What is a Computer?

A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for
some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed. Complex
computers also include the means for storing data (including the program, which is also a form of data)
for some necessary duration. A program may be invariable and built into the computer (and called logic
circuitry as it is on microprocessors) or different programs may be provided to the computer (loaded into
its storage and then started by an administrator or user). Today's computers have both kinds of
programming.
Functional Components of a Computer System
A computer system has five basic functional units which are listed below

a) Input Unit
b) Output Unit
c) Control Unit
d) Memory Unit central processing unit
e) Arithmetic Logic Unit

Input unit:
The input device is
used to enter data and
information into a
computer. The devices like
keyboard, mouse and
scanner are commonly used as input devices. A keyboard is used to enter alphanumeric characters and
symbols. The mouse is used to pick or select a command from the monitor screen. A scanner is used to
scan an image or read a barcode and so on.
Central Processing Unit:
The processing unit comprises a processor which interprets the program instructions in memory,
controls the flow of data and performs arithmetic and logical operations. The program instructions are
processed one at a time along with the necessary data. The results are sent to memory and the next
instruction is processed. This method is repeated until the program is executed.

Arithmetic and Logic unit:

The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) is the unit of the computer that performs arithmetic and logical
operations on the data. This section of the machine can be relatively small consisting of circuits and
registers which perform arithmetic (+, -, *, /) and logic (>,<,<=,>=,etc) operations. Arithmetic-logic units
which can add and subtract and perform logical operations form the backbone for the arithmetic and

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control operations in computers. To perform scientific calculations the floating-point number system is
used.

Control unit:
The control unit controls the overall activities of the components of the computer. It is mainly used
to coordinate the activities among other units. It will send commands signals and controls the sequence of
instructions to be executed. The control unit may be defined as “the parts that effect the retrieval of
instructions in proper sequence and application of the proper signals to the arithmetic unit and the other
parts”.
The function of the control circuitry in a general purpose computer is to interpret the instruction
words and then sequence the necessary signals to those sections of the computer that will cause it to
perform the instructions.

Memory Unit:
The memory unit is the unit where all the input data and results stored. The CPU memory is also
called as memory register. The memory of a computer is also available in the form of Random Access
Memory (RAM). RAM is a semiconductor chip. RAM is considered as a volatile memory, it means as
long power is supporting information stored in it remain. Once the power is lost, the information stored in
the RAM also get erased. Microcomputers contains read Only Memory (ROM). ROM contains
instructions for the microcomputers. Microcomputers use ROM, programmable read only memory
(PROM), and erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) to store selected application
programs. The contents of ROM are determined when the chips are manufactured. The ROM memory is
considered as non volatile, means the information is not get erased even when power is failed. The most
important ROM chip(s) we should know about is the Basic Input/output system or BIOS. The BIOS is a
collection of small computer programs built into a ROM chip.
What is Computer Memory
computer memory is the physical device which is used to store data or information on a temporary or
permanent basis. In computer field, the term computer memory refers to RAM i.e. the main memory.
There are other memory devices too which includes external memory (e.g. pen drive).
Types of Memory
Internal Memory / Main Memory
Main Memory:
It is a semi-conductor memory used for storing programs as well as data using programs
execution. It is directly accessible to the CPU.
It is divided into three types:
RAM (Random Access Memory):
It is called Random Access Memory because any location on the memory can be randomly
selected and used directly to store and retrieve data or information. It is both read and write
memory. It is a volatile memory (because of the fact that it destroys its contents when power is
switched off.
It is also of two types:
a)SRAM (Static RAM) – the re-generable circuits are not available. It is faster than DRAM and
is less volatile, but SRAM requires more power supply and is a bit more expensive.

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b)DRAM (Dynamic RAM) – has re-generable circuits/can refresh the storage charge. It has to
be constantly refreshed or will lose its contents.
ROM (Read Only Memory)
It is called Read Only Memory in the sense that the data is placed in the ROM at the time of its
manufacture and cannot be changed thereafter. It is read only Memory. (I.e. cannot be written
into the memory) It is non-volatile memory.
ROM is of three types:
a)PROM(Programmable Read Only Memory): The data is erased by special programs.
b)EPROM (Erasable PROM): Data is erased by exposing the chip under ultra violet light.
c)EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM): Data is erased by passing electrical signals.
CACHE Memory-
It is a high speed buffer between the CPU and the Main Memory. The CPU consults the Cache
and when it cannot find the instructions, it looks into Main Memory.
Advantages of Cache memory:
Faster accessing of data. No time is wasted in retrieving the data for the primary or secondary
memory.
Virtual Memory acts as an alternative to RAM. In this, all the physical memory is controlled by
the operating system so that whenever the program needs memory, the request is sent to the
operating system and then the operating system decides the location where the memory can be
placed in.
What is memory hierarchy

The hierarchical arrangement of storage in current computer architectures is called the memory
hierarchy. It is designed to take advantage of memory locality in computer programs. Each level
of the hierarchy is of higher speed and lower latency, and is of smaller size, than lower levels.

