Computer

AComputerisanautomaticelectronic,calculatingdevicewhichcanprocessagiveninputinaprescribedmannerto
produceadesiredoutput,ataveryhighspeedwithremarkableaccuracy.Itcanalsoperformallarithmeticandlogical
functionsaccordingtoinstructionsgiveninasystematicordertosolveanyproblemandproduceprocessedinformation.
AdvantagesofComputers
Speed
SinceComputerisanelectronicmachineandelectricalpulsestravelattherateofpassageofelectriccurrent.Thisspeed
enablesthecomputertoperformmillionsofcalculationspersecond.
Storage
Acomputerhastoomuchstoragecapacity.Oncerecorded,apieceofinformationcanneverbeforgotten.
HighAccuracy
Acomputercanbeconsideredas100%accurate.Checkingcircuitsarebuiltdirectlyintothecomputer,thatcomputer
errorsthatundetectedareextremelyrare.
Versatility
Computercanperformanytask,provideditcanbereducedtoaseriesoflogicalsteps.
Diligence
Computernevergetstired.Itperformsmostboring,repetitiveandmonotnoustask.
AutomaticOperation
Onceaprogramisfedintocomputertheindividualinstructionsareprocessedonaftertheother.Thuscomputerworks
automaticallywithoutmanualintervention.
Obedience
Theabilitytotakeinandstoreasequenceofinstructionsforthecomputertoobey.Suchasequenceofinstructionis
calledaPROGRAManditmustbewrittenintheComputerLanguage.
DecisionMakingCapability
Computercantakesimpledecisions,suchaslessthan,greaterthanorequalto.Italsodetermineswhetherastatementis
trueorfalse.
Hardware
ThephysicalcomponentsandotherattachedinputandoutputdevicesofcomputersarecalledHardware.AllHardware
componentsmaybeconnectedmechanically,electricallyorelectronicallywitheachother.Hardwareincludes
input/outputdevices,CPU,backingstoragedevicesandelectroniccircuit.
Software
Computerrequiredanumberofinstructionstodoanyjob.Thesetoftheseinstructionsformsprograms.Numbersof
programsarecombinedforsomepurposesarecalledsoftware.
Theyaredesignedbymanufacturesandprogrammers.
TypesofSoftware
1.SystemSoftware
2.ApplicationSoftware
AgesofComputer
Attheearlyagepeopleusedpebbles,stones,sticks,scratches,symbolsandfingertipstocount,whichwerelater
replacedbynumbers.
Thehistoryofcomputingisdividedintothreeagesduringwhichmaninventedandimproveddifferenttypesof
calculatingmachines.Theseagesare,
Darkage300BCto1890
Middleage1890ADto1944
Modernagesince1944AD
DarkAge(3000BCto1890AD
ABACUS
About3000yearsBC,ChinesedevelopedthefirstcalculatingmachinenamedAbacusorSoroban.
Abacusconsistsofarectangularwoodenframehavingrodswhichcarryroundbeads.Countingisdonebyshiftingthe
beadsfromonesidetoanother.
OUGHTREDSSLIDERULES

In1632ADWilliamOughtred,anEnglishmathematiciandevelopedasliderule.Thisdeviceconsistsoftwomovablerules
placedsidebysideonwhichnumberweremarked.
PASCALSCALCULATOR
BlasPascal(16231662),aFrenchdevelopedthefirstmechanicalcalculatingmachinein1642.Thismachineconsistsof
gears,wheelsanddials.Itwascapableofaddingandsubtractingoperations.
GOTTEFRIEDWILHOLMLEIBNITZ
In1671,aGerman,GottfriedVonLeibnitz(16461716)improvedPascalscalculatortomakeitcapableofperformingall
mathsoperations.
JACQUARDSLOOM
In1801,aFrench,JosephMarieJacquarddevelopedthefirstpunchcardmachine.
BABBAGEDIFFERENCEENGINE
CharlesBabbage(17921871)anEnglishmathematicianalsocalledFatherofmoderncomputer.Ashegavethetrue
conceptofcomputeratCambridgeUniversity,hedevelopedBabbageDifferenceEnginein1823andBabbageAnalytical
Enginein1833.
LadyAdaAugustaanassistantofBabbageiscalledthefirstprogrammer.
MiddleAge(1890ADTO1944AD)
DOCTORHERMANHOLLERITH
In1880sHermanHollerithanAmericandevelopedamachinewhichusedpunchcardsystem.Themachinecouldsense
andpunchholes,recognizethenumberandmakerequiredcalculations.Thismachinewasfirstusedin1890sby
AmericanCensusBureau.
HOWARDAIKENMARK1COMPUTER
In1937,ProfessorHowardAikenbuildthefirstelectromechanicalcomputerMark1,bytryingtocombineBabbages
theoryandHollerithspunchingtechnologies.Hecompletedhisprojectin1944withthehelpofIBMEngineers.
Mark1couldmultiplytwo,twentydigitnumbersin5secondsandmadealotofnoise.Ithadashapelikeamonster
about50feetlong,8feethigh,havingwiringoflengthequaltodistancefromLahoretoGilgitorKarachitoBahawalpur
(800km)andhadthousandendsofelectromagneticrelays.
ABC(ATANASOFFBERRYCOMPUTER)
ABCaspecialpurposecomputerwasdevelopedin1938byDr.JohnVincentAtanasoffandCliffordBerryatIowaState
College,USA.
ModernAges(Since1944AD)
JOHNVONNEUMAN
In1945,Dr.JohnVonNeumansuggestedtheconceptofAutomaticDataProcessing(ADP)accordingtothestored
programanddata.ENIAC
(FIRSTELECTRONICCOMPUTER)
ElectronicNumericalIntegratorAndCalculator(ENIAC)wasthefirstelectroniccomputermadein1946byJohnPresper
EckertandJohnWilliamsMauchly,attheUniversityofPennsylvania,USA.Thiswasbasedondecimalnumbersystemand
ithasnomemory.
Itcouldperform5000additionsor350multiplicationsinonesecond.Itcontained18000vacuumtubes,70,000
resistors,10,000capacitorsand60,000switchesandoccupiedatworoomcargarage.Itconsumed150kWofpower.It
weighed27tons.
EDSAC(FIRSTSTOREDPROGRAMCOMPUTER)
ElectronicDelayStorageAutomaticComputer(EDSAC)wasfirstcomputerbasedonstoredprogramconcept.Itwas
completedbyMouriceWilkesatCambridgeUniversityin1949.
EDVAC
ElectronicDiscreteVariableAutomaticComputer(EDVAC)wasbuiltbyJohnWilliamsMauchly,JohnPresperEckertat
MooreSchool,Pennsylvaniain1951.
UNIVAC(FIRSTCOMMERCIALCOMPUTER)
UNIVersalAutomaticComputer(UNIVAC)wasthefirstcommerciallyusedcomputermadebyJohnPresperEckertand
JohnWilliamsMauchlyinJune14,1951.
ClassificationofComputersAccordingtoPurpose
1.GeneralPurposeComputers
Generalpurposecomputersaredesignedtosolvealargevarietyofproblems.Thedifferentprogramscanbeusedto
solvemanyproblems.Mostdigitalcomputersaregeneralpurposecomputersandusedinbusinessandcommercialdata
processing.

2.SpecialPurposeComputers
Acomputerdesignedformachinecontrolorprocesscontrolwouldbedifferentthanageneralpurposecomputer.The
specialpurposecomputersaredesignedtosolvespecificproblems.Thecomputerprogramforsolvingaspecificproblem
isbuiltrightintothecomputer.Mostanalogcomputersarespecialpurposecomputers.Thesespecialpurposecomputers
arewidelyusedinindustrialrobotics.
TypesofComputers
1.AnalogComputers
Analogcomputersareusedtoprocesscontinuousdata.Analogcomputersrepresentvariablesbyphysicalquantities.
Thusanycomputerwhichsolveproblembytranslatingphysicalconditionssuchasflow,temperature,pressure,angular
positionorvoltageintorelatedmechanicalorelectricalrelatedcircuitsasananalogforthephysicalphenomenonbeing
investigatedingeneralitisacomputerwhichusesananalogquantityandproducesanalogvaluesasoutput.Thusan
analogcomputermeasurescontinuously.Analogcomputersareverymuchspeedy.Theyproducetheirresultsveryfast.
Buttheirresultsareapproximatelycorrect.Alltheanalogcomputersarespecialpurposecomputers.
2.DigitalComputers
Digitalcomputerrepresentsphysicalquantitieswiththehelpofdigitsornumbers.Thesenumbersareusedtoperform
Arithmeticcalculationsandalsomakelogicaldecisiontoreachaconclusion,dependingon,thedatatheyreceivefrom
theuser.
3.HybridComputers
Variousspecificallydesignedcomputersarewithbothdigitalandanalogcharacteristicscombiningtheadvantagesof
analoganddigitalcomputerswhenworkingasasystem.Hybridcomputersarebeingusedextensivelyinprocesscontrol
systemwhereitisnecessarytohaveacloserepresentationwiththephysicalworld.
Thehybridsystemprovidesthegoodprecisionthatcanbeattainedwithanalogcomputersandthegreatercontrolthatis
possiblewithdigitalcomputers,plustheabilitytoaccepttheinputdataineitherform.
ClassificationofComputersAccordingtoSize
1.SuperComputers
Largescientificandresearchlaboratoriesaswellasthegovernmentorganizationshaveextraordinarydemandfor
processingdatawhichrequiredtremendousprocessingspeed,memoryandotherserviceswhichmaynotbeprovided
withanyothercategorytomeettheirneeds.ThereforeverylargecomputersusedarecalledSuperComputers.These
computersareextremelyexpensiveandthespeedismeasuredinbillionsofinstructionsperseconds.
2.MainFrameComputers
Themostexpensive,largestandthemostquickestorspeedycomputerarecalledmainframecomputers.Thesecomputers
areusedinlargecompanies,factories,organizationsetc.themainframecomputersarethemostexpensivecomputers,
theycostmorethan20millionrupees.Inthiscomputers150usersareabletoworkononeC.P.U.Themainframesare
abletoprocess1to8bitsatatime.Theyhaveseveralhundredsofmegabytesofprimarystorageandoperateataspeed
measuredinnanosecond.
3.MiniComputers
Minicomputersaresmallerthanmainframes,bothinsizeandotherfacilitiessuchasspeed,storagecapacityandother
services.Theyareversatilethattheycanbefittedwhereevertheyareneeded.Theirspeedsareratedbetweenoneand
fiftymillioninstructionspersecond(MIPS).Theyhaveprimarystorageinhundredtothreehundredmegabytesrange
withdirectaccessstoragedevice.
4.MicroComputers
Thesearethesmallestrangeofcomputers.Theywereintroducedintheearly70shavinglessstoringspaceand
processingspeed.Microcomputersoftodaysareequivalenttotheminicomputersofyesterdayintermsofperforming
andprocessing.Theyarealsocalledcomputerofachipbecauseitsentirecircuitryiscontainedinonetinychip.The
microcomputershaveawiderangeofapplicationsincludingusesasportablecomputerthatcanbepluggedintoany
wall.
5.LaptopComputers
Thesmallestcomputerinsizehasbeendeveloped.Thistypeofsmallcomputerslooklikeanofficebriefcaseandcalled
LAPTOPcomputer.ThelaptopsarealsotermedasPORTABLECOMPUTERS.Duetothesmallsizeandlightweight,
theybecomepopularamongthecomputerusers.Thebusinessmenfoundlaptopveryuseful,duringtravelingandwhen
theyarefarawayfrmtheirdesktopcomputers.Atypicallaptopcomputerhasallthefacilitiesavailableinmicrocomputer.
ThesmallestlaptopsarecalledPALMTOP.

