ABE BY LIZ

INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND RELATED TERMS

System System is a, "whole compounded of several parts or members, system", literary "composition) is a set of interacting or interdependent system components forming an integrated whole.
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A set of detailed methods, procedures , and routines established or formulated to carry out a specific activity, perform a duty, or solve a problem.

`Data

The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data (plural of "datum") are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and then knowledge are derived. Raw data, i.e. unprocessed data, refers to a collection of numbers, characters, images or other outputs from devices that collect information to convert physical quantities into symbols.

Information This is data that has been verified to be accurate and timely, is specific and organized for a purpose, is presented within a context that gives it meaning and relevance, and that can lead to an increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty.
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The value of information lies solely in its ability to affect a behavior, decision, or outcome. A piece of information is considered valueless if, after receiving it, things remain unchanged.

Managers need information for many purposes: ` Planning To plan properly, a managers needs to know what resources the business has (e.g. cash, people, machinery and equipment, property, customers). They also need information about the markets in which they operate and the actions of competitors. At the planning stage, information is important as a key ingredient in decisionmaking.

Recording Information about each transaction or event is needed. Much of this is required to be collected by law - e.g. details of financial transactions. Just as importantly, information needs to be recorded so that the business can be properly managed. ` Controlling Once a business has produced its plan it needs to monitor progress against the plan - and control resources to do so. So information is needed to help identify whether things are going better or worse than expected, and to spot ways in which corrective action can be taken
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Measuring Performance must be measured for a business to be successful. Information is used as the main way of measuring performance. For example, this can be done by collecting and analyzing information on sales, costs and profits ` Decision-making Information used for decision-making is often categorized into three types: (1) Strategic information: used to help plan the objectives of the business as a whole and to measure how well those objectives are being achieved.
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Examples of strategic information include: - Profitability of each part of the business - Size, growth and competitive structure of the markets in which a business operates - Investments made by the business and the returns (e.g. profits, cash inflows) from those investments (2) Tactical Information: this is used to decide how the resources of the business should be employed. Examples include: - Information about business productivity (e.g. units produced per employee; staff turnover) - Profit and cash flow forecasts in the short term - Pricing information from the market

(3) Operational Information: this information is used to make sure that specific operational tasks are carried out as planned/intended (i.e. things are done properly). For example, a production manager will want information about the extent and results of quality control checks that are being carried out in the manufacturing process.

An information system is a collection of hardware, software, data, people and procedures that are designed to generate information that supports the day-to-day, short-range, and long-range activities of users in an organization. Information systems generally are classified into five categories: office information systems, transaction processing systems, management information systems, decision support systems, and expert systems.

The 5 components that must come together in order to produce a Computer-Based Information system are: 1.Hardware:The term hardware refers to machinery. This category includes the computer itself, which is often referred to as the central processing unit (CPU), and all of its support equipments. Among the support equipments are input and output devices, storage devices and communications devices.

2.Software:The term software refers to computer programs and the manuals (if any) that support them. Computer programs are machine-readable instructions that direct the circuitry within the hardware parts of the CBIS to function in ways that produce useful information from data. Programs are generally stored on some input / output medium, often a disk or tape. 3.Data:Data are facts that are used by programs to produce useful information. Like programs, data are generally stored in machine-readable form on disk or tape until the computer needs them.

4.Procedures:Procedures are the policies that govern the operation of a computer system. "Procedures are to people what software is to hardware" is a common analogy that is used to illustrate the role of procedures in a CBIS. 5.People:Every CBIS needs people if it is to be useful. Often the most over-looked element of the CBIS are the people, probably the component that most influence the success or failure of information systems.

A computer is really a system of many parts working together. The physical parts, which you can see and touch, are collectively called hardware. (Software, on the other hand, refers to the instructions, or programs, that tell the hardware what to do.) The illustration below shows the most common hardware in a desktop computer system. Your system may look a little different, but it probably has most of these parts. A laptop computer has similar parts but combines them into a single notebook-sized package.

