Computer Fundamental

Salman Tahir
What is Computer

 Today’s world is an information-rich world and it has become a necessity for

everyone to know about computers.
 A computer is an electronic data processing device, which accepts and stores
data input, processes the data input, and generates the output in a required
format.
 Computer i s an Electronic Device. I ti s use to calculate and manipulate data.
I f we give any instruction to the computer i t gives us output (Result )
What is Computer??

 The word computer comes from the word ”compute", which means “to
calculate”.
 Thereby, A computer is an electronic device that can perform Arithmetic
operations as well as logical operations at high speed.
 A computer is also called a data processor because it can store, process and
retrieved data whenever desired.
Data Processing

Data Processing Information

 The activity of processing data using a computer is called data processing.

 Data is raw material used as input and information is processed data obtained as output of data
processing
 For Example List of candidates applied for the BS Program and Merit List of the students
Main Parts / components of Computer

The computer system consist of the

following parts
 Input device
 Processing Device / Processor
 Storage device (Memory)
 Output device
Input devices
 Input device: The device through which computer takes input from the user is called input
devices. The input device depend on the format (aliphatic, digits, voice etc ) of input.
 Example: Keyboard, Mouse, Joy Stick, Light pen, Track Ball, Scanner, Graphic Tablet,
Microphone ,Magnetic Ink Card Reader(MICR),Optical Character Reader(OCR),Bar Code Reader,
Optical Mark Reader(OMR)
Processing Device

 Processing device: Processing device simply means the unit of the computer
system which is responsible for computation (calculation and Operation). The
Processor have mainly two portion (ALU and CU)
 Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU): ALU is responsible for Arithmetic computation
such as +, - ,* etc.
 Arithmetic calculation through a logic gates
 Main logic gates are
 OR ------------- Addition
 AND----------------Multiplication
 NAND-----------------Complement of AND
 NOR-------------------Complement of NOR
 NOT-------------------Complement
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 Control Unit: Control Unit is responsible to direct the operation the operation
of the processor. It tells the computer, memory, ALU, Input and output devices
on how to respond to program instruction.
Output devices

 Output Device: devices used to send data from the computer to another
device which is readable for the user. Example Monitor, Projector, Speakers,
headphone and Printers etc.
Storage Unit

 Storage Unit / Devices: Memory is just like human brain and it is used to
store data and Instructions. Computer memory is a storage space in the
computer which is store data before and after the processing temporary or
permanently.
 Memory types
 Primary Memory / Main Memory: It holds data only those data and
Instruction on which the computer is currently working. It has a limited
capacity and data is lost when power is switch off.
 The data and instruction required to be processed resides in the main
memory. Main memory is a fast memory as compared to secondary memory.
Storage Unit

 Secondary Memory: It is also called external storage. It’s large in size and
non- volatile in nature.
 Processor cannot use it directly its contents. The contents first moves from
secondary memory to main memory and then forward to the processor for
processing
Computer System

 Now from the above description we can also define computer as

 “An Electronic device that takes input from the user, Process and store
that data and produce the required output which is called Information
 It is capable of performing computations and making logical decisions.
 It is a machine that can transform data into useful information.
What is DATA, Information and Instruction?

 Data: Data can be define as “Representation of facts, concept or instruction”

in a formalized manner, which should be suitable for communication,
processing by electronic machine / Processor.
 Data is represented with the help of characters Alphabets (A-Z) Digits (0-9) or
special character (+, -./ * <,> etc).
 Information: is organized or classified data which has meaningful value for
the receiver.
 Information is the process data on which decision or action are based.
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 Instruction: Instruction is a direction or order. It is a sequence of 0s and 1s

that describe the Physical operation the computer is to perform such as Add
or Subtract.
 On the basis of data and information computer can be define as “Computer is
an electronic device that transform data into information on the basis of
pre-define instruction”.
How to Process Data into Information

The following steps followed while processing data into information

 User give input to the computer through keyboard, mouse etc. let input given
through keyboard to add 3+6
 3 and 6 is in decimal form and first it will be converted to binary (0 and 1) by
the input interface and then forwarded to the memory and then to processor
for processing.
 Processor contain transistor which act as a switch and have two states
 On-------------- when Binary value is 1
 Off ---------------when binary value is 0
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 3= 0010 and 6= 0110 =1001 which is equal

to 9
2. After processing data moves from
memory to storage or output unit according
to instruction. The output unit convert it
again from binary to decimal which is
readable for human / user.
ASCII code (American standard code for
information interchange)
Example

 Let convert PIPOS to Binary

 P I P O S
 1010000 1001001 1010000 1001111 1010011


 PIPOS= 10100001001001101000010011111010011
Classification of Computer
On the basis of Application

 These computers represent data/information in a continuous form. That is

there are no breaks during signal transmission. They represent information by
processing measurable physical quantities.
Analog computer:-
 These are the computers which can work continuously variable physical
parameters e.g.pressure,temperature,length,voltage,etc and express them in
numerals like a thermometer does, which in fact does not calculate anything
but compares body temperature with relative expansion of mercury. Analog
computers mainly used in the field of science and engineering ,as these fields
deals with the computation of physical quantities.
Analog Computer
Digital Computer

 These are computers that represent data /information in a binary form. That
is they represent signals in just two states. 0s and 1s are used during data
communication
 Discrete data
Example of Digital Computer

 Desktop computers
 Laptop computers
 Mobile phones
 iPads
 iPhones
 Scientific calculators
Hybrid Computer

 These computer possess the property of both analog and digital computers.
Such computers are used in medicines and surgery. The analog devices of
computer mainly temperature and blood pressure; and the digital parts
convert them in numeric value. Hence they jointly monitor the condition of
the patient.
 The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical
operations, while the analogue component normally serves as a solver of
different equations.
Example

 Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Classification on the basis of Size
 Personal Computer
 A PC can be defined as a small, relatively inexpensive
computer designed for an individual user. PCs are based
on the microprocessor technology that enables
manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one chip.
Businesses use personal computers for word processing,
accounting, desktop publishing, and for running
spreadsheet and database management applications. At
home, the most popular use for personal computers is
playing games and surfing the Internet. Although
personal computers are designed as single-user systems,
these systems are normally linked together to form a
network. In terms of power, now-adays high-end models
of the Macintosh and PC offer the same computing power
and graphics capability as low-end workstations by Sun
Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.
Workstation

 Workstation is a computer used for

engineering applications
(CAD/CAM), desktop publishing,
software development, and other
such types of applications which
require a moderate amount of
computing power and relatively
high quality graphics capabilities.
Workstations generally come with a
large, high-resolution graphics
screen, large amount of RAM,
inbuilt network support, and a
graphical user interface.
Mini Computer

 It is a midsize multi-processing
 system capable of supporting up to 250 users
simultaneously.
Mainframe Computer

 Mainframe is very large in size and

 is an expensive computer capable
of supporting hundreds or even
thousands of users simultaneously.
 Mainframe executes many
programs concurrently and
supports many simultaneous
execution of programs.
Super Computer
 Supercomputers are one of the
fastest computers currently
available. Supercomputers are very
expensive and are employed for
specialized applications that require
immense amount of mathematical
calculations For example, weather
forecasting,
 scientific simulations, (animated)
graphics, fluid dynamic calculations,
nuclear energy research, electronic
design, and analysis of geological
data (e.g. in petrochemical
prospecting).
 The first supercomputer was
“param” developed by c-dac in 1991