GenerationsofComputer
FirstGenerationofComputer(19461959)
MainFeatures
MajorInnovationVacuumTubes
MainMemoryPunchedCards
InputOutputDevicesPunchedcardsandpapers
LanguagesLowlevelmachinelanguage
OperatingSystemNooperatingsystem,humanoperatorstoset
switches
SizeMainframeforexampleENIAC,EDVAC,UNIVAC
Thedurationlastedfrom19461959wasbasedonvacuumtubes.Thesevacuumtubeswereaboutthesizeof100watt
lightbulbandusedastheinternalcomputercomponent.Howeverbecausethousandsofsuchbulbswereused,the
computerswereverylargeandgeneratealargeamountofheat,causingmanyproblemsintemperatureregulationand
climatecontrol.
Inthisgenerationinputandoutputdevice(punchedcard)thatwasusedfrodatastoringpurposewereveryslow.The
computerswereoperatingmanuallyandthelanguageusedwasalowlevelmachinelanguage(symboliclanguage)with
binarycodethatrequiredahighprogrammingskill.ENIAC,EDVAC,UNIVACandMark1weresomeofthemajor
inventionsofthisgeneration.
AdvantagesofFirstGeneration
1.Vacuumtubeswereusedaselectroniccomponent.
2.Electronicdigitalcomputersweredevelopedforthefirsttime.
3.Thesecomputerswerethefastestcalculatingdevicesoftheirtime.
4.Computationswereperformedinmillisecond.
DisadvantagesofFirstGeneration
1.Toolargeinsize.
2.Theywereunreliable.
3.Inducealargeamountofheatduetothevacuumtubes.
5.Notportable.
6.Limitedcommercialuse.
SecondGenerationofComputers(19591964)
MainFeatures
MajorInnovationTransistorsasmaincomponent.
MainMemoryRAMandROM.
ExternalStorageMagnetictapesandMagneticDisk.
InputOutputDevicesMagnetictapesandMagneticDisk.
LanguagesAssemblylanguage,somehighlevellanguagesforExampleBASIC,COBOL,FORTRAN.
OperatingSystemHumanhandlespunchedcard.
SizeMainframeforexampleIBM1401,NCR300,IBM600etc.
Theperiodofthisgenerationisfrom1959to1964.Duringthisperiodtransistorwereusedforinternallogiccircuitsof
computers.Thesecomputerscouldexecute200000instructionspersecond.Theinput/outputdevicesbecamemuch
fasterbytheuseofmagnetictable.Duringthisperiodthelowlevelprograminglanguagewereusedhoweverthehigh
levelprogramminglanguagessuchasFORTRANandCOBOLwerealsoused.Theproblemofheatmaintenancewassolved
andsizeofcomputerreduced,whilespeedandreliabilitywereincreased.Manycompaniesmanufacturedsecond
generationcomputersandmanyofthoseforbusinessapplications.Themostpopularsecondgenerationcomputerwas
IBM1401,introducedin1960,whilethefollowingcomputerswereusedbymanybusinessorganizations.IBM1400
series,IBM1600series,UNIVACIII,NCR300etc.
AdvantagesofSecondGeneration
1.Smallerinsizeascomparesto1stgeneration.
2.Muchmorereliable.
3.Lessheatgenerated.
4.Computationwasperforminginmicrosecond.
5.Lesshardwareandmaintenanceproblem.
6.Couldbeusedforcommercialuse.
DisadvantagesofSecondGeneration
1.Verycostlyforcommercialuse.
2.Itstillrequiredfrequentmaintenance.
3.Frequentcoolingalsorequired.
ThirdGenerationofComputers(19651970)
MainFeatures
MajorInnovationIntegratedcircuit(ICs)asbasicelectroniccomponent.
MainMemoryPROMandDRAM.

ExternalStorageImprovedisk(FloppyDisk)
InputandOutputDevicesKeyboardforinput,monitorforoutput.
LanguagesMorehighlevellanguages.
OperatingSystemCompleteoperatingsystemswereintroduced.
SizeMini,forexample:IBMSYSTEM/360,ICH360,HONEYWELL316etc.
Inthisgenerationtheintegratedcircuits(IC)wereused.Integratedcircuitscontainmanyelectroniccomponentsona
singlechip.Thediskorientedsystemsweemadeattheendofthisgeneration.Thesizeofcomputerbecameverysmall
withbetterperformanceandreliability.Highlevelprogramminglanguageswereextensivelyused.In1969thefirst
microprocessorchipINTEL4004wasdevelopedbutitwasusedonlyincalculators.Thefasterinput/outputdevicesmade
possiblemultiprocessingandmultiprogramming.Wherebyanumberofinputterminalscouldberunvirtuallyatthe
sametimeonasinglecentrallylocatedcomputer.ThefamouscomputerwereIBM360,IBM370,UNIVAC9000series
etc.
AdvantagesofThirdGeneration
1.Smallerinsizeascomparedtosecondgeneration.
2.Morereliable.
3.Portable
4.Lesselectricityconsumption.
5.Heatgenerationwasrare.
6.Generalpurposecomputer.
DisadvantagesofThirdGeneration
1.AirconditioningwasrequiredinmanycasesduetoICs.
2.VeryadvancetechnologywasrequiredtomaketheICs.
FourthGenerationofComputers(19711981)
MainFeatures
MajorInnovationLSICandVLSIC(MicroProcessor)
MainMemoryEPROMandSRAM.
ExternalStorageFloppyDiskandHardDisk.
InputandOutputDevicesMonitorforoutput.
LanguagesLanguagesandapplicationsoftwares.
OperatingSystemMSDOSandPCDOS
SizeMicrocomputere.g.IBMPC,AppleMacintoshetc.
TheIntegratedcircuitsweremoredevelopedandcalledSmallscaleintegration(SSI),aftersometimetheSSIweremore
developedandtermedasLargescaleintegration(LSI).Therewasagreatversatilityofinput/outputdevices.In1971,a
powerfulmicroprocessorchipINTEL8008wasintroduced.Thefirstmicroprocessorwhichisusedinpersonalcomputers
(PC)wasINTEL8080.The8inchfloppydiskwasalsointroducedin1971,whileharddiskwasintroducedin1973.The
5.25floppydiskwasfirsttimeusedin1978.Theopticaldiskwasdevelopedin1980.FirstportablecomputerOsborne
Iwasmarketedin1981.IBM3033,IBM370,IBMsystem34,IBMsystem36,CrayI,CP/Metcwereintroducedinthis
generation.
AdvantagesofFourthGeneration
1.Smallerinsizeandmuchreliable.
2.Nocoolingsystemrequiredinmanycases.
3.Much FASTERCOMPUTATION .
4.Portableandcheap.
5.Theheatgeneratedwasnegligible.
6.Totallygeneralpurposecomputer.
DisadvantagesofFourthGeneration
1.VeryadvancedtechnologywasrequiredtofabricatetotheICs.
FifthGeneration(1981Onward)
MainFeatures
MajorInnovationsULSIC(Ultralargescaleintegratedcircuit)
MainMemoryEEPROM,SIMMandDIMM.
ExternalStorageModifiedmagneticandOpticaldisks.
Input/outputDevicesKeyboard,PointingDevice,ScannerasinputandMonitorasmainoutput.
LanguagesAI(ArtificialIntelligence)Expertsystems.
OperatingSystemGUIbasede.g.Windows95,WindowsNT.
SizeVerysmallinsizeexample:Laptop,Notebook,DigitalDiary,PalmtopandPocketPC.
Thisgenerationisstartedfrom1981andstillcontinued,newtechnologiesareadoptedtofabricateICchips,suchas
electronbeam,Xraysorlaserrays.TheVeryLargeScaleIntegration
(VLSI)wasdeveloped,sothecomputerbecamemuchsmallerthaneverbefore.Newmemorystoragedevicelikebubble
memory,opticalormemoryarebeingdesigned.thenewcomputerwillbecontrolledbyusinghumanvoiceandwillwork
bygivingcommandinourownlanguage.Futurecomputerwillinsomewaytobeintelligentandcapableofmaking
decision.

AdvantagesofFifthGeneration
1.Verylargestoragecapacity.
2.Longbitprocessorbuilds.
3.ArtificialIntelligenceLanguagedeveloped.
ShortNotes
1.SuperComputer
Thesearethelargestandfastestmachinestodaywherenumericalcomputationsarecarriedoutspeedsofupto50
millionsoperationpersecond.Supercomputersareverysophisticatedmachinesdesignedtoperformcomplex
calculationsatfastestspeeds.Supercomputersareusedtomodelverylargedynamicsystems,suchasweatherpatterns
nationalorglobalweatherforecasting,satellitetracking,coldtestingofatomicandnuclearweaponetc.Carryresearch
andIntelarewellknownproducersofSuperComputers.
2.MainFrames
Amainframeoriginallymeantthecabinetcontainingthecentralprocessorunitofaverylargecomputer.Aftermini
computerbecameavailable,thewordmainframecomestoreferstothelargecomputeritself.
Mainframes,thebiggestandthemostproductivegeneralpurposesystems,thataremadetomodellargedynamic
computingneedofabigorganizationsthatservehundredsofterminalsallatthesametime.Aterminalconsistsofa
monitorandkeyboardthatallowapersontoenterinformationandretrieveitfromthecomputer.Thesecomputersare
theultimateinsophistication,flexibilityandspeed.
3.MiniComputer
Minicomputerareincreasinglypowerfulanddoalmostanythingthatlargecomputersdo,onlymoreslowlyandatmuch
lowercostthanmainframes.Thismakesitidealforsmallcompanieswherecapacityandspeedofoperationsinnothighly
critical.Thesecomputersaresmallerthanmainframeandlargerthanmicrocomputerinsize.Aminicomputerisa
multiprocessingsystemhavingterminalsattachedtoitandiscapableofsupporting4to200userssimultaneously.DEC
VAXandIBMAS/400arecommonlyusedminicomputers.
4.MicroComputer
MicroComputersarecomputersthatarepoweredbymicroprocessors.SometimestheyarereferredasSINGLECHIP
PROCESSORaSYSTEMONACHIP.Microcomputersorpersonalcomputersarethesmallestcomputers,designedtobe
usedbyindividualsforwriting,illustrating,budgeting,playinggamesandcommunicatingwithothercomputers.
ProgrammingLanguage
Aprogramminglanguageisatypeofsoftware.Aprogramisasetofstepbystepinstructionthatdirectsthecomputerto
dothetasksyouwantittodoandproducetheresultyouwant.Asetofrulesthatprovidesawayoftellingacomputer
whenoperationstoperformiscalledaProgrammingLanguage.
MachineLanguage(LowLevelLanguage)
Everycreationofthisuniversehasitsownlanguage.Likewise,computerhasalanguagethatiscalledMachineLanguage
(machinelevellanguage)forinstructingcomputertoperformspecifictask.Itisalsocalledbinarylanguagebecauseitis
thelanguageof0sand1s,meanseveryinstructioninMachinelanguageconsistsofaseriesof0sand1s(binarycode)
thatacomputercanunderstandandexecutedirectly.Eachmachinelanguagestatementcorrespondstoonemachine
action.Anoperationthatrequiresonemachinelanguageinstructioninonecomputermayrequireseveralinstructionsin
anothercomputer.Eachcomputerhasitsownuniquemachinelanguage.
AssemblyLanguage
Inassemblylanguage,thestatementsarewritteninsymboliccodes(termedasmnemonics)thatareeasierforhumanto
readandwriteascomparedtomachinelanguage.Eachassemblylanguagestatementcorrespondstoonemachine
languagestatement.
AdvantagesofAssemblyLanguage
1.Operationcodesofmachinelanguagearemnemonics,whichareeasytoremember.
2.AnAssemblylanguageprogrammaybewritteneasilyascomparedtomachinelanguage.
3.Thememoryaddressesareusedinmachinelanguagewhichisreplacedbythevariablenamesinthislanguage.
4.Revisionofcompleteprogramisquiteeasy.
5.Theinsertionanddeletionoftheinstructionsintheprogramarequiteeasy.
DisadvantagesofAssemblyLanguage
1.Ascomparedtomachinelanguageassemblylanguageislessefficient.
2.Anassemblylanguageprogramcannotbeexecutedonsmallsizecomputers.

