic non-task-specific functions of the computer and
Application software which is used by users to accomplish specific tasks.

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 Software Types
A. System software is responsible for controlling, integrating, and
managing the individual hardware components of a computer system so
that other software and the users of the system see it as a functional
unit without having to be concerned with the low-level details such as
transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display.
Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some
fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file managers, display
managers, text editors, user authentication (login) and management
tools, and networking and device control software.

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B. Application software :is used to accomplish specific tasks other than
just running the computer system. Application software may consist of a
single program, such as an image viewer; a small collection of programs
(often called a software package) that work closely together to
accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or text processing system;
a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but
independent programs and packages that have a common user interface
or shared data format, such as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely
integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database, etc.

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Comparison Application Software and System Software

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 Unit of Measurements
1.Storage measurements: The basic unit used in computer data storage
is called a bit (binary digit). Computers use these little bits, which are
composed of ones and zeros, to do things and talk to other computers.
All your files, for instance, are kept in the computer as binary files and
translated into words and pictures by the software (which is also ones
and zeros). This two number system, is called a “binary number system”
since it has only two numbers in it. The decimal number system in
contrast has ten unique digits, zero through nine.

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 Computer Storage units

2.Speed measurement: The speed of Central Processing Unit (CPU) is

measured by Hertz (Hz), Which represent a CPU cycle. The speed of CPU
is known as Computer Speed.

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  Data Representation in a computer
Data is represented in a computer in the form of digital numbers.
These digital numbers are in the form of 0 & 1.
A computer stores data in units called bits and bytes. Computer
chips (integrated circuits) exist in two states.

Number system are classified into four categories

I.Decimal number system Base10 =0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,
II.Binary number system Base2 =0,1
III.Octal number system Base8 =0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7
IV.Hex decimal number system Base
16 =0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 ,A,B,C,D,E,F
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E.g 1 The decimal number 5 is represented as
5/2=2 1 R1
2/2=1 0 R2
1/2=0 1 R3
=>R3 R2 R1 =101
E.g 2 Number 9

9 2
8 4 2
1 4 2 2
0 2
0 1
R1 R2 R3 R4

=>R4 R3 R2 R1 =1001
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 Octal Decimal Data representation with 3 bits

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E.g. Decimal Number 11

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 Hex Decimal (binary coded decimal (BCD))=>The form of 4
bits

e.g convert decimal number 21 to its hex decimal form

(2 1)/2 =10, R1=1
Answer: Rearrange the binary number by four bit start
10/2 = 5, R2=0 from the right (0001,0101)2 >>> (15)16
Or
5/2 = 2, R3 =1
21/16 = 1 R1=5
2/2 = 1, R4 =0 1/16 =0 R2=1 >>>>>>R2R1>>>>>>(15)16
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 Capacity

1 Bit=0 or 1
1 Byte=8 bits
1 Kilobyte= 210byte
1 Megabyte=220 byte
1 Gigabyte=230 byte
1 Terra byte=240 byte

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 Computer Viruses
Viruses: A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real
programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a
spreadsheet program.
Most Common types of Computer Viruses

•E-mail viruses: An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail

messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to
dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book. Some e-mail
viruses don't even require a double-click -- they launch when you view
the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software .

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•Trojan horses: A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The
program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead
does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan
horses have no way to replicate automatically.
•Worms: A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer
networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans
the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It
copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts
replicating from there, as well.

 What are some tips to avoid viruses and lessen their impact
• Install anti-virus software from a reputable vendor. Update it and use it regularly.

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• In addition to scanning for viruses on a regular basis, install an "on access" scanner
(included in most anti-virus software packages) and configure it to start each time
you start up your computer. This will protect your system by checking for viruses
each time you run an executable file.
• Use a virus scan before you open any new programs or files that may contain
executable code. This includes packaged software that you buy from the store as
well as any program you might download from the Internet.
• If you are a member of an online community or chat room, be very careful about
accepting files or clicking links that you find or that people send you within the
community.
• Make sure you back up your data (documents, bookmark files, important email
messages, etc.) on disc so that in the event of a virus infection, you do not lose
valuable work.
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 Computer Networks
A network is two or more computers which are connected together.
Computers can be linked together in many different ways. At its simplest level, a
computer network consists of two computers connected to each other by a cable.

Types of network
1.Local Area Network (LAN)
A local area network is a network built over a small area, such as one room or one building or
a compound. A LAN can range from simple (two computers connected by a cable) to
complex(hundreds of connected computers and peripherals throughout a major corporation).

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2.Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is similar to a local area network (LAN) but spans an
entire city or campus. MANs are formed by connecting multiple LANs. Thus, MANs are larger
than LANs but smaller than wide area networks (WAN).

3.Wide Area Networks (WAN)

Wide area network has no geographical limit. A WAN is made up of a number of
interconnected LANs. The largest WAN is the Internet.

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 Ice breaker
• Just a short quiz to wake you up!

Q1-Character “A” is represents by decimal number 65. What is its octal

form in a computer?

Q2-Atype of memory that stores data temporarily is __________ and the

one that stores data permanently is ______________.

Q3-Explain the difference between computer hardware and software.

Q4-Write down the common parts of computer hardware.

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