Most modern CPUs are so fast that for most program workloads the locality of reference of
memory accesses, and the efficiency of the caching and memory transfer between different levels
of the hierarchy, is the practical limitation on processing speed. As a result, the CPU spends

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much of its time idling, waiting for memory I/O to complete.

The memory hierarchy in most computers is as follows:

Processor registers – fastest possible access (usually 1 CPU cycle), only hundreds of bytes in
size
Level 1 (L1) cache – often accessed in just a few cycles, usually tens of kilobytes
Level 2 (L2) cache – higher latency than L1 by 2× to 10×, often 512KB or more
Level 3 (L3) cache – (optional) higher latency than L2, often multiple MB's
Main memory (DRAM) – may take hundreds of cycles, but can be multiple gigabytes
Disk storage – hundreds of thousands of cycles latency, but very large
What are the functions of computer
The 4 basic functions of computer are-
1.) Input - Information you put into the computer by way of keyboard, mouse, or stylus.
2.) Processing (CPU) - Also known as the "Brain" of the computer. Processes the information
you put in into human readable form.
A.) There are 3 C's of processing.
1.) Calculate - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division
2.) Copy - happens many times with each instruction that is processed, between registers in the
CPU, Devices in the system, and different addresses in the memory.
3.) Comparing - Everytime data is copied, the original data set must be compared to the new
data set and when data is being sorted, values in the database compared to the sort string. When
datasets are being searched, the database must be compared to the search stream.
3.) Output - The information you put into the computer is seen on the monitor screen and can be
printes out on paper and is readable.
4.) Storage - Either the computers memory, CD's, DVD's, Floppy Disc's, USB Flash Drives, ZIp
DIsc's, etc.
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTERS
The characteristics of computers that have made them so powerful and universally useful are-
 Speed: The computers process data at an extremely fast rate, i.e. at millions or billions of
instructions per second. In a few seconds, a computer can perform a huge task that a
normal human being may take days or even years to complete. The speed of a computer
is measured in megahertz (MHz), that is, one million instructions per second.
 Accuracy: Besides being efficient, the computers are also very accurate. The level of
accuracy depends on the instructions and the type of machines being used. Since we
know that the computer is capable of doing only what it is instructed to do, faulty
instructions for processing the data automatically lead to faulty results. The faulty results
due to faulty instructions or incorrect input data are known as GIGO, that is, garbage in
garbage out.
 Reliability: Generally, reliability is the measurement of the performance of a computer,
which is measured against some predetermined standard for operation without any
failure. The major reason behind the reliability of the computers is that, at hardware level,
it does not require any human intervention between its processing operations. Moreover,
computers have built-in diagnostic capabilities, which help in continuous monitoring of
the system.

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  Storage Capability: Computers can store large amounts of data and it can recall the
required information almost instantaneously. The memory of the computer is relatively
small and it can hold only a certain amount of information. Therefore, the data are stored
on storage devices such as magnetic tape or disks. The data from these devices can be
accessed and brought into the main memory of the computer, as and when required, for
processing.
 Versatility: Computers are quite versatile in nature. They can perform multiple tasks
simultaneously with equal ease. For example, at one moment it can be used to prepare a
letter, at the other moment it can be used to play music and in between one can print a
document as well. All this work is possible by changing the program (sequence of
instructions for computers).
 Diligence: Computer, being a machine, does not suffer from the human traits of tiredness
and lack of concentration. If four million calculations have to be performed, then the
computer will perform the last four-millionth calculation with the same accuracy and
speed as the first calculation.
 Resource Sharing: In the initial stages of development, computer used to be an isolated
machine. With the tremendous growth in computer technologies, today's computers have
the capability to connect with each other. This has made the sharing of costly resources
like printers possible. Apart from device sharing, data and information can also be shared
among groups of computers, thus creating a large information and knowledge base.
Advantages (or merits or benefits) of computers:
 Increases speed of computing and processing information in any other way.
 People can use sophisticated statistical and mathematical tools for decision making and
further purposes without learning in details the algorithms used for computing. This way
people can use much more sophisticated analytical tools that would have been possible
with only manual information processing.
 Computers can store large volumes of information without occupying too much space, as
is in the case of information stored in form of books and paper documents.
 Computer processing eliminates the human errors of computing and information
processing.
 Information once entered in computer system can be easily accessed by the same person
or other persons at different times for different persons. This reduces the work load of
capturing same information multiple times for different purposes. It also makes it
possible for different person to work with same information, avoiding the possibility of
different persons using different versions of the same information.
 The work of entering and editing information is made mush more easy and simple by
software that offer many powerful user friendly features for performing these tasks.
 Computer now offer sophisticated and powerful software for representing information in
rich formats with visual and video facilities.
 Computers combined with communication technology offer very fast speed and rich
communication facility at low cost.
 Computers, with all these features are now used for automating all kinds of equipments
and processes.
Disadvantage (or demerits or limitations) of Computers
 The cost of computer and associated equipments is falling steadily. Still these equipments
are and continue to be much more costly as compared to manual processing equipments