HighLevelLanguage
HighlevellanguagesareclosertohumanlanguagesthanlowlevellanguageandincludestatementlikeGOTOandPRINT
whichareregularwords.Unliketheassemblylanguage,theprogramofhighlevellanguagesdonothavetobewritten
foraparticularcomputer,butitcanbeexecuteonanymachinethathasacompilerforthatlanguage.
Internet
Internetisthelargestnetworkoftheworldthatconnectscomputerslocatedtdifferentpartsoftheworld.TheInternet
hashadahugeimpactonsociety.TheInternetprovidesinformationandservice,aswellastheabilitytocommunicateto
peopleallaroundtheworldinavarietyofways.Theserangefrombulletinboardsandchatroomstovoiceconversations
andvideoconferencing.
TheInternetcreatesnewwaysforcitizenstocommunicate,congregateandshareinformation.Itisobviousthatthe
Internethasandwillcontinuetochangethewaywelive.
Allinall,theInternetisaffectingsomanypeopleslivesinmostwelcome,excitingandchallengingways.
AdvantagesofInternet
1.Itgivesinformationabouteveryfieldoflife.
2.YoumaytakeadvantagesfromencyclopediasanddictionarieswiththehelpofInternet.
3.YoumygetinformationaccordingtoyourneedthroughInternet.
4.Itgivesacoordinationwithwholeworldanditsinterests.
5.Ithelpstoexchangeviewswiththepersonofsamementalattitude.
6.Internetbringstheworldcloser.
7.CurrenthappeningincidentcanbediscoveredbytheuseofInternet.
8.Anykindoftopicrelatedwithpolitics,fashion,scienceetccanbediscoveredbyuseofInternet.
DisadvantagesofInternet
1.ThestudentwastetheirprecioushoursonsittingonInternetwithouttakinganypositiveandconstructivebenefit.
2.MostofthepeopleusingInternettosatisfytheirnegativedesires.
3.AdultmaterialiseasilyavailablethroughInternetwhichdestroysthemoralvaluesofyoungboysandgirls.
4.ComputerhackingisverycommonbytheuseofInternetsomeextrememindedpeoplecandigestthemoneythrough
theuseofcreditcardsofothers.
5.Thestudentswastetheirtimeinuselesstalkingwitheachother.
6.SeveralhoursonInternetwithoutanypurposeproducewrongeffectsonaperson.
Compiler
Acompileriscomplexsystemsoftwarethatautomaticallyconvertsaprogramwritteninsomehighlevellanguageintoan
equivalentlowlevelmachinelanguage.Thecompilerorthelanguageprocessorconvertstheentireprogramintomachine
codebeforeexecution.Aprogramwrittenbyaprogrammerinalanguageotherthanmachinelanguageiscalleda
SourceProgram.Theoutputfromacompileroranassembler,whichconsistsofmachinelanguageinstructions,iscalled
theObjectProgram.
Interpreter
Aninterpreterisanothertypeoftranslatorthatconvertseachstatementofaprogramwritteninahighlevellanguage
intomachinecodeandexecutesitbeforetranslatingthenextstatementofthesourceprogram.Itdiffersfromacompiler
thattranslatestheentiresourceprogramintoobjectprogramwithoutundergoingitsexecution.
ShortNotes
BASICBeginnersAllPurposeSymbolicInstructionCode)
JohnKemenyandThomasKurtzdevelopedBASICin1964forbeginners.BASICisaverysimplelanguagetouseand
understand.ItusessimpleEnglishwords.Evenapersonwithalittleknowledgeofcomputerprogrammingcanlearnit
andutilizeitforbusinessandscientificpurpose.Itisapowerfullanguagethathasgraspedmillionsofusers.Thebiggest
problemwithitisthatithasnostandardversionanddifferentmanufacturersmodifieditintodifferentversions.
PASCAL
AFrenchmathematicianBlaisePascalintroducedaprogramminglanguagebythenameofPASCAL.Itisahighly
structuredprogramminglanguage.Itwasdevelopedin1970saftertheconceptofstructuredprogramming.
FORTRAN(FormulaTranslation)
Itwasdevelopedin1957forIBMcomputerstosolvemathematical,scientificandengineeringproblems.Itwasoneof
thefirstlanguagestointroducetheconceptofModularProgramming.Ithasbeenrevisedsomanytimes.
AdvantagesandDisadvantagesofComputers

Followingaresomeadvantagesanddisadvantagesofcomputerinourlife.
Advantages
1.Computersmakeusmoreproductiveinmanyofourjobs.
2.Ineducationtheycanhelpusforbetterunderstandingfasterlearningandbroadenourthinking.
3.Inhospitalswehavebetterdiagnosis,propertreatmentandbetterhealthcare.
4.Inbusiness,theyareusedtorecordstocksofrawmaterialsaswellasfinishedproducts,makingcustomersbill,
analyzingsalesofvariousproductsetc.
5.Inbanks,theyareusedfordaytodayprocessingofcustomersaccountsandpayments.
6.Inmanufacturing,theyprovidewaystodeveloparepresentationoftheproductandtotestitinavarietyofsimulated
environments.
Disadvantages
1.Unemploymentduetoautomation.
2.Wastageoftimeandenergyinuselesscomputeractivities.
3.Datasecurity.
4.Privacy
5.ComputerCrimes.

DataProcessing

DataProcessing
DataprocessingoftenreferredasD.Pisaprocessofcollectingthedatatogetherandconvertingthedatainto
information.Themethodusedforcollectingthedatamaybemanual,mechanicalorelectronic.
Dataprocessingisatermmostlyassociatedwithbusinessandcommercialwork.Sincecomputersarebeingusedinthe
processingofdatathetermelectronicdataprocessingmayalsobeused.
ElectronicDataProcessing
Dataprocessingmeanstransformationofdataintomoremeaningfulresultsforcarryingoutscientific,businessactivities.
Theresultofdataprocessingiscalledinformation.Thetransformationofdataconsistofasequenceofoperations.The
sequenceiscalledprocedure.
Input>Processing>Output
Dataprocessingisasystemwhichtakesdataasaninput,carriesouttherequiredprocessingonthedataandproduces
theinformation.ThesystemiscalledMANUALwhenprocessingisperformedbyhumanbeingsandAUTOMATICwhen
machinesareused.WhencomputersareusedfordataprocessingthesystemiscalledElectronicDataProcessing.
ElementsofEDP
Therearefivebasicelementsinaprocessingsystemwhichusesacomputerforprocessingdata.Thesearehardware,
software,userprogram,procedureandpersonnels.
1.HARDWARE
Allthephysicalpartswhichmakesupacomputersystemcalledhardwarei.e.allthedevicesorperipheralswhich
performsthedataprocessingoperations.
2.SOFTWARE
Softwareconsistsofprogramsandroutineswhosepurposeistomakethecomputeruseablefortheuser.Thesesoftware
normallysuppliedbycomputermanufacturersorsoftwaremanufacturers.
3.USERPROGRAM
Aprogramconsistofarelatedinstructionstoperformoperations.Adataprocessingjobmayrequireanumberof
programs.
4.PROCEDURE
Theoperationsofdataprocessingsystemrequiresprocedureforuse,inpreparingdata,foroperatingthecomputerand
distributingtheoutputafterprocessing.
5.PERSONNELS
E.D.Pbasicallyneedsthreekindsofskilledpersonnels.
a)SystemAnalyst

b)Progammer
c)Operator
a)SYSTEMANALYST
SystemAnalyststudiesinformationneedsanddataprocessingrequirements,designadataprocessingsystemandprepare
specification.
b)PROGRAMMER
AProgrammerwritesaprogrammeronspecificationbySystemAnalyst.
c)OPERATOR
AnOperatorisapersonwhooperatesthecomputersystem.

InputandOutputDevices

PRINTER
Acomputerperipheralthatputstextoracomputergeneratedimageonpaperoronanothermedium,suchasa
transparency.PrintercanbecategorizedinseveralwaysthemostcommondistinctionisIMPACTandNONIMPACT.
IMPACTPRINTING
Isthemethodusedbytheconventionaltypewriters.Insometypeofimpactprintingametalhammerembossedwitha
characterstrikesaprintribbon,whichpressesthecharactersimageintopaper.Inothertypesthehammerstrikesthe
paperandpressesitintotheribboncharacterscreatedthroughimpactprintingcanbeformedbyeitherasolidfontor
dotmatrixprintingmechanism.
NONIMPACTPRINTING
Doesnotdependontheimpactofmetalonpaper.Infactnophysicalcontactatalloccursbetweentheprinting
mechanismandthepaper.Themostpopularnonimpactmethodstodayutilizethermaltransfer,inkjet.
TYPESOFPRINTERS
1.DOTMATRIXPRINTER
Anyprinterthatproducescharactermadeupofdotsusingawirepinprintedhead.Thequalityofoutputfromadot
matrixprinterdependslargelyonthenumberofdotsinthematrix,whichmightbelowenoughtoshowindividualdots
ormightbehighenoughtoapproachthelookoffullyformedcharacters.Dotmatrixprintersareoftencategorizedby
thenumberofpinsintheprinterheadtypically,9or24.
2.LINEPRINTERS
Anyprinterthatprintsonelineatonetime,asopposedtoonecharacteratatimeoronepageatatime.Lineprinter
typicallyproducethe11by17inchcomputerprintout.Theyarehighspeeddevicesandareoftenusedwith
mainframes,minicomputers,ornetworkedmachinesratherthanwithsingleusersystem.Typesoflineprintersinclude
chainprintersandbandprinter.
3.LASERPRINTERS
Anelectrophotographicprinterthatisbasedonthetechnologyusedbyphotocopiers.Afocussedlaserbeamanda
rotatingmirrorareusedtodrawanimageofthedesiredpageonaphotosensitivedrum.Thisimageisconvertedonthe
drumintoanelectrostaticcharge,whichattractsandholdstoner.Apieceofelectrostaticallychargedpaperisrolled
againstthedrum,whichpullsthetonerawayfromthedrumandontothepaper.Heatisthenappliedtofusethetoner
tothepaper.Finally,theelectrifiedchargeisremovedfromthedrumandtheexcesstoneriscollected.Byomittingthe
finalstepandrepeatingonlythetonerapplicationandpaperhandlingsteps,theprintercanmakemultiplecopies.
4.DAISYWHEELPRINTER
Daisywheelprinteraresometimescalledletterqualityprinterbecausetheyareoftenusedtoproduceattractive
correspondence.TheD.W.Pisaflatcirculardevicemadeofmetalwithcharacterembossedonit.Asthiswheelspinsata
veryhighspeedthehammerhitsthespecificcharacteragainsttheribbonwhichpressesagainstthepaper.
5.THERMALTRANSFERPRINTER
Itisakindofnonimpactprinter.Inelectrothermalprinting,charactersareburnedontoaspecialpaperbyheatedrods
onaprintheat.Theytransferinkfromawaxbasedribbonontoplainpaper.Theseprintercansupporthighquality
graphic.

6.INKJETPRINTER
Itisakindofnonimpactspraysmalldotsofelectricallychargedinkontoapapertoformimages.Inkjetprinterare
flexibleenoughtobeusedasplotters.
SECONDARYSTORAGEDEVICES
Secondarystoragedevicesarealsocalledbackupstoragebecauseitisusedtostoredata.Volumeofdataonpermanent
basiswhichcanbepartiallytransferredtotheprimarystorage,whenrequiredfordataprocessing.Afterwardsthese
devicesarecomparativelycheapandprovidegreaterspacetostorethedata/instructionsarestoredonsecondarystorage
devicesinthesamebinarycodesasinprimarystorage.
NEEDSOFSECONDARYSTORAGEDEVICE
Thestoragecapacityoftheprimarystorageoftodayscomputerisnotsufficient.Tostorealargevolumeofdataasa
resultadditionalmemorycalledsecondarystorageisneededwithmostofthecomputersystem.
ThesedevicesalsoprovidesthefastcommunicationthanI/Odevices.Theinternalmemoryofacomputerisavolatile
memory.Therefore,wecannotsavethedatapermanently.Inthatcasewerequiresecondarystoragedevicewhich
providethefacilitytostorethedataforfutureuse.
RANDOMACCESSDEVICES
RandomAccessDevicesarethosedevicesonwhichwecandirectlyaccessthedata.Thesedevicesarecomparatively
providethefastcommunication.
Forexample,harddisk,floppydisk,opticaldisk.
FLOPPYDISK
Afloppydisk,alsocalledsimplyadisketteordisk,isasmallflexibleMylardiskcoatedwithironoxideonwhichdataare
stored.Thefloppydiskhasbeenaroundsinceearly1970s,todayitisavailableinthree3inch,5inchand8inch
sizes.The5and8inchdiskettesarecoveredbystiffprotectivejacketwithdifferentholes.Thecentralbigholecalled
hubringwhichisusedtoholdbydiskdriveduringrotation.Theelongatedreadwritewindowisusedtoreadandwrite
datathroughread/writehead.Thesmallholenexttothehubringiscalledindexholewhichisusedtolocatingdata
throughcomputer.Thecutoutonthesideofthefloppydiskiscalledwriteprotectnotch.Ifwecoverthisopeningwith
apieceofpaperthenwecantwritedataontodisk.
Insmalldisketteahardplasticcoverandprotectivemetalisusedtoprotectdisk.Beforeusingadiskwehavetoformata
diskinwhichdiskisdividedintotracksandsectorsforstoringthedata.Diskettesmaybedoublesidedandsinglesided
whilethestoragecapacitybecomelessormore.
Floppydiskettesaremoreconvenienttousewithmicrocomputers.Afloppydiskwhichisarandomaccessdevicecan
accessdatafastthanmagnetictape.
SEQUENTIALACCESSDEVICES
SequentialAccessDevicesarethoseinwhichwecanaccessthedataonebyoneinasequence.Thesedevicesprovide
slowcommunicationascomparedtoRandomAccessDevice.
MAGNETICTAPE
MagnetictapeisasequentialaccessdeviceaboutonehalforonefourthinchinsizeandmadeofMylar(aplastic
material)coatedwithathinlayerofironoxide.Datacanbereadandwritethroughadevicewhichiscalledtapedrive.
Theread/writeheadoftapedrivewhichisanelectromagneticcomponentread,writeanderasedatafrommagnetictape.
Magnetictapeisdividedintonineseparatestripsortracksinwhicheighttracksareusedtostoredataandninthtrackis
usedforerrorcheckingbit.
Magnetictapecanstorelargequantitiesofdatathereforetheyareerasable,usableanddurablesecondarystoragedevice.
Butitcanusewithlargecomputers.
INPUTDEVICES
Inputdevicesareusedtoprovidedataorinformationtothecomputer.Thecomputerfollowstheinstructionsgiventoit
byandinputdevice.Avarietyofinputdevicesareusedwiththecomputerdependingonthetypeandpurposeofinput
information.Forexample,akeyboardiscommonlyusedtotransferdataorinformationfromhumanreadableformto
machinereadableform.Otherexamplesofinputdevicesare:mouse,joystick,trackball,lightpens,digitizers,scanners,
opticalcharacterreader(OCR),touchwindow,etc.
MOUSE
Themouseisaninputdevicethatusuallycontainsoneortwobuttons.Asausermovesthemouseonaflatsurface,the
mousecontrolsthecursormovementonthescreen.Whentheuserpressesoneofthebuttons,themouseeithermarksa
placeonthescreenormakesselectionfromdataormenuonthescreen.Amousehasasphereonitsunderside.This
rotatesasthemouseismovedalongaflatsurface.
Themousetranslatethedirectionandspeedofrotationintoadigitalsignalsthatidentifiesthepositionorcontrol,the
cursoronthecomputer.

