ITBA

MODULE 1:
CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
2. FUNDAMENTALS
3. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
4. COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
5. SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
6. GENERATIONS OF A COMPUTER
7. TYPES OF SOFTWARE IN DETAIL

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS:

What is a computer?

A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and

manipulates data and provides output in a useful format.
Or

A computer is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a

program.

A computer has four functions:

a. accepts data Input

b. processes Processing
data

c. produces
output Output
The Information
Processing Cycle
d. stores
results Storage

Advantages of a computer:

 The potential advantages for using a computer depend closely on the

intended use.

For writing:

Quick entry

Easy to edit and restructure

Many tools to produce various kinds of output (html, text, books, pdf
documents, etc.)

Storage is inexpensive and doesn't take up much space.

Easy to search/navigate through documents.

For organization
Easy Storage and Once a document is in electronic form it is easy to store and
many, many documents can be stored on one computer in much less space than
in a file cabinet.

Easy to search

For programming

Most programming requires the use of computers

There are many, many tools available to programmers such as:

Editors: CodeWrite, SlickEdit, VIM, EMACS, Notepad, BBEdit...

Compilers: MSVC, Sun javac, GNU Compiler Collection (java, fortran, C, C++, and
more), Intel C Compiler...

Assemblers: NASM, MASM, TASM...

Interpreters: Ruby, Python, Lisp, Perl, bash, and countless others

For Research:

Access to the Internet has become invaluable as a research tool

Easily gather huge amounts of information and store/catalog it

Easily search for new information or search the information already acquired

Interact with other researchers to create/gather more research

Almost instant access to many remote or obscure locations of the globe and
their researchers/experiences/knowledge.

Easily disseminate results of your own research.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS:

 The first counting device was the abacus, originally from Asia. It worked on a
place-value notion meaning that the place of a bead or rock on the apparatus
determined how much it was worth.

ABACUS

• 1600 : John Napier discovers logarithms. Robert Bissaker invents the slide rule.

• 1642 : Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and philosopher, invents the first
mechanical digital calculator using gears, called the Pascaline. Although this
machine could perform addition and subtraction on whole numbers, it was too
expensive and only Pascal himself could repair it.

PASCALINE
• 1804 : Joseph Marie Jacquard used punch cards to automate a weaving loom.

A PUNCH CARD COMPUTER

• 1812 : Charles P. Babbage, the "father of the computer", discovered that many
long calculations involved many similar, repeated operations. Therefore, he
designed a machine, the difference engine which would be steam-powered,
fully automatic and commanded by a fixed instruction program. In 1833,
Babbage quit working on this machine to concentrate on the analytical engine.

Babbage’s Difference engine

• 1840s: Augusta Ada. "The first programmer" suggested that a binary

system(0,1) should be used for storage rather than a decimal system(0-9).
• 1850s : George Boole developed Boolean logic which would later be used in the
design of computer circuitry.

• 1890: Dr. Herman Hollerith introduced the first electromechanical, punched-

card data-processing machine which was used to compile information for the
1890 U.S. census. Hollerith's tabulator became so successful that he started his
own business to market it. His company would eventually become International
Business Machines (IBM).

• 1906 : The vacuum tube is invented by American physicist Lee De Forest.

A Vacuum Tube:

• 1939 : Dr. John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry build the first
electronic digital computer. Their machine, the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer (ABC)
provided the foundation for the advances in electronic digital computers.

• 1941 : Konrad Zuse (recently deceased in January of 1996), from Germany,

introduced the first programmable computer designed to solve complex
engineering equations. This machine, called the Z3, was also the first to work on
the binary system instead of the decimal system.

• 1943 : British mathematicians Alan Turing developped hypothetical devices, the

Turing machine which would be designed to perform logical operation and could
read and write. It would presage programmable computers. He also used vacuum
technology to build British Colossus, a machine used to counteract the German
code scrambling device, Enigma.

• 1944 : Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers from IBM, constructed a

large automatic digital sequence-controlled computer called the Harvard Mark I.
This computer could handle all four arithmetic operations, and had special built-
in programs for logarithms and trigonometric functions.

• 1945 : Dr. John von Neumann presented a paper outlining the stored-program
concept.

• 1946 : The giant ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator)

machine was developed by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr. at the
University of Pennsylvania. It used 18, 000 vacuums, punch-card input, weighed
thirty tons and occupied a thirty-by-fifty-foot space. It wasn't programmable but
was productive from 1946 to 1955 and was used to compute artillery firing
tables.

That same year, the TRANSISTOR was invented by William Shockley, John
Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs. It would rid computers of vacuum
tubes and radios.