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 like pen and pencil. Also technological complexity of these equipment makes it more
difficult to learn and maintain these equipments as compared to equipments of manual
information processing.
 Use of computers require additional infrastructure, such as power supply and software
back up. This increases the chances of problems due to failure of infrastructure. For
example, a computer will not work where there is no electric power supply. Even a laptop
with a battery will work without power supply only for a limited period.
 Failures of computer system can be more serious and difficult to correct. For example,
one scratch on a hard disk can make the complete data on the disk inaccessible. In
comparison, manual system faults have comparatively limited impact. One page torn
from a cabinet full of documents has no impact on other documents.
 Computers generally reduces the errors of processing. However if there is an error in
input data, it can result in major blunders in the processing which the computer system is
unable to detect. In manual systems the chances of such blunders passing undetected and
corrected is much less.
Classification of Computers
According to functionality, computers are classified as :
Analog Computer
An analog computer (spelt analogue in British English) is a form of computer that uses
continuous physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model
the problem being solved
Digital Computer
A computer that performs calculations and logical operations with quantities represented as
digits, usually in the binary number system
Hybrid Computer (Analog + Digital)
A combination of computers those are capable of inputting and outputting in both digital and
analog signals. A hybrid computer system setup offers a cost effective method of performing
complex simulations.
On the basis of Size
Super Computer
The fastest and most powerful type of computer Supercomputers are very expensive and are
employed for specialized applications that require immense amounts of mathematical
calculations. For example, weather forecasting requires a supercomputer. Other uses of
supercomputers include animated graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research,
and petroleum exploration.
The chief difference between a supercomputer and a mainframe is that a supercomputer channels
all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible, whereas a mainframe uses its
power to execute many programs concurrently.
Mainframe Computer
A very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands, of
users simultaneously. In the hierarchy that starts with a simple microprocessor (in watches, for
example) at the bottom and moves to supercomputers at the top, mainframes are just below
supercomputers. In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than supercomputers because
they support more simultaneous programs. But supercomputers can execute a single program
faster than a mainframe.
Mini Computer

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A midsized computer. In size and power, minicomputers lie between workstations and
mainframes. In the past decade, the distinction between large minicomputers and small
mainframes has blurred, however, as has the distinction between small minicomputers and
workstations. But in general, a minicomputer is a multiprocessing system capable of supporting
from 4 to about 200 users simultaneously.
Micro Computer or Personal Computer

Desktop Computer: a personal or micro-mini computer sufficient to fit on a desk.

Laptop Computer: a portable computer complete with an integrated screen and keyboard.
It is generally smaller in size than a desktop computer and larger than a notebook
computer.
Palmtop Computer/Digital Diary /Notebook /PDAs: a hand-sized computer. Palmtops
have no keyboard but the screen serves both as an input and output device.
Workstations
A terminal or desktop computer in a network. In this context, workstation is just a generic term
for a user's machine (client machine) in contrast to a "server" or "mainframe."

Essential Components Of Computer

Hardware
hardware refers to physical, electrical, mechanical and electromechanical components of a computer.
The Input unit is one, through which computer receives the information and send the processed output
onto the output device. In this chapter we discuss the different types on input devices and output
devices and their working procedure.
Input devices- Keyboard:
A keyboard is an input device used to enter data into a computer. The keyboard contains function keys,
numeric keys and toggle keys (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock) and so on. Some keyboard supports 100
and some support 104 keys.
A keyboard is used to enter data into a computer. The latest keyboard (Windows keyboard) is available
with 104 keys. The keyboard contains function keys, numeric keys and toggle key (Caps lock, Num lock,
Scroll lock) and so on.
It is the most widely used input device. it has keys similar to a typewriter to enter characters and other
symbols. The function keys are used to activate a particular feature of software like invoking the help
system, selecting a menu and so on.
There is a separate numeric keypad to enter numeric keypad to enter numeric data. When a key is
pressed the electric circuitry under the key will change which will be detected by the microprocessor
and the binary code for the character is sent to the CPU. Some keyboards have a temporary memory or
buffer to store the information typed a little ahead of the need of the computer.
Mouse:
A mouse is an input device used to select a command by moving it in any direction on a flat
surface. It has two or three buttons to confirm the selection.