Amousecanbeusedformanyapplication,rangingfromgamestodrawinganddesigningproductswithcomputer
graphics.Itprovidesanalternativeforpeoplewhoareuncomfortablewithakeyboardbutitalsocanbeusedin
combinationwithakeyboardtoinputdata.
TRACKBALL
ATrackballisapointingdevicealmostlikeamouseturnedupsidedown.Theusercontrolsthecursoronthescreenby
rollingaplasticballwithafingertiporwrist.ToexecutecommandswithaTrackball,oneormorebuttonsarepressed,
muchinthesamewayasisdonewithamouse.Thecursorcanbemovedaroundonthescreenbyrollingtheballwitha
thumborfinger.
Trackballispopularamongusersoflaptopcomputerswhenspaceislimitedandmaybemountedoneithersideofthe
keyboard.Forhandicappedpeoplewhomayhavedifficultypressingkeysonastandardkeyboardorusingamouse,the
trackballmaybetheanswersinceitedoesnotrequiretomovestheentirearmtouseit.
SCANNER
Scannerisaninputdevice.ItisalsocalledOpticalReaderorDigitalScanner.Itscansorreadstextandpictureprintedon
apaperandentersthemdirectlyintothecomputermemory.
Theadvantageofascanneristhattheuserneedsnottypetheinputdatain.Thisisalustandaccuratemethodfor
enteringdataintothecomputer.Thescannertakeselectronicimages,oftextorpicturesfromthepaperitbreakseach
imageintolightanddarkdotsandstoresthemintothecomputermemoryinmachinecodes.Scannedtextcanbeedited
byOCRsoftware.OpticalCharacterRecognition(OCR)softwaretranslatesthescanneddocumentintotextthatcanbe
edited.
Theimagescannerisusefulbecauseittranslatesprintedimagesintoanelectronicformatthancanbestoredin
computersmemory.Thestoredimagecanbetransferredintoapaintprogramordirectlyintoawordprocessor.Youcan
usesoftwaretoorganizeandmanipulatetheelectronicimage.
KEYBOARD
Akeyboardisthemostcommonlyusedinputdevicewhichhelpsusinsimplykeyinginrequiredinformationina
computer.Thisinformationissubsequentlystoredinthecomputersmemory.Akeyboardcanbeusedeffectivelyto
communicatewiththecomputerbutconsideredtoberelativelyslowascomparedtootherinputdevices.Thekeyboardis
dividedintofollowingdivisions:
ALPHABETICKEYPAD
Thesekeysaresimilartoastandardtypewriterandisusedtotypegeneralinformation.
NUMBERICKEYPAD
Thesekeysareusedtoinputnumericdataonly.Theseareveryusefulincaseoflargenumericdatainputbecauseall
numerickeyscanbeaccessedbyonehandonly.Thesekeyscanalsobeusedasanalternativetothescreennavigation
andeditingkeys.
FUNCTIONKEYS
ThesearekeysmarkedasF1F12,locatednormallyatthetopofthekeyboard.Thesearespecialkeysprovidedtoa
programmerwhichallowhimtoattachspecialfunctionstoeachkey.Eachofthesefunctionkeysarealsogivensome
specialfunctionindifferentpackages.
SCREENNAVIGATIONANDEDITINGKEYS
Thesekeysareprovidedtomovearoundinthescreen.Mayprogramsusethesekeystolettheusermovearoundthe
screendisplay.Insomekeyboardsthesekeysarealsoprovidedinsidethenumerickeypadasalternatekeys.
ThedescriptionofcommandsassignedtofunctionkeysundertheBASICmode.
F1LISTFunctionUsedtodisplaythelinesofyourprogramonthescreen.
F2RUNFunctionUsedtoexecuteaprogramfromitsbeginning.
F3LOADFunctionUsedtoreadaprogramfromastoragedeviceandstoreitinmainmemory.
F4SAVEFunctionUsedtostoreaprogramonastoragedevicefromMemory.
F5COUNTFunctionUsedtorestartaprogramafterithastemporarilyinterruptedbyastoporCTRL+BREAK.
F6LPT1FunctionUsedtotransferdatafromthevideoscreentothelineprinter.
F7TRONFunctionReferstotraceon.Thisfunctioncausesthelinenumberofprogramlinetobedisplayedasthese
linesareexecuted.
F8TROFFFunctionReferstotraceoff.ThisfunctioncancelsTRONfunction.
F9KEYFunctionUsetochangethefunctionoftheotherfunctionkeys.
F10SCREENFunctionUsedtoreturnprogramtothecharactermodefromthegraphicmodeandasototurnoffthe
colour.
OUTPUTDEVICES
Anoutputdeviceisusedtodisplaythedataorinformationthatwereceivefromthecomputer.Anoutputdevicecanbe
usedtodisplayorprinttheintermediateorfinalresultsperformedbycomputer.Avarietyofoutputdevicesareusedwith
computer.Theuseofthesedevicesdependsonthetypeandpurposeofoutput.Someexamplesofoutputdevicesare:
Monitors,Printer,Plotters,Visualdisplayunit(VDU),liquidcrystaldisplay(LCD),etc.

MONITOR
Todisplayresultoroutputfromcomputer,aT.Vlikedeviceisusedwhichiscalledmonitor.Themonitorsarealso
referredasC.R.T(CathodeRayTube),V.D.U(VisualDisplayUnit).Themonitorassistduringinputfromthekeyboard,
thisdisplayiscalledasoftcopy.Themonitorcanbeofvariouskinds,dependingonthetypeofapplication.Monitorsare
categorizedintotwogroups:
1.Monochromemonitors
2.Colourmonitors
1.MONOCHROMEMONITORS
Monochromemonitorsareusedspeciallyfortexteditingpurpose.Thesemonitorscandisplayonlyonecolour.Normally
amber,greenorpaperwhite.
2.COLOURMONITORS
Colourmonitorsservesawiderangeofselectionaccordingtotheapplication.Suchasred,green,blue,EnhanceGraphic
Array(EGA),ColourGraphicArray(CGA),VideoGraphicsArray(VGA),SuperVideoGraphicsArray(SVGA).
Therearetwotypesofcolourmonitors:
i.CRTMonitor
ii.LCDMonitor
i.CRTMONITOR
TheCRTmonitorsarealotliketelevisionset,usingthesameCRTorCathordeRayTubetechnology.TheCRTmonitor
hastwomajorpartsthescreenandthecathoderaytube(CRT).ThescreenisthefrontofthemonitorandCRTisfitted
insidethemonitor.
ii.LCDORFLATPANELMONITOR
AnothermonitortypeisLCDorLiquidCrystalDisplay.LCDmonitorsarealotlikeCRTmonitorswithoutthebulkinessbut
theydonothaveCRT.LCDmonitorsuseaflatlightweightsurfacefilledwithmillionsoftinyglassbubbles,eachhavinga
phosphoriccovering.Thesephosphoriccoveringsglowtocreateanimage.LCDscreensprovideclarityandflickerfree
viewing.
PLOTTER
Plotterisaspecialoutputdevice,whichisusedtoproducehighquality,perfectlyproportionalhardcopyoutput.Plotters
aredesignedtoproducelargedrawingsorimagessuchasconstructionplansforbuildingsorblueprintsformechanical
devices.Plottershavebeenusedinautomotiveandaircraftdesign,topologicalsurveys,architecturallayoutsandother
similarcomplexdraftingjobs.
Aplotteriscomposedofapen,amoveablecarriage,adrumandaholderforchartpaper.Boththepenandthepaper
canmoveupanddownandbackandforth.Thispermitsverydetaileddrawings.Someplotterhavingcolouredpenscan
makecoloureddrawingsalso.
Therearetwotypesofplotters,whichareasfollows:
1.DrumPlotter
2.FlatbedPlotter
1.DRUMPLOTTER
Onthedrumplotter,thepens,andthedrummoveconcurrentlyindifferentaxestoproducetheimage.Drumplottersare
usedtoproducecontinuousoutput,suchasplottingearthquakeactivity,orforlonggraphicoutput,suchasstructural
viewofaskyscraper.
2.FLATBEDPLOTTER
Onsomeflatbedplotters,thepenmovesinbothaxeswhilethepaperremainsstationary.However,onmostdesktop
plotters,bothpaperandpenmoveconcurrentlyinmuchthesamewayasondrumplotters.
HARDDISK
Harddiskisathincircularmetalplatecoatedbothsidewithamagneticmaterial.Aharddiskpackconsistofanumberof
diskmountedoncentralshaftwhichrotateataspeedof2400rpmormore.Inaharddiskinformationisstoredonboth
thesurfacesofeachdiskplateexcepttheupperandthelowersurfacesofthebottomplatewhicharenotused.
Informationisrecordedonthetrackofthedisksurfacesintheformofinvisibletinymagneticspot.Thepresenceofa
magneticspotrepresent1bitanditsabsencerepresents0bit.
Harddiskarepotentiallyveryhighcapacitystoragedevicestypicallyintherangeof20megabyteto1gigabyte.Dataare
recordedonthetracksofaspinningdisksurfaceandreadfromthesurfacebyoneormoreread/writeheads.Thereare
twobasictypesofdisksystem.
1.Movinghead
2.Fixedhead
1.MOVINGHEAD
Themovingheadconsistofoneread/writeheadforeachdisksurfacemountedonanaxisandwhichcanbemovedin
andout.Inthissystemeachread/writeheadmoveshorizontallyacrossthesurfaceofthedisk.Sothatitisabletoaccess
eachtrackindividually.Informationstoredonthetrackswhichconstituteacylindricalshapethroughthediskpackare

thereforeaccessedsimultaneously.
2.FIXEDHEAD
Inthefixedheadsystemtheaxisarenonmovable.Alargenumberofread/writeheadsaredistributedoverthedisk
surfaces.Oneheadforeachtrackasaresultnoheadmovementisrequiredandthereforeinformationisaccessedmore
quickly.
VOICERECOGNITION
Avoicerecognitionsystemcomparesapersonslivespeechtotheirstoredvoicepattern.Largerorganizationssometimes
usevoiceverificationsystemsastimeattendancedevices.Manycompaniesalsousethistechnologyforaccessto
sensitivefilesandnetworks.Somefinancialservicesusevoiceverificationsystemstosecuretelephonebanking
transactions.Thesesystemsusespeakerdependentvoicerecognitionsoftware.Thistypeofsoftwarerequiresthe
computertomakeaprofileofyourvoice,thatis,youtrainthecomputertorecognizeyourinflectionpatterns.
SHORTNOTES
DISKDRIVE
Diskdriveisaperipheraldevicethatreadsorwritethedisks(harddisks,floppydisks,etc)thatstoreinformation.Disk
drivesarecalledStorageDevicebecausetheystoreinformationorportabelorpermanentdisks.Thedrivecontainsa
motortorotatethediskataconstantrateandoneormoreread/writeheads,whicharepositionedoverthedesiredtrack.
CDWRITER
ACDwriterisadeviceconnectedtoyourcomputerwhichcanwriteonCDWRandCDRdiscs.CDWRdiscsmaybe
written,erasedandrewritten,whileCDRdiscsmaybewrittenonlyonce.CDwriterperformancesismeasuredinXunit,
whereIX=150kilobytes/sec.ThisallowsusertomasteraCDROMoraudioCDforpublishingCDRdevicescanalsoread
CDROMsandplayaudioCDs.TheCDwriterisalsocalledaCDRdrive(shortforCompactDiscRecordableDrive)

ProgrammingandBasics

LOOP
Whilewritingaprogramitisnecessarytorepeatapartofaprogramforanumberoftimes.Thebestsolutionforthisis
tousealoopitisamethodwhichexecutesapartoftheprogramrepeatedlyasspecifiedbytheprogrammer.
TYPESOFLOOPS
a)PreTestLoop
b)PostTestLoop
a)PRETESTLOOP
Asitsnameindicates,checkstheloopingconditionatthestartoftheloopiftheconditionistruetheloopexecution
startsotherwisestops.Thisloopisusedinasituationwhenpartofprogramistoberepeatedforafixednumberoftime.
e.g.,FORNEXT.
b)POSTTESTLOOP
Thisloopcheckstheloopingconditionattheendofloopanddecideswhetherornottocontinuetheexecution.This
loopisusedwhenapartoftheprogramneedstoberepeateduntilaspecifiedconditionismet.
e.g.,WHILEWEND.
FLOWCHART
Flowchartisasymbolicrepresentationofflowofprogramme.Itcangraphicallyrepresentdataprocessingprocedure
Flowchartservestwopurposes,i.e.,theplanningoftheprogramstructureasanaidinwritingthecomputerprogram.
Secondlythedocumentationoftheprogramlogicandworkflowforthepurposeofthecommunicationwithother
personandtorecallaprogramatalatertime.Iftheprogramneedstobechanged.Thesecondpurposeisvery
importantbecauseitisverydifficulttocheckthelogicoftheprogram.
SYMBOLSOFFLOWCHART
TERMINAL
Theterminalsymbolisusedtoindicatethebeginning,endingoftheprogramlogicflow.Itisthefirstandlastsymbolof
theflowchart.