MAJOR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE COMPONENTS

Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. In other words, software is a conceptual entity which is a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. We can also say software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some purposes. In other words, software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation. Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of software.

Computer software tells the hardware what to do. Without any software, the hardware would be worthless. Think of the software as a subject in school, and the hardware as you or your brain. Without any learning, you can't do anything. One you have learned some math, then you are able to solve math problems. This learning is usually accomplished through downloads or CD's that are loaded into the computer.

Application Software Application software includes a variety of programs that can be segregated into general- purpose and application-specific categories. General-purpose application programs perform common information processing jobs for end users. Examples are word processing, electronic spreadsheet, database management, telecommunications, and presentation graphics programs. Application-specific programs accomplish information processing tasks that support specific business functions or processes, scientific or engineering applications, and other computer applications in society.

System Software System software can be subdivided into system management programs and system development programs. System management programs manage the hardware, software, networks, and data resources of a computer system during its execution of information processing jobs. Examples of system management programs are operating systems, network management programs, database management systems, system utilities, performance monitors, and security monitors. Network management programs support and manage telecommunications networks. Database management systems control the development, integration, and maintenance of databases.

Utilities are programs that perform routine computing functions, such as backing up data or copying files, as part of an operating system or as a separate package. System development programs help IS specialists and end users develop computer programs and information system procedures. Major development programs are language translators, programming editors, and other programming tools.

In computing a graphical user interface (GUI, sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and office equipment . A GUI represents the information and actions available to a user through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

A GUI uses windows, icons, and menus to carry out commands such as opening files, deleting files, moving files, etc. and although many GUI Operating Systems are operated by using a mouse, the keyboard can also be used by using keyboard shortcuts or arrow keys. Examples of GUI operating Systems include: ` Microsoft Windows 95 ` Apple System 7 ` Apple Mac OS. Examples of GUI interfaces include: ` GNOME (For unix based) ` KDE (Linux/ Unix)

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

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Good framework for processes of software development Increase on quality of the end result product Increase the speed or time span of undertaking the project

System development life cycle means combination of various activities. In other words we can say that various activities put together are referred as system development life cycle. Following are the different phases of software development cycle:
(a) System Study

System study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This gives a clear picture of what actually the physical system is? In practice, the system study is done in two phases. In the first phase, the preliminary survey of the system is done which helps in identifying the scope of the system. The second phase of the system study is more detailed and in-depth study in which the identification of users requirement and the limitations and problems of the present system are studied.

To describe the system study phase more analytically, we would say that system study phase passes through the following steps: ` problem identification and project initiation ` background analysis ` inference or findings (b) Feasibility Study On the basis of result of the initial study, feasibility study takes place. The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its workability, meeting users requirements, effective use of resources and .of course, the cost effectiveness. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy.

(c) System Analysis Assuming that a new system is to be developed, the next phase is system analysis. Analysis involved a detailed study of the current system, leading to specifications of a new system. Analysis is a detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside the system. During analysis, data are collected on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for system analysis. The main points to be discussed in system analysis are: ` Specification of what the new system is to accomplish based on the user requirements.

Functional hierarchy showing the functions to be performed by the new system and their relationship with each other. Function network which are similar to function hierarchy but they highlight the those functions which are common to more than one procedure. List of attributes of the entities - these are the data items which need to be held about each entity (record)

(d) System Design Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is a most crucial phase in the development of a system. Normally, the design proceeds in two stages : ` preliminary or general design ` Structure or detailed design Preliminary or general design: In the preliminary or general design, the features of the new system are specified. The costs of implementing these features and the benefits to be derived are estimated. If the project is still considered to be feasible, we move to the detailed design stage.