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 The software developed with graphical interface requires the mouse. The cursor is moved to
the required icon or menu on the monitor and a button is pressed. The control is sent to the CPU to
select the command corresponding to the icon or menu item. The latest is the wireless mouse or remote
mouse which works on transmission of infrared or radio waves are also available.
The mouse can also be used to open menus, select text for editing, move objects on the screen
and draw images or diagrams. The mechanical mouse uses a rubber-coated ball on the underside. The
movement of this ball sends electrical signals to the system unit which cause the cursor or pointer to
move in a corresponding fashion. An optical mouse uses diodes to emit light onto a metal pad
performing the same work but with great accuracy.
Scanners:
A scanner is a device that captures images from photographic prints, posters, magazine pages,
and similar sources for computer editing and display. Scanners come in hand-held, feed-in, and flatbed
types and for scanning black-and-white only, or color. Very high resolution scanners are used for
scanning for high-resolution printing, but lower resolution scanners are adequate for capturing images
for computer display. Scanners usually come with software, such as Adobe's Photoshop product, that
lets you resize and otherwise modify a captured image.
Types of Scanner
There are different types of scanner available but generally the two types that you will come
across in your role as first line support are:
 Flatbed
 Handheld
The flatbed scanner is the most popular because of the high quality of its scans and its ease of
use. Flatbed scanners operate in a similar way to photocopiers, in that the lid is lifted and the
item to be scanned is placed on a glass plate. The image is scanned using a laser that moves from
the top to the bottom of the document and captures the subsequent reflection.
A common size of flatbed scanner is A4.
Handheld scanners are more portable than flatbed and different sizes of document can be
scanned more readily than flatbed scanners.

Magnetic ink character recognition-

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by
the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and
account number at the bottom of a cheque. The technology allows computers to read information (such
as account numbers) off printed documents. Unlike barcodes or similar technologies, however, MICR
codes can be easily read by humans.
MICR characters are printed in special typefaces with a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron
oxide. As a machine decodes the MICR text, it first magnetizes the characters in the plane of the paper.
Then the characters are passed over a MICR read head, a device similar to the playback head of a tape
recorder. As each character passes over the head it produces a unique waveform that can be easily
identified by the system.

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OMR-
Short for optical mark recognition, the technology of electronically extracting intended data from
marked fields, such as checkboxes and fill-infields, on printed forms. OMR technology scans a printed
form and reads predefined positions and records where marks are made on the form. This technology is
useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly and
with great accuracy, such as surveys, reply cards, questionnaires and ballots. A common OMR
application is the use of "bubble sheets" for multiple-choice tests used by schools.
Barcode reader-
A barcode reader, also called a price scanner or point-of-sale ( POS ) scanner, is a hand-held or
stationary input device used to capture and read information contained in a bar code . A barcode reader
consists of a scanner , a decoder (either built-in or external), and a cable used to connect the reader
with a computer. Because a barcode reader merely captures and translates the barcode into numbers
and/or letters, the data must be sent to a computer so that a software application can make sense of
the data. Barcode scanners can be connected to a computer through a serial port , keyboard port , or an
interface device called a wedge . A barcode reader works by directing a beam of light across the bar
code and measuring the amount of light that is reflected back. (The dark bars on a barcode reflect less
light than the white spaces between them.) The scanner converts the light energy into electrical energy,
which is then converted into data by the decoder and forwarded to a computer.
Digital camera-
A camera that stores images digitally rather than recording them on film. Once a picture has been taken,
it can be downloaded to a computer system, and then manipulated with a graphics program and
printed. Unlike film photographs, which have an almost infinite resolution, digital photos are limited by
the amount of memory in the camera, the optical resolution of the digitizing mechanism, and, finally, by
the resolution of the final output device.
The big advantage of digital cameras is that making photos is both inexpensive and fast because there is
no film processing.

Output Devices-
The output device is used to display or print result from a computer. Monitor, printer and plotter are
commonly used output devices. A monitor is used to display the result in the form of text and graphics.
The printer is used to print the result. A plotter is used to plot or print graphical result from a computer.
Note that a result displayed in a monitor is temporary and it disappears when the next result is
displayed, whereas the output printed using a printer or a plotter is permanent and these printouts can
be used for any business correspondence or documentation. Normally soft copy is referred to
information that is stored on the storage device. A hard copy refers to a print out showing the
information.
Hard copy:
The data consisting of text or graphics that is obtained as printouts or microfilm using printers or
plotters is known as hardcopy.