INPUT/OUTPUTBOX
Theinput/outputboxisusedtodenoteanyfunctionofaninputandoutputintheprogram.Ifthereisaprogram
instructiontoinputoroutputthedatafromanyI/Odevicethatstepwillbeindicatedonthissymbol.
PROCESSBOX
Aprocessingsymbolisusedinaflowcharttorepresentarithmeticalanddatamovementinstructions.
FLOWLINES
Flowlinesareusedtoindicatetheflowofoperations.Theexactsequenceinwhichtheinstructionsaretobeexecuted.
Theflowofflowchartisnormallyfromtoptobottomandlefttoright.
DECISIONBOX
Thedecisionboxisusedinaflowcharttoindicateapointatwhichadecisionhastobemadeandtobranchtooneor
morealternativepointsthatispossibleduringexecution.Theappropriatepathfollowed,dependsontheresultofthe
decision.
CONNECTOR
Aflowchartbecomescomplex,whenthenumberanddirectionofflowlinesisconfusingoritspreadovermorethanone
page.Itisusefultoutilizetheconnectorsymbolasasubstituteforflowlines.
SYSTEMFLOWCHART
SystemFlowChartisusedtodescribecompletedataprocessingcycleincludingthehardwaredevicesandmediaused.A
SystemFlowChartshowsflowofdatainasystemwhereandinwhatformitisreceivedbythesystem,howitisinputto
thecomputerandwhatstoragemediaareusedtoholdit.Thesymbolusedinsystemflowchartindicatestheperipherals
tobeusedindataprocessingprocedure,whereoutputwillbeproduced.Systemflowchartdonotexplainthelogicof
theprograms.
ERRORS
Errorsarethemistakesmadebytheprogrammerduringprogramwriting.Aprogramrelaysrunperfectlyforthefirsttime
andeachprogramneedstobetestedtoensurethatitiscorrectandcontainsnoerrors.Therearethreetypesoferrors
generallyencountered.
a)SyntaxError
b)LogicalError
c)RunTimeError
a.SYNTAXERROR
Thesyntaxofaprogramminglanguageisthesetofrulestobefollowedwhenwritingaprograminthatlanguage.These
rulesaresimilartothegrammarrulesofUrduorEnglishlanguage.Whenaprogramviolatestheserules,computer
generatesasyntaxerror.Syntaxmustbecorrectbeforeprogramexecution.
b.LOGICALERROR
Theseerrorsarethemostdifficultonestofind,ifaprogrammerentersasignofmultiplyinsteadofadditionatthetime
ofmakingtheprogram,theanswerwillnotbecorrectbecauseinterpreterwillnotbeablethedetectthesetypesof
errors.Alogicalerrorwillnotstoptheexecutionoftheprogrambuttheresultwillnotbeaccurate.
c.RUNTIMEERROR
Thesetypesoferrorsstoptheexecutionoftheprogram.Itmaybeduetoenteringtheinvaliddataatthetimeof
executingaprogram.Forexample,ifaprogramisexpectingtheusertoenterthenumericdataandtheuserentersa
stringdata,computerwilldisplayanerrormessage.
BITS&BYTES
Thesmallestpieceofdatathatcanberecognizedandusedbyacomputer,isthebit,abinarydigit.Abitisasingle
binaryvalue,eithera1or0.Agroupofeightbitsiscalledabyte.Thebyteisthebasicunitformeasureofthesizeof
thememory,withtodayscomputermemorysizes.Itismorecommontohearthetermkilobyte(KB)ormegabyte(MB).
COMPUTERWORD
Acomputerwordisthenumberofadjacentbitsthatcanbestoredandmanipulatedasaunit.JustanEnglishvocabulary
wordsareofvaryinglengthssoarecomputerwords.Manymicrocomputershavetheabilitytomanipulatea32bitword,
whilesomemodelshavewordslengthof8and16bits.
LIBRARYFUNCTIONS

GWBASICprovidesmanybuiltinfunctionswhicharecalledbinaryfunctions.Eachfunctioniscomposedofaformator
ashortprogram,thatrequiresatleastoneparametertobepassed.Aparameterisavaluewhichisinthatformulaor
programandthisformulaorprogramreturnsaresult.Thisresultcanbestoredinanyappropriatevariableordirectly
displayedonmonitor.Alibraryfunctionwhichhas$signiscalledstringlibraryfunctionwhileothersarecalled
numericlibraryfunction.Astringfunctionreturnsstringvaluewhileanumericfunctionreturnsnumericvalue.Following
aresomelibraryfunctions.
ABS,MID$,LEN,LEFT$,ASC,CHR$,TAB
EXPRESSIONS
Anexpressionisacombinationofconstantsandvariableslinkedbyarithmeticoperatorslike(+,,*,/,\).Expressions
areusedtoperformdifferentoperations.Theexpressionsareevaluatedfromlefttorightbutsomeoperatorshavepriority
overtheothers.Parenthesisareevaluatedfirstthenmultiplicationanddivisionhavethesamepriorityfromlefttoright.
Similarlytheadditionandsubtractionareevaluatedwithequalpriorities.Ifalltheoperatorsareusedinanexpression
havethesameprioritythentheexpressionbeexecutedfromlefttoright.
Theexpressionscanbeofthreetypes.
Arithmeticexpressions
Logicalexpressions
Relationalexpressions.
ARITHMETICALEXPRESSIONS
Inanarithmeticexpressionthefollowingoperatorsareusedinconjunctionwiththeoperands.
SymbolMeaning
+Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
/Division
^Exponentiation
(Leftparenthesis
)Rightparenthesis
RELATIONALEXPRESSION
ARelationalexpressioniscomposedofoperandslinkedbytherelationaloperators.Therelationaloperatorsusedinthe
relationalexpressionaregiven.
SymbolMeaning
=equalto
>greaterthan
<lessthan
<>notequalto
>=greaterthanorequalto
<=lessthanorequaltoExampleA>B
B<>C
LOGICALEXPRESSIONS
Whenaselectionsisbasedupononeormoreconditionbeingtrue.Itispossibletocombinetheconditiontogether
usinglogicaloperatorsandtheresultingconditionwouldeitherbetrueorfalsethemostcommonlyusedlogical
operatorsareAND,ORandNOT.
COMPUTERLANGUAGE
Languageisasystemforrepresentationandcommunicationofinformationordata.Likehumanbeings,alanguageor
signalisrequiredtocommunicatebetweentwopersons.Similarly,wecannotobtainanyresultbycomputerwithout
langtage.ComputerdoesnotunderstanddirectlywhatwearecommunicatingwithcomputerasEnglishorArabic,it
understandsonlymachinelanguage(binarycodes01).ComputertranslatesEnglishlanguageintomachinecodes
throughinterpreterthenprocessinstructionsandgiveustheresults.
Thecomputerlanguagescanbedividedintotwomainlevels.
Machinelanguage(01)
Symboliclanguage(AZ)
Symboliclanguagesarefurtherdivideintotwomainlevels
Highlevellanguage
Lowlevellanguage

MACHINELANGUAGE
Althoughcomputerscanbeprogrammedtounderstandmanydifferentcomputerlanguage.Thereisonlyonelanguage
understoodbythecomputerwithoutusingatranslationprogram.Thislanguageiscalledthemachinelanguageorthe
machinecodes.Machinecodesarethefundamentallanguageofthecomputerandisnormallywrittenasstringsofbinary
01.
ADVANTAGESANDLIMITATIONSOFMACHINELANGUAGE
Programswritteninmachinelanguagecanbeexecutedveryfastbythecomputer.Thisismainlybecausemachine
instructionsaredirectlyunderstoodbytheCPUandnotranslationofprogramisrequired.
However,writingaprograminmachinelanguagehasseveraldisadvantage.
MACHINEDEPENDENT
Becausetheinternaldesignofeverytypeofcomputerisdifferentfromeveryothertypeofcomputerandneedsdifferent
electricalsignalstooperate.Themachinelanguagealsoisdifferentfromcomputertocomputer.
DIFFICULTTOPROGRAM
Althougheasilyusedbythecomputer,machinelanguageisdifficulttoprogram.Itisnecessaryfortheprogrammereither
tomemorizethedozensofcodenumberforthecommandsinthemachinesinstructionsetortoconstantlyrefertoa
referencecard.
DIFFICULTTOMODIFY
Itisdifficulttocorrectormodifymachinelanguageprograms.Checkingmachineinstructionstolocateerrorsisdifficult
aswritingtheminitially.
Inshort,writingaprograminmachinelanguageissodifficultandtimeconsuming.
SYMBOLICLANGUAGES
Insymboliclanguages,alphabetsareused(az).symboliclanguagesarefurtherdivideintotwomainlevels.
Highlevellanguages
Lowlevellanguages
LOWLEVELLANGUAGE
AlanguagewhichisonestephigherthanmachinelanguageinhumanreadabilityiscalledAssemblyLanguageoralow
levellanguage.Inanassemblylanguagebinarynumbersarereplacedbyhumanreadablesymbolscalledmnemonics.
Thusalowlevellanguageisbetterinunderstandingthanamachinelanguageforhumansandalmosthasthesame
efficiencyasmachinelanguageforcomputeroperation.Anassemblylanguageisacombinationofmnemonic,operation
codesandsymboliccodesforaddresses.Eachcomputerusesandhasamnemoniccodeforeachinstruction,whichmay
varyfromcomputertocomputer.Someofthecommonlyusedcodesaregiveninthefollowingtable.
COMMANDNAMEMNEMONIC
AddADD
SubtractSUB
MultiplyMUL
CompareRegistryCR
CompareCOMP
BranchConditionBC
CodeRegisterLR
MoveCharactersMVE
StoreCharactersSTC
StoreAccumulatorSTA
Anassemblylanguageisveryefficientbutitisdifficulttoworkwithanditrequiresgoodskillsforprogramming.A
programwritteninanassemblylanguageistranslatedintoamachinelanguagebeforeexecution.Acomputerprogram
whichtranslatesanyassemblylanguageintoitsequivalentmachinecodeisknownasanassembler.
HIGHLEVELLANGUAGE
Alanguageisonestephigherthanlowlevellanguagesinhumanreadabilityiscalledhighlevellanguage.Highlevel
languagesareeasytounderstand.TheyarealsocalledEnglishorientedlanguagesinwhichinstructionaregivenusing
words.Suchasadd,subtract,input,print,etc.highlevellanguageareveryeasyforprogramming,programmerprefer
themforsoftwaredesigningthatswhytheselanguagesarealsocalledusersfriendlylanguages.Everyhighlevel
languagemustbeconvertedintomachinelanguagebeforeexecution,thereforeeveryhighlevellanguagehasitsown
separatetranslatingprogramcalledcompilerorinterpreter.Thatswhysometimetheselanguagesarecalledcompiler
langauges.COBOL,BASIC,PASCAL,RPG,FORTRANaresomehighlevellanguages.
INTERPRETER
Aninterpreterisasetofprogramswhichtranslatesthehighlevellanguageintomachineacceptableform.The
interpretersareslowinspeedascomparedtocompilers.Theinterpretertakesasinglelineofthesourcecode,translates
thatlineintoobjectcodeandcarriesitoutimmediately.Theprocessisrepeatedlinebylineuntilthewholeprogramhas