ENIAC

• 1949 : Maurice V. Wilkes built the EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic
Computer), the first stored-program computer. EDVAC (Electronic Discrete
Variable Automatic Computer), the second stored-program computer was built by
Mauchly, Eckert, and von Neumann. A Wang developed magnetic-core memory
which Jay Forrester would reorganize to be more efficient.
 EDSAC

• 1950 : Turing built the ACE, considered by some to be the first programmable
digital computer.
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE:

Control flow:

 Any input given through the input devices will firstly enter the Control unit
and will be stored for temporary usage by the registers.

 It then goes through the Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU) for processing and will
be stored in the memory(RAM).

 Finally, the processed and stored data will be displayed back to the user by
an output device.

Input devices:

Any hardware peripheral used to provide data and control signals to an

information processing system such as computer is called as an input device.
An input device acts as an interface between a computer and a user.

Examples: Mouse, Keyboard, Joysticks, touch screens, webcams, Microphones

etc.

 Mouse:

A Mouse is used for navigation through the monitor screen and it makes
facilitates the usage of the computer.

Types of Mouse:

1.Ball Mouse(tracks with a ball)

2.Laser Mouse(uses laser transmission)

3.Optical Mouse(uses optical transmission)

Advantages of a mouse:

A mouse works very well for navigating a graphical user interface, such as
Windows or Mac. With additional buttons and a scroll wheel, increasingly
complex functions can be done from a mouse. These include opening, closing
and minimizing software; grouping, moving and deleting files; and even image
editing with software like Photoshop. In my experience, a mouse is better for
fine movements and adjustments than most of the alternatives.

Threats:

Motion controller.

 Keyboards:

These are the default input devices. A 'keyboard' is a human interface device
which is represented as a layout of buttons. Each button, or key, can be used to
either input a linguistic character to a computer, or to call upon a particular
function of the computer. Traditional keyboards use spring-based buttons,
though newer variations employ virtual keys, or even projected keyboards.

Types of keyboards:

1.Wireless keyboards

2.Wired keyboards
 Wireless Keyboards

The wireless keyboards use three basic types of connections, viz.

 Bluetooth Keyboards
 Infrared (IR) Keyboards
 Radio Frequency Keyboards

 Wired keyboards:
The PS/2 and USB are the two wired connections that connect the keyboards
to your desktop computers. The PS/2 keyboards are very commonly used
and they are called so because they use the PS/2 connection. They are one of
the cheapest keyboards that are available in the market. The USB keyboards
use a USB (Universal Serial Bus) to connect to the CPU. The PS/2 and USB
keyboards are usually plug and play. Other types of keyboards are a bit
expensive and require expensive software applications to be installed.

 Ergonomic Keyboards

The ergonomic keyboards are designed considering the ergonomic aspect of

the keyboards. It is specially designed as per the comfort of the hands and
wrist of the keyboard user. The ergonomic keyboards are designed to
prevent the carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes numbness and tingling
sensation in hands and fingers after typing for a long duration. These
keyboards also help the keyboard user maintain a comfortable position.
 Compact Keyboard
The sizes of keyboard goes on increasing, especially, those of the ergonomic
keyboards. The ergonomic keyboards are designed bigger to accommodate
many keys that perform special functions. The compact keyboards are slim
and usually do not have the numeric keypad that is present on the right side
of the other keyboards. Some compact keyboards even include a rubber pad
that can be used instead of the mice. These keyboards are not very small in
size, but offer portability during travel and storage.

Different Types of Keyboards - Special Keyboards

 Internet Keyboards
The internet keyboards are designed to increase the comfort level of the
internet user. The internet keyboards have hot-keys for the home page of
the web browser, inbox and the favorites menu on your computer.

 Multimedia and Gaming Keyboards

The multimedia and gaming keyboards are designed for playing audio and
has hot-keys for volume control, play, stop and mute operations. The gaming
keyboards are designed for the convenience of the gamers and these types
of keyboards provide the required controls on the keyboards like
backlighting.
Threats:

Touch screen and Virtual keyboards.

 Audio and video input devices:

They provide the audio and visual data to the cpu.

Examples: Webcam, digicam, microphones ,midi keyboards etc.

 Control unit:

Control Unit Co-ordinates the input and output devices of a computer system.

Functions of Control Unit:

A control unit can be described as a sort of circuitry that supervises and controls
the path of information that runs over the processor and organizes the various
activities of those units that lie inside it.

• It carries out many tasks such as decoding, fetching, handling the execution
and finally storing the results.

• It controls the execution of instructions in a sequential order.