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 For example, the hardcopy of an engineering drawing is obtained using plotters. Some hardcopy
devices include dot matrix printer, laser printer, inkjet printer, flatbed pen plotter and drum type inkjet
plotter.
A combination of printing, scanning, copying and/or faxing can also obtain a hardcopy. A
hardcopy can be used for business correspondence and documentation. A copier machine also comes
under hardcopy devices.
Soft copy:
The data that is stored in a storage device such as floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM magnetic tape
and so on is called softcopy.
The data in a softcopy may be modified using the relevant software. A few softcopy devices are
monitor and floppy disk.

Visual Display Unit-

Short for Visual Display Unit, VDU is an older British term used to describe a visual display device for a
computer. For example, a flat panel display, monitor, and a projector are all examples of VDUs. VDU is
most commonly used to describe a standard CRT monitor.
Printers:
A printer is an output device used to print text or graphics on paper or on any other hardcopy
medium which includes even microfilm. A permanent copy from the computer is produced using the
printer. Printers are of two basic types impact and non-impact.

Impact and Non-impact printers:

Printers are categorized based on the physical contact of the print head with the paper to
produce a text or an image. An impact printer is one where the print head will be in physical contact
with the paper. In a non–impact printer, on the other hand the print head will have no physical contact
with the paper. The Dot matrix printer is considered as a Impact printer and Laser printer is considered
as Non-impact printer.
The basic operations performed by a printer are:
1) Moving the paper to a given line.
2) Moving the print head along the line.
3) Generating the character or image.
4) Producing the character or image on the paper.

Dot Matrix Printer:

The most popular kind of printer for small computers is the dot matrix printer, which forms
characters as arrays of dots. Dot matrix printers are compact, reliable and relatively fast. This type of
printer is an impact printer. The print head is the important hardware which produces the character
using pins arranged in a matrix form. Normally a print head has 9 pins or 24 pins arranged in a matrix
form. Combinations of pins strike an ink bed ribbon during the printing process. The print head moves in
a line and the pattern of dots required for each character is printed on the paper. After printing a line,
the paper rolls to print the next line.

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 Dot matrix
printers produce average quality prints and as generally used in business applications. They are used
printing train number, seat number etc on a railway reservation ticket. The speed of printing in dot
matrix printer in dot matrix is measured in characters per second (cps).
The advantages in this type of printer is carbon copies can be obtained as printing takes place by
physical impact with the paper. It is less of cost and easy to maintain.
The disadvantage is average printing quality and printer ribbon printer ribbon needs to be
changed frequently.

Laser Printer:
Laser printers are fastest type of non impact electrostatic printers. They produce high quality
prints at high speeds. It operates like a copier machine. In these printers, the controlled beam of intense
laser forms images on an electrically charged rotating drum. The drum is rotated near the fine black
powder called the toner. These charged images which sticks to the paper due to pressure and heat. The
toner consists of oppositely charged ink particles which stick to the drum in the places where the laser
has charged.

The light beam strikes a multi-sided rotating mirror. As the mirror rotates, the side currently in the path
of the light beam sweeps the beam across the surface of the drum. As the beam sweeps across the
drum, the light is modulated and a single line is drawn after a line has been drawn, the next side of the
mirror is in place and a new line is drawn below the previous line.
The quality of the printout is measured by the number of dots per inch (dpi). Since the dots are
printed closely, the text or graphics appears very smooth and elegant. The speed is measured in number
of pages printed per minute (PPM) which varies between 5 and 25.

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 The advantages are good quality printouts can be obtained for documentation and business
applications. The printing is faster and easy to handle and maintain. The disadvantages are the price is
high and higher print cost.
Inkjet printer:
An inkjet is a non impact printer. It sprays tiny drops of ink to form character and graphic images
on paper. The text and graphics printed in an inkjet printer are technically similar to that of a dot matrix
printer. These type of printers can also be used color printing. The black inkjet printer uses black
cartridge filled with black ink whereas the color printer uses four color cartridges namely cyan (blue),
magenta (red), yellow and black. These four colors are used in combination to generate any color in the
visible spectrum.
The print heads move across the page by the control of software and spray the dots of ink with the
required combination of colors. The printer sends electrical pulses to thin resistors at the base of firing
chambers behind the nozzle. A thin layer of ink is heated by the resistor which in turn forms a vapour
bubble and the expansion forces ink through the nozzle and onto the paper at a rate of about 6000 dots
per second. The quality of the printout is equivalent to that of laser printouts. The speed of printing is
slower than that of laser printers.
The advantages of this type printer are the cost is low; quality of printing is equivalent to that of laser
printing, color printouts are cheaper easy to handle and maintain.
The disadvantages are the ink cartridges may get spoiled if unused for a long time. Some inkjet
printers are very expensive.
Plotters:
A plotter is an output device used to print engineering drawing or graphics on large size sheets.
These are also used to draw the patterns from which microprocessors, memory chips, and other
integrated circuits are manufactured. Plotters are used when highest quality and greatest accuracy are
required.