beentranslatedandrun.Iftheprogramloopsbacktoearlierstatements,theywillbetranslatedafresheachtimeround.
Thismeansthatboththesourceprogramandtheinterpretermustremaininthemainmemorytogetherwhichmaylimit
thespaceavailablefordata.Perhapsthebiggestdrawbackofaninterpreteristhetimeittakestotranslateandruna
programincludingalltherepetitionwhichcanbeinvolved.
PROGRAMDEVELOPMENTPROCESS
Inordertodevelopacomputerprogram,aprogrammerhastogothroughthefollowingstages:
1.DEFININGANDANALYSINGTHEPROBLEM
Inthisstepaprogrammerstudiestheproblemanddecideshowtheproblemwillbebestsolved.Studyingaproblemis
necessarybecauseithelpsaprogrammertodecideabout:
Thefactsandfigurestobecollected.
Thewayinwhichtheprogramwillbedesigned.
Thelanguageinwhichtheprogramwillbemostsuitable.
Whatisthedesiredoutputandinwhichformitisneeded,etc.
2.DESIGNINGTHEALGORITHM
Analgorithmisasetofinstructionsorsequenceofstepsthatmustbecarriedoutbeforeaprogrammerstartspreparing
hisprogram.Theprogrammerdesignsanalgorithmtohelpvisualizepossiblealternativesinaprogram.
3.FLOWCHARTING
Aflowchartisagraphicalrepresentationofaprogramwhichhelpsaprogrammertodecideonvariousdataprocessing
procedureswiththehelpoflabeledgeometricaldiagrams.Aflowchartismainlyusedtodescribethecompletedata
processingsystemincludingthehardwaredevicesandmediaused.Itisverynecessaryforaprogrammertoknowabout
theavailabledevicesbeforedevelopingaprogram.
4.CODINGORWRITINGTHEPROGRAM
Thenextjobafteranalysingtheproblemistowritetheprograminahighlevellanguage,usuallycalledcoding.Thisis
achievedbytranslatingtheflowchartinanappropriatehighlevellanguage,ofcourseaccordingtothesyntaxrulesof
thelanguage.
5.TESTEXECUTION
Theprocessofexecutionofanyprogramtofindoutforerrorsorbugs(mistakes)iscalledtestexecution.Thisisvery
importantbecauseithelpsaprogrammertocheckthelogicoftheprogramandtoensurethattheprogramiserrorfree
andworkable.
6.DEBUGGING
Itisatermwhichisusedextensivelyinprogramming.Debuggingistheprocessofdetecting,locatingandcorrectingthe
bugsbyrunningtheprogramsagainandagain.
7.FINALDOCUMENTATION
Itiswritteninformationaboutanycomputersoftware.Finaldocumentguidestheuserabouthowtousetheprogramin
themostefficientway.
MODESOFOPERATION
TherearetwomodesofoperationforBASIC.ThemodethatyouareindetermineswhatBASICwilldowiththe
instructionyougiveit.WhenyoustartBASICyoureceivetheOKprompt.Youthenhavetwomodesavailabletoyou
immediately.
DIRECTMODE
InthedirectmodeBASICactslikeacalculator.Nolinenumbersarerequired.Directmodeisnotofcoursethemain
purposeofBASIC,butitisusefulattimesparticularlywhenyouaredebuggingprogramorshortproblemsinwhichyou
wanttoperformquickcalculatione.g.,PRINT3+4.
INDIRECTMODE
Inthismodeyoufirstputalinenumberoneachstatement.Onceyouhaveaprogramyoucanrunitandgetyour
results.Theindirectmodesavesyourinstructionsinthecomputeralongwiththeirlinenumber,youcanexecutethe
programasmanytimesasyouwishsimplybytypingRUN.
STEPSOFPROGRAMMING

TherearefivestepsinpreparingacomputerprogrammewhicharealsocalledABCDEofProgramming.
ANALYSIS
Inthisstepthesystemanalysttriestobecomefamiliarwiththeproblem.Hehastostudytheproblemandpreparesome
notesuponthatproblem.Healsonotesthatwhatisgiven,whatisrequiredandwhatwillcomputercando.
BLOCKING
Inthissteptheprogrammerconvertstheanalystreporttoaseriesofstepsthroughwhichthecomputerwillgivethe
requiredresult.ThestepsarecommonlyknownasAlgorithm.Therearedifferentwaystowritethosedetailedsequential
steps.Themostcommonmethodusedisflowcharting.Aflowchartissymbolicrepresentationofflowofaprogramme.
CODING
Inthissteptheprogrammerwritestheprogrammeinanycomputerlanguage.Thisstepisknownascoding.Afterthis
programmeisfedintothecomputerandiscompiledwiththehelpofagivencompiler.
DEBUGGING
Debuggingisastepinwhichaprogrammercorrectsasyntaxerrorwhichmaycomeafterthecompilation.
TESTING
Testingisastepwheretheprogrammerisfinallytestingtheprogrammeforexecution(theremaybeanylogicalmistake
whichcompilercannottrace).
EXECUTION
Inthisstepwesendtheprogrammeforexecutionwherecompanysdatawillbefedandprocess.
VARIABLESANDCONSTANTS
VARIABLES
VariablesarenamesusedtorepresentvaluesusedinBASICprogramme.Thevaluesofavariablemaybeassignedbythe
programmeroritmaybeassignedastheresultofcalculationintheprogramme.Beforeavariableisassignedavalueis
assumedtobezero(ornullforstringvariable).
VARIABLESNAMES&DECLARATIONCHARACTERS
Variablenamesmaybeofanylengthup40charactersaresignificant.Variablenamecancontainletters,numbersand
decimalpoint.However,thefirstcharactermustbealetter.Avariableshouldnotbeareserveword.
Variablemayrepresenteitheranumericvalueorastring.
NUMERICVARIABLE
Numericvariablenamesmaybedeclaredasinteger,singleprecision,doubleprecisionvalues.Thetypeofdeclaration
charactersforthesevariablenamesareasfollows.
STRINGVARIABLE
Inprogrammingweoftenusetohandlealphanumericorstringvariables.Stringvariablesconsistofnames,addressesor
ingeneralanystringorseriesofletters,numberorspecialcharacters.
Withouttheuseofstringvariablewheneveranydifferentiationneedstobemadee.g.,fromemployeetoemployeeor
fromapplicationno.toapplicationno.,anumberhastobeassigntoeachemployeeoreachapplication.
Astringvariablenamestartswithanalphabetandterminatewithadollarsign($).Inastringthevaluemustbein
quotationmarks.Noarithmeticoperationsexceptadditionandinadditionthevaluesdonotaddtheyarejustwritten
together.Themaximumnumberofcharacterallowedinastringvariesfromsystemtosystembutatypicalvalueis256.
CONSTANTS
Constantsarethosethatdonotchangewhileexecutingtheprogramme.BASICdealswithtwotypesofconstant.
1.Numericconstant
2.Stringconstant
1.NUMERICCONSTANT
Allnumbersbelongtothiscategorybecausetheirvaluesremainconstantduringexecution.
Theymaytakeanyofthefollowingforms:
1.Commasarenotallowedinanumericconstant.
2.Theuseofthepositivesignisoptionalbutnegativesignshouldbeusedifthenumberisnegative.
2.STRINGCONSTANT
Astringconstantisanysetofvalidbasiccharactersenclosedinquotationmarks.Thequotationmarksdonotformpart
ofstring.Stringsareusedtorepresentnonnumericinformationsuch:

1.Nameofpersonsandplaces
2.Addresses
3.Days,Months,Years.
INTRODUCTIONTOBASIC
BASICisahighlevellanguageusedforpurposeofwritingaprogramonacomputer.ItstandsforBeginnersAllpurpose
SymbolicInstructionCode.BASICisaneasytousefriendlylanguagewhereinstructionresembleselementary,algebraic
formulasandcertainEnglishkeywordssuchLet,Read,Print,Gotoetc.
HISTORYOFBASIC
ThelanguagewasdevelopedatDartmouthCollegein1967,underthedirectionofJohnKemenyandThomasKurtz.It
wasquicklydiscoveredandadopted.AllthemajorcomputermanufacturersofferedtheirownversionofBASICfortheir
particularcomputers.
In1978,theAmericanNationalStandardInstitutestandardizedanessentialsubsetofBASICinordertopromote
uniformityfromoneversionofBASICintoanother.
InrecentyearssomenewversionofBASIChavebeendevelopedwhichincludedavarietyoffeaturesthatarenot
includedinmoretraditionalversions.
STRUCTUREOFBASICPROGRAM
EachinstructioninaBASICprogramiswrittenasaseparatestatement.Thusaprogramwillbecomposedofasequence
ofstatements.
ThefollowingrulesapplytoallBASICstatements:
1.Everystatementmustappearonaseparatelinenumber.
2.EachstatementnumbermustbefollowedbyaBASICkeywordwhichindicatesthetypeofinstruction.
3.Ononesinglelinenumberwecannotwritetwostatements,ifweneedwemustusecolon.
4.Wecanwrite255charactersononeline.

ComputerComponents

CentralProcessingUnitCPU
Thecentralprocessingunit(CPU),alsocalledthemicroprocessor,theprocessororcentralprocessoristhebrainsofthe
computer.TheCPUishousedonatinysiliconchip.Thischipcontainsmillionsofswitchesandpathwaysthathelpyour
computermakeimportantdecisions.Theswitchescontroltheflowoftheelectricityasittravelsacrossthemilesof
pathways.TheCPUknowswhichswitchestoturnonandwhichtoturnoffbecauseitreceivesitsinstructionsfrom
computerprograms.Programsareasetofspecialinstructionswrittenbyprogrammersthatcontroltheactivitiesofthe
computer.Programsarealsoknownassoftware.
TheCPUhastwoprimarysections:
ControlUnit
Arithmetic/LogicUnit
Arithmetic/LogicUnit
Becauseallcomputerdataisstoredasnumbers,alotoftheprocessingthattakesplaceinvolvescomparingnumbersor
carryingoutmathematicaloperations.Inadditiontoestablishingorderedsequencesandchangingthosesequencesthe
computercanperformonlytwotypesofoperations:arithmeticoperationsandlogicaloperations.Arithmeticoperations
includeaddition,subtraction,multiplicationanddivisions.Logicaloperationsincludecomparisons,suchasdetermining
whetheronenumberisequalto,greaterthanorlessthananothernumber.Also,everylogicaloperationhasanopposite.
Forexample,inadditiontoequaltothereisnotequalto.
Manyinstructionscarriedoutbythecontrolunitinvolvesimplymovingdatafromoneplacetoanotherfrommemory
tostorage,frommemorytotheprinterandsoforth.However,whenthecontrolunitencountersaninstructionthat
involvesarithmeticorlogic,itpassesthatinstructiontothesecondcomponentoftheCPU,thearithmeticorlogicunit,
orALU.TheALUincludesagroupofregistershighspeedmemorylocationsbuiltdirectlyintotheCPUthatareusedto
holdthedatacurrentlybeingprocessed.Forexample,thecontrolunitmightloadtwonumbersfrommemoryintothe
registersintheALU.Then,itmighttelltheALUtodividethetwonumbers(anarithmeticoperation)ortoseewhether
thenumbersareequal(alogicaloperation).
SecondaryStorage
Secondarystorageorsecondarymemoryalsoreferredasbackingstorageisusedtosupplementthecapacityofmain
storagethememorystoresabulkofinformation.Itisalsocalledauxiliarystorageormassstorage.Theinformation
storedinthismemoryisusedbytheCPUbyfirstbringingittomainmemory.