Structure or Detailed design: In the detailed design stage, computer oriented work begins in earnest. At this stage, the design of the system becomes more structured. Structure design is a blue print of a computer system solution to a given problem having the same components and inter-relationship among the same components as the original problem. Input, output and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the programming language and the platform in which the new system will run are also decided. There are several tools and techniques used for designing. These tools and techniques are: ` Flowchart

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Data flow diagram (DFDs) Data dictionary Structured English Decision tree

(e) Coding After designing the new system, the whole system is required to be converted into computer understanding language. Coding the new system into computer programming language does this. It is an important stage where the defined procedure are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer language.

This is also called the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into computer instructions, which we refer as programs. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a system.

(f) Testing The code is tested at various levels in software testing. Unit, system and user acceptance testings are often performed. This is a grey area as many different opinions exist as to what the stages of testing are and how much if any iteration occurs. Iteration is not generally part of the waterfall model, but usually some occur at this stage. In the testing the whole system is test one by one

Following are the types of testing:

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Unit testing System testing Integration testing User acceptance testing Performance testing

(g) Operations and maintenance The deployment of the system includes changes and enhancements before the decommissioning or sunset of the system. Maintaining the system is an important aspect of SDLC. As key personnel change positions in the organization, new changes will be implemented, which will require system updates.

Translator is defined as a computer program that converts instructions written in one language to another in terms of computer language. A translator is a computer program that translates a source program (high level language) into object program (machine level language) The programs include: ` Compiler: A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that transforms source code written in a programming language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language, often having a binary form known as object code). The most common reason for wanting to transform source code is to create an executable program.

Interpreter: An interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language. An interpreter may be a program that either ` executes the source code directly ` translates source code into some efficient intermediate representation (code) and immediately executes this ` explicitly executes stored precompiled code made by a compiler which is part of the interpreter system Exercise: Check out the differences between Compiler and Interpreter at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_main_differe nce_between_an_interpreter_and_a_compiler
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The Process Development Environment (PDE) is a domain specific language (DSL) modeling framework designed specifically for modeling and implementing software development processes. The Processing Development Environment (PDE) consists of a simple text editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, tabs for managing files, a toolbar with buttons for common actions, and a series of menus. When programs are run, they open in a new window called the display window.

Processing is a simple programming environment that was created to make it easier to develop visually oriented applications with an emphasis on animation and providing users with instant feedback through interaction. The developers wanted a means to sketch ideas in code. Software written using Processing are called sketches. These sketches are written in the text editor. It has features for cutting/pasting and for searching/replacing text. The message area gives feedback while saving and exporting and also displays errors. The console displays text output by Processing programs including complete error messages and text output from programs with the some functions. The toolbar buttons allow you to run and stop programs, create a new sketch, open, save, and export.

PDE consists of a set of tools based on the Microsoft DSL toolkit allowing a graphical definition of a language as well as the generation of a (Windows Presentation Foundation) WPF-based application for creating and editing language instances. Others include: `Ease of use `Increase Efficiency and Reliability

OFFICE PACKAGES

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DATA PROCESSING

A database is simply organized data. A database contains tables which are basically descriptions of types of data. Tables in turn contain records which is the actual data. The need to relate the tables to form a database include: It is easy to access related data It saves time (quick ) Saves storage space

The aim of query processing is to transform a query in a high level declarative language (SQL) into a correct and efficient execution strategy. Query process returns the following information: ` The user who owns the process ` The session that owns the process ` The ID of the session ` The name of the process ` The state of the process ` The ID of the process

These are the output devices. They are usually receive data from the CPU and change it into a form which can be understood by humans. They include:

A monitor is an output device which outputs data in human readable form onto a video screen. Monitors vary greatly in size and in resolution (clarity of graphics). The resolution is determined by the number of pixels on the screen, that is the number of spots which can be lit-up by an electron stream fired from within the monitor.

Printers are used to print the output data on paper. Such output is referred to as printout or hard copy.

Computers can be used to output sound in the form of speech and music. This has obvious applications in entertainment and musical composition, and the ability of computers to produce speech has important implications for their use by visually impaired people