There are two basic types of plotters: flat bed plotters and drum type plotters. Pen plotter is an example
of a flatbed plotter. Laser plotter and inkjet plotter are commonly used drum type plotters.
A pen plotter has a surface where the paper or drawing sheet is properly fixed. It has a pen
holder in a movable arm. Under the control of the computer the arm with the pen moves across the
paper to draw the picture. A few pens are also placed in a row and the arm will pick the required color
pen as per the instruction of the computer.

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 A drum type plotter uses a drum where the paper will be rolled. It has a print head/pen that
moves like the print head in a printer. Drum type plotters are capable of producing longer, continous
drawings. Drum type plotters that can produce color plots are available.
The disadvantages are these are expensive than printers. The cost of printing is high. Cost of
maintenance is high. High skill of operation is required. Process time of printing is longer.
Storage devices-
Memory is used for storage purpose. Microprocessor fetches instruction or the operation code from the
memory. Once the operation code is decoded, it fetches operand that is followed in the memory. There
are two types of memory, one is called volatile memory and other is non-volatile memory. In volatile
memory, information is retained as long as power is supplied to the chips. In nonvolatile memory,
information is retained, even though power is not supplied. Random access memory belongs to volatile
memory and hard disk belongs to the nonvolatile memory.
Primary Storage: RAM (Random Access Memory)

Random Access Memory is a temporary storage medium in a computer. All data to be processed
by the computer are transferred from a storage device or keyboard to RAM during data processing.
Results obtained from executing any program are also stored in RAM. RAM is a volatile memory. Latest
computers use RAM with a memory of more than 128MB. There are provisions also available to increase
the RAM memory in any computer.

RAM consists of many storage cells each of size 1 byte and is identified by using a number called
as address or memory location. The memory address is assigned by the computer which also varies from
computer to computer and time to time. The data stored in memory are identified using the memory
address.

The internal processing speed of a computer is very fast compared to the reading and writing
from/to disk. During the time of reading from disk the CPU is idle. To reduce this waiting time and
increase the processing speed, a cache memory is used in the computer Cache memory is a part of RAM
that holds the data, which is needed next by the CPU. The size of cache memory is 512 KB. Normally
cache memory holds the recent information that is accessed. The data retrieval time for the processor
from cache is more than the thousand times faster from disk., so the processing speed of a computer is
improved.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

Read Only Memory is a permanent storage medium which stores start up programs. These
programs which are loaded when computer is switched on. ROM stores essentially the BIOS (Basic Input
Output System) programs which are recorded by the manufacturer of the computer system. ROM is
non-volatile memory.
ROM is also known as firmware. In ROM programs are burnt during manufacturing. Normally
system programs and language translators are stored in ROM chips.

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Both ROM and RAM are semiconductor chips. Normally size of the ROM holds 8k and more depending
on the requirement.
Secondary storage
Floppy disk:
A floppy disk is used to store data permanently. It has a flexible disk coated with magnetic
material and is enclosed in a plastic cover. Floppy disks of 3 ½ inch diameter have a storage capacity of
1.44MB. The FDD (floppy disk drive) has a read/write head which reads/writes data on to the disk. The
disk rotates at 360rpm while reading or writing on to it. Figure 3.1 shows the floppy disk.
Data are stored in a floppy disk in concentric circles known as tracks. Tracks are divided into
many storage locations called sectors. Tracks and sectors on a disk are identified by the disk drive
through formatting. Formatting is a process by which the operating system program controls the disk
drives by removing the old data and sets up each track and sector. The root directory will be created in
the disk during formatting and the users create other directories. Information is stored in the form of
files. A file allocation table (FAT) is used by the operating system to identify the files stored in the disk.

Hard disk:
Hard disk is a reliable and permanent storage disk. It has a set of metal disks coated with
magnetic material and are mounted on a central spindle which rotates at 7200 rpm. The HDD has a set
of read/write heads which are mounted on an arm. Latest hard disks are available with a storage
capacity of more than 40GB. Figure 3.2 shows a hard disk.

A hard disk has a collection of several (say 6 or 7) hard disk platters staked one above another to
have a high storage capacity.
A collection of tracks across all the disks is called cylinder. In order to read a specified file, the
access mechanism with the head moves to the specified cylinder.
The advantages of a hard disk are high storage capacity, high speed of operation and reliable
media mainly in personal computers. External disturbances to the drive may lead to the damage of disk
surface or read/write head. This is a major disadvantage in a hard disk.