ExamplesofSecondaryStorageDevices
SomeExamplesofsecondarystoragedevicesareasfollows:
1.MagneticDisks
2.MagneticTape
3.MassCartridgeSystems
TypesofSecondaryStorage/BackingStorageAccessMethods
Therearetwotypesofsecondarystorage/backingstorageaccessmethods:
SequentialAccessStorage
Accessthroughsequentialaccessstorageisnonaddressablethatiswhyanoperatorcannotreferdirectlytothecontents
ofaparticularstoragelocationsuchasusedwithmagnetictape.Thisinvolvesexaminingsequentiallyallbeginningof
thetapeandcontinuingtosearchthroughallrecorduntilthedesiredinformationareaisfound.
DirectAccessStorage
DirectAccessStorageisaddressablethatisagivenitemcanbeselectedfromanywhereinstoragebysimplyspecifying
theaddresswhereitislocateddirectaccessdevicessuchasmagneticdisksprovideimmediateaccesstoindividual
recordsanddonotrequirereadingfromthebeginningofafiletofindaparticularrecord.
ComputerBus
Incomputerthetermbusrefersthatpathsbetweenthecomponents,actuallybus,isagroupofawire.Thebusisthe
commonpathwaythroughwhichtheprocessorssend/receivedataandcommandsto/fromprimaryandsecondary
storageandallcantransport8bitsatatimewhereasabuswith16linescantransport16bitsatatime.
TypesofComputerBus
Therearetwomainbusesinacomputer:
1.DataBus
2.AddressBus
1.DataBus
Thedatabusisanelectricalpaththatconnectsthecentralprocessingunit(CPU)memory,andtheotherhardware
devicesonthemotherboard.Actually,thebusisagroupofparallelwires.Thenumberofwiresinthebusaffects,the
speedatwhichdatacantravelbetweencomponents,justasthenumberoflanesonahighwayeffectshowlongittakes
peopletogettotheirdestinations.Becauseeachwirecantransferonebitatatime,aneightwirebuscanmoveeight
bitsatatime.A16bitbuscantransfertwobytesanda32bitbuscantransferfourbytesatatime.
2.AddressBus
Thesecondbusthatisfoundineverymicrocomputeristheaddressbus.Theaddressbusisasetofwiressimilartothe
databus,butisconnectsonlytheCPUandmemoryandallitcarriesarememoryaddresses.Thereasonthattheaddress
busisimportantisthatthenumberoflinesinitdeterminesthemaximumnumberofmemoryaddress.Forexample,one
byteofdataisenoughtorepresent2=256differentvalues,iftheaddressbuscouldcarryonlyeightbitsatatime,the
CPUcouldaddressonly256bytesofmemory.MostoftheearlyPCshad20bitaddresbus,sotheCPUcouldaddress
only2(20)bytesor1MBofdata.
ComputerPorts
Asystemboardwithitsprocessorandmemoryunitcanworkonlywhenlinkedtoinput/outputstorageand
communicationdevicestoreceivedataandcommunicateresultsofprocessing.Peripheraldevicessuchasakeyboard,
mouse,monitorandaprintercomewithacableandamultipleconnector.TolinkadevicetothePC,youplugits
connectorintoareceptaclecalledaportinmuchthesamewayyouplugalampcordintoelectricaloutlet.Aportisone
oftheentrylinescomingintothecomputer.Aportprovidesadirectlinktothemicrocomputerscommonelectricalbus.
TypesofComputerPorts
Therearetwotypesofportsusedincomputer:
1.SerialPorts
2.ParallelPorts
1.SerialPorts
Aserialportprovidesaconnectionfortransmittingdataonebitatatime.Aserialportconnectsyourcomputertoa
devicesuchasmodem,whichrequirestwowaydatatransmission,ortoadevicesuchasamouse,whichrequiresonly
onewaydatatransmission.IBMcompatiblecomputersuseeither9pinor25pinconnectorsfortheirserialportsCOM1,
COM2etc.
2.ParallelPorts
Aparallelportprovidesaconnectionfortransmittingdataeightbitsatatimeoveracablewitheightseparatedtalines.
Paralleltransmissionisfastbecauseeightbitstravelsimultaneously.Paralleltransmissionistypicallyusedtosenddatato
theprinter.Thecablethatconnectstwoparallelportscontains25wires,eightwirescarrydataandtheremainingwires
carrycontrolsignalsthathelptomaintainorderlytransmissionandreception.IBMcompatiblecomputesgenerallyallow

youtouseuptothreeportswhicharedesignatedasLPT1,LPT2etc.
MemoryUnit
Memoryunitistheplacewherethecomputerprogramanddataarestoredduringprocessing.Itisthearea,through
whichallthedatawhichisinputintooroutputoftheCPUmustpass.ItismonitoredbyOUwhichkeepstrackofevery
thinginthestorage.Itisarandomaccessdevice,whichconsistsofthousandsuponthousandsofstoragelocations,
eachofwhichcanbedirectlyreachedbytheCU.Eachstoragelocationisdistinguishedbytheaddress.
TypesofMemoryUnit
Itisdividedintotwoparts:
1.ReadOnlyMemory(ROM)
2.RandomAccessMemory(RAM)
1.ReadOnlyMemory(ROM)
Thispartofmemorycontainspermanentlystoredinformation.Whenthepowerisswitchedoff.ROMdoesnotwash
away.ThisinformationisavailabletoacomputertoreadandprocessbutnottobechangediskeptonROM.This
informationisstoredonsmallpiecesofmemorychips,beforethecomputerisassembled.
2.RandomAccessMemory(RAM)
Thispartofmemoryconsistsofblankchipsandhencethecomputercanuseittostoreandretrieve(writeandread)
informationduringitsprocessing.TheinformationstoredinRAMisvolatile,thatis,whenthecomputerisshutdownthe
storedinformationislost.

StorageDevices

PrimaryStorageDevices
Thenamesofsomecomputersprimarystoragedevicesareasfollows:
1.RandomAccessMemory(RAM)
DRAM
SRAM
2.ReadOnlyMemory(ROM)
EPROM
PROM
3.Memory
4.CacheMemory
SecondaryStorageDevices
1.HardDisk
2.FloppyDisk
3.CDROM(CompactDiscReadonlyMemory)
RAM
RAMisthatpartofmainmemoryinwhichdataandinstructionsareheldtemporarily.RAMprovidesaworkingareatothe
usertoenterandprocessdata.InRAMeachdataelementhasitsownaddress(location).Anydataelementcanberead
easilyandquicklybyusingthataddress.ItisalsocalledasReadAndWriteMemory(RAM)sincethecomputercanstore
orwritedataatanyselectedlocation(address)andcanretrieveorreaddatawhenneeded.Itisatemporarymemoryofa
computerusedtostoredataandaninstructionwhenthecomputerisoneverythingthatisstoredinRAMislostwhen
thecomputeristurnedoff.Forthisreasonitisalsocalledvolatilememory.LargeRAMsizesprovidelargerdatathat
computercanholdandprocess.AdditionalRAMchipscanbeinstalledinacomputersimplybypluggingthemon
motherboard.ThisincreasesthestoragecapacityofRAMofcomputer.
RAMisasemiconductormemorywithnomovingpart.DatacanbeaccessedfromRAMatveryhighspeedverycloseto
thespeedoflight.Amemorychiplessthanonefourthsizeofapostagestampcanstoremorethan500,000bytes
equivalenttotheprintedmatteronapopulardailynewspaper.
ROM
ROMstandsforReadOnlyMemory.TheinstructionswritteninROMcanonlybereadbutcannotbechangedordeleted.

TheROMis,therefore,alsocallednonvolatilememory.Itisnotpossibletowritenewinformationorinstructionsinto
theROM.ThisisthereasonwhyitiscalledReadOnlyMemory.
ROMstoresdataandinstructionspermanently.Whenthepoweristurnedoff,theinstructionsstoredinROMarenotlost.
TheinstructionsarewrittenintotheROMchipsatthetimeofitsmanufacturing.Whenthecomputerisswitchedon,the
instructionsintheROMareautomaticallyloadedintothememoryofthecomputer.Theseinstructionspreparethe
computersystemforuseanddisplaytheinitialoperatingsystemscreen.
AvariationofROMisprogrammablereadonlymemory(PROM).PROMisaROMintowhichyoucanloadreadonly
programsanddata.Somemicrocomputersoftwarepackages,suchaselectronicspreadsheetsareavailableasPROMunits
aswellasoninterchangeabledisks.ROMandPROMareusedinvarietyofcapabilitieswithinacomputersystem.
DifferenceBetweenRAMandROM
EverythingthatisstoredinRAMislostwhenthecomputeristurnedoff.Forthisreasonitisalsocalledvolatilememory.
IncontrasttheReadOnlyMemory(ROM)isnonvolatilememory.InstructionscanonlybereadfromROM.Instructions
oncewrittenonROMchipcannotbechanged.Itisapermanentmemoryofacomputer,i.e.thecontentsofthistypeof
memoryarenotlostwhenthecomputeristurnedoff.Assoonasthecomputeristurnedon,aprogramthatresideson
ROMautomaticallymakesthecomputerreadyforuse.ROMisasemiconductormemorygenerallyprogrammedbythe
manufacturer.
DifferenceBetweenSIMMsandDIMMs
ThecapacityofRAMinacomputeraffectscomputerspower.MoreRAMcanmakecomputerrunfaster.Thecomputer
doesnotnecessarilyhavetoloadacompleteprogramintoitsmainmemorytorunit.Howevergreateristhepartofa
programitcanfitintomemory,thefastertheprogramwillrun.
ManyRAMchipsareinstalledonasmallcircuitboard.TheseRAMchipsarewiredtogethertoformasinglemoduleof
largememorycalledSingleInLineMemoryModules(SIMMs).SIMMhascontactterminalsonitoneside.Itcaneasilybe
pluggedintothemotherboard.SIMMshaddifferentcapacitiessuchas1Mbyte,4Mbytes,and16Mbyteswithvarying
speed.
SIMMswerepopularbyPCusersin1980sbuthasnowbeenreplacedbyDIMMs.LikeSIMMs,DualInLineMemory
Modules(DIMMs)havebeendevelopedinstallingmanyRAMchips.DIMMsprovidelargercapcityascomparedtoSIMMs.
DIMMshavewiderdatabusandthushavehigherrateofdatatransfer.DIMMsareavailableinseveralconfigurations
havingdifferentcapacitiesandspeeds.YoucanexpandRAMcapacityofyourcomputerbysimplyplugginginmore
DIMMs.
ShortNotes
FloppyDiskette
Itisasmallremovable,portablestoragedevicethatismadeofpolyesterfilmcoatedwithametaloxidecompound.It
lookslikea45rpmphonographrecordexceptthatitisenclosedinajacketsquareinshape.Itisreadablebyacomputer
withafloppydiskdrive.Thephysicalsizeofdiskshasshrunkfromtheearly8inchto5.25inchsquareandabout1
millimeterthick(minifloppy)to3.5inchsquareandabout2millimetersthick(microfloppy)whilethedatacapacityhas
risen.
HardDisk
Aharddriveisaamagneticdiskonwhichyoucanstorecomputerdata.Thetermhardisusedtodistinguishitfroma
soft,orfloppydisk.Harddiskholdsmoredataandisfasterthanfloppydisks.Ingeneral,harddisksarelessportable
thanfloppies,althoughitispossibletobuyremovableharddisks.Todayscomputerstypicallycomewithahrddiskthat
containsseveralbillionbytes(gigabytes)ofstorage.
CDROM
CDROM(CompactDisc,ReadOnlyMemory)isanadaptionoftheCDthatisdesignedtostorecomputerdataintheform
oftextandgraphics,aswellashifistereosound.Itisanonvolatileopticaldatastoragemediumthatisphysicallythe
sameasanaudioCDandiscapableofstoringlargeamountsofdataupto1GB,althroughthemostcommonsizeis650
MBabout12millionbytesperpoundweight.AllCDROMsconfirmtoastandardsizeandformat,soyoucanloadany
typeofCDROMintoanyCDROMplayer.InadditionCDROMplayersarealsocapableofplayingaudioCDs.Astandard
CDis120mm(4.75inches)indiameterand1.2mm(0.05inches)thick.
MagneticTape
Amagnetictapeisalsoastoragedevicefromwhichyoucanaccessdataseriallylikeanaudiocassettefromwhichyou
canhearthesongsintheorderinwhichtheyarestored.Serialaccessisslowerthanthedirectaccessprovidedbymedia
suchasdiskettes.Whenyouwanttoaccesssomeparticulardatafromthetape,thedevicehastoscanthroughallthe
datayoudonotneedbutthatdataisstoredbeforetherequiredone.Theaccessspeedcanbequiteslowwhenthetape
islongandwhatyouwantisnotnearthestart.Sothebestuseofthemagnetictapeisforthedatathatyoudonotuse
veryoften.
MagneticDisk
Amagneticdiskisametalorplasticdiskcoatedwithmagneticmaterial.Dataisrecordedintothemagneticmaterialin

machinecode.Diskshavebecamepopularduetotheirrandomaccess.ThesediskspininthediskdrivesRead/Write
headsmovingonthediskalongitsradiuscanreaddataatanylocationundertheheads.
Differenttypesofdiskdrivesandmagneticdisksareinuse.Themostpopulartypesofmagneticdisksare
interchangeablediskscalledthefloppydisksandfixeddiskscalledtheharddisks.
GenerallyPCsareconfiguredwithatleastoneharddiskdriveandonfloppydiskdrive.HardDiskprovidedaverybig
storagecapacityandareveryfastbutthesearenotinterchangeable.Floppydisksaresmallerthantheharddisk,because
theyalwaysconsistsonlyoneplatter.Floppiesareavailableinsizeof3.5and5.25inches.Bothofthemareavailable
indoubledensityandhighdensitystoragecapacities.ThestoragecapacitiesofthesediskettesusedforIBMcompatible
computer.
FloppyDisk,althoughslowerthanaharddisk,areinexpensiveandcaneasilymovedfromcomputertocomputer.They
arecomparativelyfragileandmustbehandledwithcare.
DifferenceintheCapacityBetweenHardDiskandFloppyDisk
Aharddiskcontainsseveraldiskplattersstackedonasinglerotatingspindle.Dataarestoredonallrecordingsurfaces.
Foradiskwithfourplatters,thereareeightrecordingsurfacesonwhichdatacanbestored.Afloppydiskhasonlyone
platteronwhichdataiswritten,thatiswhythestoragecapacityofaharddiskismoreascomparedtothefloppydisk.
HarddisksorfixeddisksarealsocalledWinchesterdiskarepermanentlyinstalledorfixedwithinthesystemunit.