• It guides the flow of data through the different parts of the computer.

• It interprets the instructions.

• It regulates the time controls of the processor.

 Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU):

Arithmetic logic unit is that part of the computer which performs the different
logic operations and arithmetic calculations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. It is the high speed digital circuit that solves
calculations and does comparisons.

Functions of Arithmetic Logic Unit:

• Almost all the actions of the computer are done by it. It gets its data from a
certain computer memory called processor register . After the data gets
processed, its results get stored in output registers of the arithmetic logic unit .

• The arithmetic logic unit can perform integer arithmetic operations like
addition, subtraction, etc.

• It can also perform bitwise logic operations like AND, OR, XOR, etc

 Registers:

In computer architecture, a processor register (or general purpose register) is a

small amount of storage available on the CPU whose contents can be accessed
more quickly than storage available elsewhere. Typically, this specialized
storage is not considered part of the normal memory range for the machine.
  Memory device:

Memory

Random access Read only (EEPROM)

memory(RAM) memory(ROM)
ELECTRICALLY
ERASE

STATIC RAM DYNAMIC PROGRAMM (EPROM)

RAM ABLE ROM
(SRAM) (PROM) ERASABLE
(DRAM) PROM

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM):

 Random Access Memory, RAM, also known as main memory or system

memory, is a term commonly used to describe the memory within a
computer. Unlike ROM, RAM is a volatile memory and requires power; if
power is lost, all data is also lost. Below is an example image of a
512MB DIMM memory stick.

Random access memory or RAM most commonly refers to computer chips that
temporarily store dynamic data to enhance computer performance. By storing
frequently used or active files in random access memory, the computer can
access the data faster than if it to retrieve it from the far-larger hard drive.
SRAM AND DRAM:

There are two types of Random Access Memory or RAM, each has its own
advantages and disadvantages compared to the other. SRAM (Static RAM) and
DRAM (Dynamic RAM) holds data but in a different ways. DRAM requires the
data to be refreshed periodically in order to retain the data.

SRAM does not need to be refreshed as the transistors inside would continue to
hold the data as long as the power supply is not cut off. This behavior leads to a
few advantages, not the least of which is the much faster speed that data can be
written and read.

One complication is the much higher power used by DRAM memory, this
difference is very significant in battery powered devices. SRAM modules are also
much simpler compared to DRAM, which makes it easier for most people to
create an interface to access the memory.

Structurally, SRAM needs a lot more transistors in order to store a certain

amount of memory. A DRAM module only needs a transistor and a capacitor for
every bit of data where SRAM needs 6 transistors.

Summary:

1. SRAM is static while DRAM is dynamic

2. SRAM is faster compared to DRAM

3. SRAM consumes less power than DRAM

4. SRAM uses more transistors per bit of memory compared to DRAM

5. SRAM is more expensive than DRAM

6. Cheaper DRAM is used in main memory while SRAM is commonly used in

cache memory

READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM):

One major type of memory that is used in PCs is called read-only memory, or
ROM for short. ROM is a type of memory that normally can only be read, as
opposed to RAM which can be both read and written.

There are two main reasons that read-only memory is used for certain functions
within the PC:

Permanence: The values stored in ROM are always there, whether the power is
on or not. A ROM can be removed from the PC, stored for an indefinite period
of time, and then replaced, and the data it contains will still be there. For this
reason, it is called non-volatile storage. A hard disk is also non-volatile, for the
same reason, but regular RAM is not.

Security: The fact that ROM cannot easily be modified provides a measure of
security against accidental (or malicious) changes to its contents. You are not
going to find viruses infecting true ROMs, for example; it's just not possible. (It's
technically possible with erasable EPROMs, though in practice never seen.)

Read-only memory is most commonly used to store system-level programs that

we want to have available to the PC at all times. The most common example is
the system BIOS program, which is stored in a ROM called (amazingly enough)
the system BIOS ROM. Having this in a permanent ROM means it is available
when the power is turned on so that the PC can use it to boot up the system.
Remember that when you first turn on the PC the system memory is empty, so
there has to be something for the PC to use when it starts up.

TYPES OF ROM:

Programmable ROM (PROM):

This is a type of ROM that can be programmed using special equipment; it can
be written to, but only once. This is useful for companies that make their own
ROMs from software they write, because when they change their code they can
create new PROMs without requiring expensive equipment. This is similar to the
way a CD-ROM recorder works by letting you "burn" programs onto blanks once
and then letting you read from them many times. In fact, programming a PROM
is also called burning, just like burning a CD-R, and it is comparable in terms of
its flexibility.

Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM):

An EPROM is a ROM that can be erased and reprogrammed. A little glass

window is installed in the top of the ROM package, through which you can
actually see the chip that holds the memory. Ultraviolet light of a specific
frequency can be shined through this window for a specified period of time,
which will erase the EPROM and allow it to be reprogrammed again. Obviously
this is much more useful than a regular PROM, but it does require the erasing
light. Continuing the "CD" analogy, this technology is analogous to a reusable
CD-RW.

Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM): The next level of erasability

is the EEPROM, which can be erased under software control. This is the most
flexible type of ROM, and is now commonly used for holding BIOS programs.

SECONDARY MEMORY DEVICES:

These are used for external storage.

Examples: CD’s, Floppy’s, DVD’s, Pen drives, Memory cards etc.

Output devices:

They display the processed and stored data to the user.

These are Monitor, Printer, Scanner etc.

SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE:

SOFTWARE:

What most people think of as a computer can actually be divided into two parts.
The first part, computer hardware, does all of the physical work computers are
known for. The second part, computer software, tells the hardware what to do
and how to do it. If you were to think of a computer as a living being, then the
hardware would be the body that does things like seeing with eyes, lifting
objects, and filling the lungs with air; the software would be the intelligence,
interpreting the images that come through the eyes, telling the arms how to lift
objects etc. Computer software is most commonly created by computer
programmers using a programming language. The programmer writes
commands in the programming language that are similar to what someone
might use in everyday speech. These commands are called source code. Another
computer program called a compiler is then used on the source code,
transforming the commands into a language that the computer can understand.
The result is an executable computer program, which is another name for
software.

Computer software falls into two primary categories:

System software and Application software.

System software represents programs that allow the hardware to run properly.
Application software represents programs that allow users to do something
besides simply run the hardware. Some experts also include a third category,
programming software, though others put those programs into one of the other
previously mentioned categories.

Hardware:

Everything you can see and touch in your PC is hardware. Hardware is the
physical interface of a computer on which software runs.

It is tangible.
This following list represents a basic set of hardware found in most PCs.

PC Case

Motherboard

Power Supply

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Floppy Disk Drive (FDD)

Compact Disk Drive (CDD)

Digital Video Disk drive (DVD)

Monitors (CRT and LCD)

Keyboard

Mouse

Audio

Cables & Wires

Generations of Software:

Five Generations of Modern Computers

First Generation (1945-1956)

With the onset of the Second World War, governments sought to develop
computers to exploit their potential strategic importance.
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), produced by a
partnership between the U.S. government and the University of Pennsylvania.
Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5 million soldered
joints, the computer was such a massive piece of machinery that it consumed
160 kilowatts of electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an entire
section of Philadelphia. Developed by John Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John
W. Mauchly (1907-1980), ENIAC, unlike the Colossus and Mark I, was a general-
purpose computer that computed at speeds 1,000 times faster than Mark I.

ENIAC

Second Generation Computers (1956-1963)

By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed the computer's

development. The transistor replaced the large, cumbersome vacuum tube in
televisions, radios and computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery
has been shrinking ever since. The transistor was at work in the computer by
1956. Coupled with early advances in magnetic-core memory, transistors led to
second generation computers that were smaller, faster, more reliable and more
energy-efficient than their predecessors. The first large-scale machines to take
advantage of this transistor technology were early supercomputers, Stretch by
IBM and LARC by Sperry-Rand. These computers, both developed for atomic
energy laboratories, could handle an enormous amount of data, a capability
much in demand by atomic scientists. The machines were costly, however, and
tended to be too powerful for the business sector's computing needs, thereby
limiting their attractiveness.

Third Generation Computers (1964-1971):

Though transistors were clearly an improvement over the vacuum tube, they
still generated a great deal of heat, which damaged the computer's sensitive
internal parts. The quartz rock eliminated this problem. Jack Kilby, an engineer
with Texas Instruments, developed the integrated circuit (IC) in 1958. The IC
combined three electronic components onto a small silicon disc, which was
made from quartz. Scientists later managed to fit even more components on a
single chip, called a semiconductor. As a result, computers became ever smaller
as more components were squeezed onto the chip. Another third-generation
development included the use of an operating system that allowed machines to
run many different programs at once with a central program that monitored
and coordinated the computer's memory.