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CD ROM:
Compact Disk (CD) is an optical disk used to store data permanently. It is the most reliable
storage media available today. Data stored on a compact disk cannot be erased. The CD drives
commonly available are read only. Read/Write CD drives are also available but are expensive. Storage
capacity of CD is 700MB.
In the optical disk, a high power laser beam is used to record data by burning tiny pits in the
surface of the hard plastic disk. To read the data, a low power laser beam is used to scan the disk
surface. When the laser beam reflects from the smooth surface of the disk it is interpreted as a 1 bit and
when the beam enters the tiny pits it is interpreted as a 0 bit.
The major advantages of the optical disk are high storage capacity and high quality recording of
graphical images and sound. These are used commonly nowadays. CAD and structural drawings used by
architects and engineers are generally stored in compact disks. It is also used in high quality music
recording, multimedia and educational applications.

Components of a personal computer:

A personal computer commonly available today comprises a processor
(like Pentium IV), a keyboard, a mouse, a floppy disk drive(FDD), a hard disk drive(HDD), a compact disk
drive (CDD) a color monitor, RAM(Random Access Memory) and ROM(Read Only Memory). The
microprocessor/CPU, RAM, ROM and other supporting circuitry are interconnected on a single board
called mother board.
Flash Memory
Flash memory of a form of semiconductor memory is widely used for many electronics data
storage applications.
Although first developed in the 1980s, the use of flash memory has grown rapidly in recent years
as forms the basis of many memory products.
Flash memory can be seen in many forms today including flash memory USB memory sticks,
digital camera memory cards in the form of compact flash or secure digital, SD memory. In
addition to this flash memory storage is used in many other items from MP3 players to mobile
phones, and in many other applications
There are also different flash memory types and these different types are each suited to their own
applications.
This technology also is useful for computer basic input/output systems (BIOS), Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) cards, modems and video game
cards.

Software
Software is a set of instructions that are used to carry out a task. Software can be grouped into two
categories namely application software and system software. The application software is one, which is

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application oriented, like our inventory program, payroll program are few. Similarly system software is
used for system oriented tasks. Examples are compilers, assemblers, loaders. In this chapter, we discuss
the computer language fundamentals, application software and system software.
System software:
System software is designed for a specific type of hardware. For example, the disk operating
system (DOS) is used to co-ordinate the peripherals of a computer. The system software controls the
activities of a computer, application programs, flow of data in and out of memory and disk storage. Our
operating system, compilers, assemblers, linker and loaders are the example of system software.
System software also handles data in communication applications and within the computer systems in a
computer network. The communication software transfers data from one computer to another. These
programs also provide data security and error checking along with the transfer of data between the
computer systems.
Application software:
Application software are developed for application of the computer to common problems and tasks.
They are available for business applications, science and engineering applications and so on. Personal
productivity programs are categorized based on the nature of their use in word processing, generating
spreadsheet, presenting graphics and maintaining databases. Application software is also available as
packages and usually with a user manual.

Some of the application software are:

a) Word processors:
A word processor is used to prepare a report, a personal or business letter, in desktop
publishing and so on. These offer formatting features such as using different character styles, line
spacing, and page numbering and so on. Documents prepared using a word processor can be easily
printed in any type of printer.
b) Electronic spread sheets:
An electronic spreadsheet software is used to prepare documents containing
information or data in the form of numbers or characters. The information is arranged in
rows and columns for further processing and analysis, preparing reports and generating
charts. It is also capable of performing arithmetic operations and using functions.
c) Database software :
Databases are records related to a person or an organization. Database software have
capability to edit and update data in a file. The data are processed to prepare and print
salary details of employees, annual sales details and so on. One of the major
applications of a computer is database management.

Computer languages:
Machine language:
At the lowest level computer understands only 0 and 1. Programs expressed in terms of binary language
are called machine language. A computer’s programming language consists of strings of binary numbers
(0’s and 1’s) and is the only one language computer can understand. This language is the lowest level of
computer language recognized and used by the CPU. An instruction prepared in any machine language

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consists of 2 parts. The first part is the command or opcode or operation code. The second part of the
instruction is the operand/s or data and it tells the processor where to find or store the data or other
instructions that are manipulated.
Assembly language and Assembler:
A low level first generation computer language, popular during early 1960s, which uses
abbreviations or mnemonic codes (mnemonic means mind full) for operation codes and symbolic
addresses. This symbolic instruction language is called Assembly language. One of the first step in
improving the program preparation was to substitute mnemonics for operation codes. The mnemonics
are different among makes and models of computer. Second step was symbolic addressing to express an
address in terms of symbols convenient to the programmer. Another improvement was the programmer
turned the work of assigning and keeping track of instruction addresses over to the computer. The
programmer merely told the machine the storage address number of the first program instruction and
the assembly language software the automatically stored all others in the sequence from that point.
The mnemonics are converted into binaries with the help of a translator known as Assembler.