DataRepresentation

Data
TheworddataisderivedfromLatinlanguage.ItispluralofDatum(ButDataisusuallyusedasasingularterm.)Datum
(singular)Data(plural).Dataisanycollectionoffactsoffigures.Thedataistherawmaterialtobeprocessedbya
computer.
Example
Namesofstudents,marksobtainedintheexamination,designationofemployees,addresses,quantity,rate,salesfigures
oranythingthatisinputtothecomputerisdata.Evenpictures,photographs,drawings,chartsandmapscanbetreated
asdata.Computerprocessesthedataandproducestheoutputorresult.
TypesofData
MainlyDataisdividedintotwotypes:
1.NumericData
2.CharacterData
1.NumericData
ThedatawhichisrepresentedintheformofnumbersisknownasNumericData.Thisincludes09digits,adecimalpoint
(.),+,/,signandthelettersEorD.Thenumericdataisfurtherdividedintotwogroups:
i.IntegerData
ii.RealData
i.IntegerData
IntegerDataisintheformofwholenumbers.Itdoesnotcontainadecimalpoint,howeveritmaybeapositiveora
negativenumber.
Example
PopulationofPakistan,numbersofpassengerstravelinginanairplane,numberofstudentsinaclass,numberof
computerinalabetc.
2543,7,60,5555,0,+72etc
ii.RealData
Realdataisintheformoffractionalnumbers.Itcontainsadecimalpoint.Itcanalsobepositiveornegativenumber.
RealDataisfurtherdividedintotwotypes.
a.FixedPointData
b.FloatingPointData
(a)FixedPointData
Fixedpointdatamayincludedigits(09),adecimalpoint,+/sign.
Example

Percentageofmarks,weight,quantitytemperatureetc.
23.0007,0.0002,+9243.9,17013etc
(b)FloatingPointData
Floatingpointdatamayincludedigits(09),decimalpoint,+/signandlettersD,d,E,ore.Thedata,which
isintheexponentialform,canberepresentedinthefloatingpointnotation.
Example
Speedoflight,massofatomicparticles,distancebetweenstarsandetc.
1.602x10(19)(Chargeofelectronincoulomb)Here19=power
Thevaluecanbefeedintothecomputeras1.602E19.
2.CharacterData
Characterdatafallsintotwogroups.
i.StringData
ii.GraphicalData
i.StringData
Stringdataconsistsofthesequenceofcharacters.CharactersmaybeEnglishalphabets,numbersorspace.Thespace,
whichseparatestwowords,isalsoacharacter.Thestringdataisfurtherdividedintotwotypes.
a.AlphabeticData
b.AlphanumericData
(a)AlphabeticData
Thedata,whichiscomposedofEnglishalphabets,iscalledalphabeticdata.Namesofpeople,namesofplaces,and
namesofitemsareconsideredalphabeticdata.
Forexample:Ahmed,Hyderabad,Chairetc
(b)AlphanumericData
Thedatathatconsistsofalphabetsaswellasnumeralsandsomespecialcharactersiscalledalphanumericdata.Address,
employeescode,etcarealphanumericdata.
Forexample:10/B,BlockNo2,E103etc.
GraphicalData
Itispossiblethatpictures,chartsandmapscanbetreatedasdata.Thescannerisnormallyusedtoenterthistypeof
data.ThecommonuseofthisdataisfoundintheNationalIdentityCard.Thephotographsandthumbimpressionare
scannedandstoredintothecomputertoidentifyaperson.
NumberSystem
Thenumbersystemisthesystemofcountingandcalculation.Numbersystemisbasedonsomecharacterscalleddigits.
Eachnumberismadeupofthesecharacters.Thenumberofdigitsasysemusesiscalleditsbaseorradix.Forexample
thenumbersystemweuseinourdailylifeiscalledDecimalSystem.Itsbaseis10(AsthenameDeciimplieswhich
meanthatituses10digits(i.e.09)
Codes
Whennumbers,lettersorwordsarerepresentedbyaspecialgroupofsymbols,wesaytheyarebeingencodedandthe
groupofsystemiscalledCode.
TypesofCodes
ThecodesincludeBinarycode,Binarycodeddecimalcode(BCD),andalphanumericcodes.Alphanumericcodesinclude
ASCIIandEBCDIC.
ASCIICode
ASCIIstandsforAmericanStandardCodeforInformationInterchange.Itisa7bitcodeusedtohandlealphanumeric
data.Thiscodeallowsmanufacturerstostandardizeinput/outputdevicessuchaskeyboard,printers,visualdisplayunits
etc.AnextensionofASCIIcodeuses8bitscalledasASCII8codewithanextra8thbitasaparitybittomakethetotal
numberof1seitheroddoreven.
EBCDICCode
EBCDIC(ExtendedBinaryCodedDecimalInterchangeCode)isanextendedformofBCD(BinaryCodedDecimal),which
canrepresentonly16charactersbecauseitisa4bitcode.EBCDICisan8bitcode,soitcanrepresent256different
characters.ItwasdevelopedbyIBMandisusedinmostIBMmodelsandmanyothercomputers.

ComputerSoftware

MachineLanguage
Machinelanguageistheonlylanguagethatacomputeunderstandsdirectlywithoutanytranslation,itisthebinary
language.Itisthelanguageof0sand1s.Itconsistsofstringsofbinarynumbers.
Thebinarycodesareverydifficulttomemorizeforhumanbeingsthatiswhyamachinelanguageiscumbersomefora
user.
DifferenceBetweenaHighLevelLanguageandLowLevelLanguage
HighLevelLanguages
HighLevellanguagearemoresuitableforhumanusethanmachinelanguagesandenabletheprogrammertowrite
instructionseasilyusingEnglishwordsandfamiliarmathematicalsymbols.ThesesymboliclanguagesarecalledHigh
Levellanguages.ThesehighlevellanguagesconsistofsimpleEnglishsentences,whichareveryeasytounderstandand
memorizeforhumanbeing.
LowLevelLanguages
BoththemachineandassemblylanguagesarecalledLowLevelLanguages.Anassemblylanguageisonestephigherthan
themachinelanguageinhumanreadability.Amachinelanguageconsistsoftotallyofnumbersandisalmostimpossible
forhumanstoread.Inanassemblylanguage,someofthesenumbersarereplacedbyhumanreadablesymbolscalled
languageforhumansandalmostofthesameefficiencyasmachinelanguageforcomputeroperations.Anassembly
languageisacombinationofmnemonicoperationcodesandsymboliccodesforaddress.
Assemblylanguageisverydifficultbutitrequiresgoodskillsforprogramming.Aprogramwritteninanassembly
languageistranslatedintoamachinelanguagebeforecomputercanunderstandandexecuteit.Acomputerprogram,
whichtranslatesanassemblylanguageprogramintoitsequivalentmachinelanguage,iscalledassembler.
Aprogramcanbewritteninmuchshortertimeandmuchpreciselywhenahighlevellanguageisused.Aprogram
writteninahighlevellanguagecanbeexecutedinanycomputersystem,whichhasacompilerforthatprogramming
language.

OperatingSystem
Operatingsystemprovideslinkbetweentheuserandthecomputer.Itenablestheusertohavecompletecontroloverthe
computersystembycommandsthroughthekeyboardoranyotherinputdevice.Thesupervisorpartofanoperating
systemresidesallthetimesinthememory(RAM)ofthecomputerafterthecomputeristurnedon.Anoperatingsystem
performsthefollowingtasks:
1.ControlsbasicInputandOutputdevices.
2.Allocatessystemresources.
3.Managesstoragespace
4.Supportsapplicationsoftware
5.Maintainssecurity
6.Detectsequipmentfailure
Thisenablestheusertoachievehighefficienciesofwhichtheprocessingsystemsarecapable.Operatingsystemscanbe
classifiedas:
1.SingleUserOperatingSystem
2.MultiUserOperatingSystem
1.SingleUserOperatingSystem
SingleuseroperatingsystemsareusedonindividualsystemsorPersonalComputers.Theseoperatingsystemsresideon
disksandrecalledDiskOperatingSystems(DOS).Someofthemostwidelyusedsingleuseroperatingsystemsare:
1.MSDOS
2.PCDOS
3.OS/2
4.Windows95
2.MultiUserOperatingSystem
MultiUserOperatingSystemsareusedfordataprocessingonlrgecomputersystems.Theyenhancethepotentialof
computersystemswithmultiprogramming,multiprocessingandtimesharingfacilitiesmakingthemsuitableforlarge
organizations.Someofthemultiuseroperatingsystemsare:
1.UNIX/XENIX
2.MACOSX
3.WindowsNT
4.Windows2000Server

DOS
DOSstandsforDiskOperatingSystem.Itisaprogram,whichactsasaninterfacebetweentheuserandthecomputer
hardware.DOSallowsmanipulationoffilesandprogramsbyinterpretingandprocessingthecommandstypedbythe
user.
TheDOSsoftwareisautomaticallycopiedfromafloppydiskortheharddriveintothecomputersmemorywheneverthe
computeristurnedonorbooted(madeacomputerreadytobeusedbyputtinginitsinstructions).DOSisnotan
applicationpackagethatyoustartandthenexitwhendone.Thisisanoperatingsystemrunsfromthemomentyouturn
thecomputeronuntilyouturnthemachineoff.ThemajortaskstheDOSmustcarryoutare:
1.Tocontrolinputandoutputdevices.
2.Toenableusertoloadandexecuteprogram.
3.Tomaintainanorderlysystemofdatainthedisk.
TypesofDOSCommands
TherearetwotypesofDOSCommands:
1.InternalCommands
2.ExternalCommands
1.InternalCommands
InternalcommandsareapartoftheDOSprogramCOMMAND.COMandareloadedintomemorywhenyoubootyour
computer.Thesecommandsareneededtobeusedmostoften,althoughtheyarenotseenwhenwedisplaythedisk
directoryoffilenamesonourscreen.SomeinternalDOScommandsare:
CLS
Thiscommandisusedtoclearthescreenofamonitor.
Syntax:CLS
DIR
Thiscommandisusedtodisplayalistofcurrentdirectlyfilesandsubdirectories.
Syntax:DIR[drive:][path][filename][/p][1w]
CHDIR(CD)
Thiscommandisusedtodisplaythecurrentdirectoryorchangesinthecurrent(default)directory.
Syntax:CD[drive:][path]
DEL
Thiscommandisusedtodeletesoneormorespecifiedfilesfromthedisk.
Syntax:DEL[drive][path]filename[/p]
e.g.DELAslam.Doc
ExternalCommands
ExternalCommandsareprograms,whichexistontheDOSdiskortheharddisk.Theyarerunwhenyoutypetheirname
onthecommandline.Forexample,typingFORMATattheDOSpromptresultsinaprogramcalledFORMAT.COMbeing
executed.
ExternalCommandsarenotfrequentlyusedandDOSsavesvaluablememoryspacebyloadingthemonlywhenrequired.
Sometheexternalcommandsare:
CHKDSK
Thiscommandisusedtochecksthevalidityofadiskandreportsthetotalspace,usedandfreespaceontheselected
disk.
Syntax:CHKDSK[drive][path][/f][/v]
SYS
ThiscommandisusedtocreateabootabledriveandinstallsthemainDOSfiles.
Syntax:SYS[drive:][path]drive2:
e.g.SYSA:
TREE
Thiscommandisusedtodisplaydirectorystructure.
Syntax:TREE[drive:][path][/f][/a]
XCOPY
Thiscommandsisusedtocopyfiles(excepthiddenandsystemfiles)anddirectories,includingsubdirectories.
Syntax:XCOPYsource[destination][/a|/m][/d:date][/p][/s][/e][/v][/w]
e.g.XCOPY*.*A:
DELTREE
Thiscommandisusedtodeleteallfilesandsubdirectoriesinadirectory.
Syntax:DELTREE[/Y][pathname]

BootingtheSystem
Thetermbootorbootstrap,whenusedwithcomputers,meansstartorstartup.Whenwebootourcomputers,weare
turningitonandloadingtheDiskOperatingSystem(DOS)intoourcomputersmemory.Thesequenceofeventsthat
occurbetweenthetimeyouturnonyourcomputerandthetimeitisreadyforyoutoissuecommandsisreferredtoas
thebootprocess.AtthecompletionofthebootupprocessthesystemgivesaDOSPromptassoonasitisreadyfor
operations.