Fourth Generation (1971-Present)

After the integrated circuits, the only place to go was down - in size, that is.
Large scale integration (LSI) could fit hundreds of components onto one chip. By
the 1980's, very large scale integration (VLSI) squeezed hundreds of thousands
of components onto a chip. Ultra-large scale integration (ULSI) increased that
number into the millions. The ability to fit so much onto an area about half the
size of a U.S. dime helped diminish the size and price of computers. It also
increased their power, efficiency and reliability. The Intel 4004 chip, developed
in 1971, took the integrated circuit one step further by locating all the
components of a computer (central processing unit, memory, and input and
output controls) on a minuscule chip.

Such condensed power allowed everyday people to harness a computer's

power. They were no longer developed exclusively for large business or
government contracts. By the mid-1970's, computer manufacturers sought to
bring computers to general consumers. These minicomputers came complete
with user-friendly software packages that offered even non-technical users an
array of applications, most popularly word processing and spreadsheet
programs. Pioneers in this field were Commodore, Radio Shack and Apple
Computers.

In 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer (PC) for use in the home, office
and schools. The 1980's saw an expansion in computer use in all three arenas as
clones of the IBM PC made the personal computer even more affordable. The
number of personal computers in use more than doubled from 2 million in 1981
to 5.5 million in 1982. Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being used.
Computers continued their trend toward a smaller size, working their way down
from desktop to laptop computers (which could fit inside a briefcase) to
palmtop (able to fit inside a breast pocket). In direct competition with IBM's PC
was Apple's Macintosh line, introduced in 1984.

As smaller computers became more powerful, they could be linked together, or

networked, to share memory space, software, information and communicate
with each other. As opposed to a mainframe computer, which was one powerful
computer that shared time with many terminals for many applications,
networked computers allowed individual computers to form electronic co-ops.
Using either direct wiring, called a Local Area Network (LAN), or telephone lines,
these networks could reach enormous proportions. A global web of computer
circuitry, the Internet, for example, links computers worldwide into a single
network of information.

Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond)

Defining the fifth generation of computers is somewhat difficult because the

field is in its infancy. The most famous example of a fifth generation computer is
the fictional HAL9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL
performed all of the functions currently envisioned for real-life fifth generation
computers. With artificial intelligence, HAL could reason well enough to hold
conversations with its human operators, use visual input, and learn from its own
experiences. (Unfortunately, HAL was a little too human and had a psychotic
breakdown, commandeering a spaceship and killing most humans on board.)
Major Types of Software:

Programming Software: This is one of the most commonly known and popularly
used forms of computer software. These software come in forms of tools that
assist a programmer in writing computer programs. Computer programs are sets
of logical instructions that make a computer system perform certain tasks. The
tools that help the programmers in instructing a computer system include text
editors, compilers and interpreters.

System Software: It helps in running the computer hardware and the computer
system. System software is a collection of operating systems; devise drivers,
servers, windowing systems and utilities. System software helps an application
programmer in abstracting away from hardware, memory and other internal
complexities of a computer.

Application Software: It enables the end users to accomplish certain specific

tasks. Business software, databases and educational software are some forms of
application software. Different word processors, which are dedicated for
specialized tasks to be performed by the user, are other examples of application
software.

Apart from these three basic types of software, there are some other well-
known forms of computer software like inventory management software, ERP,
utility software, accounting software and others. Take a look at some of them.

Inventory Management Software: This type of software helps an organization in

tracking its goods and materials on the basis of quality as well as quantity.
Warehouse inventory management functions encompass the internal
warehouse movements and storage. Inventory software helps a company in
organizing inventory and optimizing the flow of goods in the organization, thus
leading to an improved customer service.

Utility Software: Also known as service routine, utility software helps in the
management of computer hardware and application software. It performs a
small range of tasks. Disk defragmenters, systems utilities and virus scanners
are some of the typical examples of utility software.
Data Backup and Recovery Software: An ideal data backup and recovery
software provides functionalities beyond simple copying of data files. This
software often supports user needs of specifying what is to be backed up.

 SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARES

The Operating System is the System Software that makes the Computer work.
We can say that an Operating System (OS) is Software that acts as an interface
between you and the hardware. It not only contains drivers used to speak the
hardware's language, but also offers you a very specific graphical user interface
(GUI) to control the computer. An OS can also act as an interface (from the
hardware) to the other software. A complex OS like Windows or Linux or Mac
OS offers the services of an OS, but also has applications built in. Solitaire, Paint,
Messenger, etc. are all applications.

Application software is the software that you install onto your Operating
System. It consists of the programs that actually let you do things with your
computer. These Applications are written to run under the various Operating
Systems. These include things like your word processing programs, spread
sheets, email clients, web browser, games, etc. Many programs, such as most of
the Microsoft Office suite of programs, are written in both Mac and Windows
versions, but you still have to have the right version for your OS.

***The End***