Assembly Machine
language Assembler
language

Higher level languages and compiler:

Instructions which are written using English language with symbols and digits are called high level
languages. The high level language is closer to our natural language. The commonly used high level
languages are FORTRAN, BASIC, COBOL, PASCAL, PROLOG, C, C++ etc. The complete instruction set
written in one of these languages is called a high level language program or computer program or source
program.
In order to execute the instructions, the source program is translated into binary form by a compiler or
interpreter. A compiler is also used to translate source program into an object program. An interpreter is
a program which takes the source program line by line and converts into machine code line by line.
Gwbasic is an interpreter used to convert basic program into object program.
Compiler:
Compilers convert the program instructions from human understandable form to the machine
understandable form and the translated program instruction is called object code. Compiler is nothing
but a language translator used to translate the entire program of the high level language into machine
language. Every programming language requires its own compiler to translate the program. For
example, the programming language PASCAL requires PASCAL compiler and C uses C compiler.

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 High level Machine
language Compiler
language

Interpreter:
Interpreters also convert the source program to machine language instruction but executes
each line as it is entered. The translation of the source program takes place for every run and is slower
than the compiled code. An interpreter must accompany the object code to run a program.
Programming languages BASIC and LISP use interpreters.

High level Machine

language Interpreter
language

Editor:
An editor is used to type the source program and store program in disk. C language uses one
popular Boroland’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment) editor in MS-DOS system and in Vi
editor in UNIX system. In dos, we use popular Edit editor also.
Editors are commonly used to type and edit documents and store them. Thus, they are also
called text editors. In word processors we can perform the operation like setting up margins, spell check
and so on. MS-WORD is one of the popular word processor.

Operating systems and its functions:

We know operating system is a collection of programs and it is the interface between user and the
computer. An operating system is a program which connects the user and the electronic hardware in a
computer. It is a set of programs which supervise the activities of a computer and activate the
operations of the hardware components such as CPU, main memory, disk drives, keyboard, monitor and
printer and so on. Some of the startup programs initially loaded to RAM are stored in ROM, mainly the
BIOS programs which are recorded by the manufacturers of the computer system. Service programs
available in operating system for operating system for operations like copying a file, deleting a file,
formatting a disk, printing a file and so on are usually stored in the disk. Error messages are displayed on
the screen if there is any malfunctioning of hardware.
There are many operating system used in computers. Commonly used operating
systems are MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk operating System), Windows 95/98/2000, Windows NT, UNIX and

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so on. Nowadays Windows 2000 operating system is widely used in personal computers, and UNIX is
used in Mainframes, Servers, Graphic Workstations and also personal computers. Linux is one of the
most popular free operating system.
 Operating system will display instruction on the monitor screen and the user can interact with
the computer.
 It loads the application programs such as MS Word, AutoCAD and so on from disk to the
computer memory.
 It manages the information stored on disk and retrieves the same whenever required.
 It supervises and coordinates the activities of the hardware and peripherals such as CPU,
keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, RAM, disk drives and so on.
 It utilizes the power of the CPU for multitasking and timesharing.

In general operating systems performs many task which include

Memory management
Process management
I/o management
Device management
Multitasking:
It is the ability of the computer to handle several application programs concurrently. Printing a
document, executing a program and any other operation can be done simultaneously to reduce
the idle time of the processor. The multi task capability of the operating system will utilize the
processor efficiently, the reducing the user time. Another simple example is hearing audio songs
and typing programs same time.
Timesharing:
It is the ability of the CPU to serve many users connected to it through a network. The
operating system will assign each user a slice of processor time or time quantum in a round-robin
fashion. Since the CPU has high processing speed, it can process information of many users.
Specific features of UNIX:
The commands in UNIX are considered to case sensitive. It means, lower case a and uppercase A
are considered differently.
Multitasking:
It refers to performing a number of tasks simultaneously. For example when a
document is printed, you may run another program to sort large data and at the same time you
may edit a document in the foreground screen. UNIX switches between the tasks and executes
them one by one at small interval of time. This process of sharing the CPU to perform various tasks
simultaneously is called time-sharing. The more number of the tasks are submitted then we end up
with slower response from the computer.
Multi-user capability:
UNIX allows the computer to be used by several users through several terminal connected
to a powerful computer. A terminal will have a keyboard and a monitor. The computer to which
terminals are connected is called as the host computer or server. Any user on the terminal can run

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various programs, read file information or print a document at the same time. Multi user
computer, are economical and efficient compared to stand-alone computers.
Portability:
One of the outstanding features of UNIX is its ability to port itself to another installation. For
example, an application program developed in UNIX environment can be used in a different
platform.
Security
Unix provides a good security for users. The users are required to authenticate before they use
the system. The password is encrypted.
File system
UNIX identifies three types of users, owner, group and others. For each group it provides
permission on the files like to read, write and execute operation.

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