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Basic Concepts of Computer

Computers are electronic devices that can store and process data quickly and accurately according to programmed instructions. They are comprised of hardware components like a monitor, keyboard and mouse, as well as software programs. A computer system has four main units - input, storage, processing, and output. Computers are characterized by their speed, accuracy, ability to diligently perform repetitive tasks without tiring, versatility in different tasks, and large storage capacity for data.

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204 views

Basic Concepts of Computer

Computers are electronic devices that can store and process data quickly and accurately according to programmed instructions. They are comprised of hardware components like a monitor, keyboard and mouse, as well as software programs. A computer system has four main units - input, storage, processing, and output. Computers are characterized by their speed, accuracy, ability to diligently perform repetitive tasks without tiring, versatility in different tasks, and large storage capacity for data.

Uploaded by

Sunitha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Basic Concepts of Computer

Computer is an electronic device which is used to store the data, as per given
instructions it gives results quickly and accurately.

A computer is a programmable machine designed to perform arithmetic and logical


operations automatically and sequentially on the input given by the user and gives
the desired output after processing.

Computer components are divided into two major categories namely hardware and
software. Hardware is the machine itself and its connected devices such as
monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

Software is the set of programs that make use of hardware for performing various
functions.

A computer system consists of mainly four basic units; namely input unit, storage
unit, central processing unit and output unit. Central Processing unit further
includes Arithmetic logic unit and control unit, as shown in the figure:. A computer
performs five major operations or functions irrespective of its size and make.
These are

• It accepts data or instructions as input,

• It stores data and instruction

• It processes data as per the instructions,

• It controls all operations inside a computer, and

• It gives results in the form of output.

Characteristics of Computer

The characteristics of computers that have made them so powerful and universally
useful are speed, accuracy, diligence, versatility and storage capacity. Let us
discuss them briefly.
 Speed

Computers work at an incredible speed. A powerful computer is capable of


performing about 3-4 million simple instructions per second.

It takes only few seconds for calculations that we take hours to complete.
Computers can perform millions (1,000,000) of instructions and even more per
second. Therefore, the speed of a computer is determined in terms of microseconds
(one millionth of a second: 1/1000000) (10-6 part of a second) or nanosecond (one
thousand-millionth of a second: 1/1000000000) (10 to the power -9 part of a
second).

Picosecond is an SI unit of time equal to 10−12 or 1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second. That is


one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000 001
seconds. Picosecond is to one second as one second is to 31,710 years.

An attosecond is 1×10−18 of a second (one quintillionth of a second). ..

A femtosecond is the SI unit of time equal to 10 −15 or 1/1,000,000,000,000,000 of a second;


that is, one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth, of a second.

From this you can imagine how fast your computer performs work.

 Accuracy

In addition to being fast, computers are also accurate. Errors that may occur can
almost always be attributed to human error (inaccurate data, poorly designed
system or faulty instructions/programs written by the programmer). The degree of
accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is performed with the
same accuracy. The accuracy level is 7 determined on the basis of design of
computer. The errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data.

 Diligence

Unlike human beings, computers are highly consistent. They do not suffer from
human traits of boredom and tiredness resulting in lack of concentration.
Computers, therefore, are better than human beings in performing voluminous and
repetitive jobs. A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue,
etc. It can work for hours without creating any error. If millions of calculations are
to be performed, a computer will perform every calculation with the same
accuracy. Due to this capability it overpowers human being in routine type of
work.

 Versatility

It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work. You may use
your computer to prepare payroll slips. Next moment you may use it for inventory
management or to prepare electric bills. Computers are versatile machines and are
capable of performing any task as long as it can be broken down into a series of
logical steps. The presence of computers can be seen in almost every sphere –
Railway/Air reservation, Banks, Hotels, Weather forecasting and many more.

 No IQ

Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction from
the user. It performs the instructions at tremendous speed and with accuracy. It is
you to decide what you want to do and in what sequence. So a computer cannot
take its own decision as you can.

 No Feeling

It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and experience. Thus it does
not get tired even after long hours of work. It does not distinguish between users.

 Storage Capacity

The Computer has an in-built memory where it can store a large amount of data.
You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as floppies, which can
be kept outside your computer and can be carried to other computers.

Computer has the power of storing any amount of information or data. Any
information can be stored and recalled as long as you require it, for any numbers of
years. It depends entirely upon you how much data you want to store in a computer
and when to lose or retrieve these data. Today’s computers can store large volumes
of data. A piece of information once recorded (or stored) in the computer, can
never be forgotten and can be retrieved almost instantaneously

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