INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS: A computer is an electronic device that accepts data (as Input).

performs
Operations (as processing) on data at very high speed and produces the results. (as Output).

Computers are composed of the central processing unit (CPU), input devices, output devices. primary storage,
secondary storage, and communication devices. The CPU is the main component of a computer that interprets
and executes instructions.

CPU OUTPUT devices

INPUT devices

Storage devices.

A simple computer system.

BASIC OPERATIONS OF A COMPUTER:

Any computer system, regardless of its size, is capable of performing Input, Processing, Output and Storage
operations.

Input operation: Accepting data for processing from an input device.

Processing operations: Performing arithmetic and logical operations. Arithmetic operations include addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division while logical operations include comparison of different values and
decision making.

Output operation: Sending results to an output device.

Storage operation: Writing data to a storage device such as hard disk or USB flash drive.

INPUT Processing INPUT

STORAGE

CLASSIFICATIO OF DIGITAL COMOPUTERS:

There are several factors that make computers different from each other. These factors are physical size, cost,
speed etc. based on these factors, computers are classified into four categories.

● Super computers
● Mainframe Computers
● Mini Computers
● Micro Computers
1. Supercomputers: are the largest, expensive and powerful computers. They are used to process 'complex
calculations as well as designing and controlling of complicated machines, such as rockets and fighter planes.
Supercomputers are also used in nuclear research and weather forecasting. The best know super computers
are built by Cray Inc. In Pakistan super computers are used in Atomic energy research centre.
2. Mainframe computer a mainframe is a large central computer with more memory, storage space, and
processing power than a standard computer. They are typically utilized by governmental and large

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 corporations, banks, universities and scientific laboratories. Mainframes usually till a large room because
they include many types of peripheral devices. E.g IBM’s EC12, EC196 etc.

3. Minicomputer: Minicomputer is midsized computers used in universities, research labs and smaller
corporations. They are small and general purpose system. It is also a multi-user computer and supports
more than dozens of people at a time. It is costlier than microcomputer. Examples of minicomputer are
IBM 9375 and Motorola 68040.

4. Microcomputer: A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its CPU. They are cheap,
compact and can be easily accommodated on a study table. Now-a-days mostly used computers are
microcomputers. It is called Home PC or Personal Computer (PC) because it is a single user computer.

Modern use of computers in today’s life:

It refers to a variety of small portable devices that allow people to access data and information from anywhere'
In a wired or wireless network system. Mobile computing devices run on batteries and have limited functionality
as compared to laptops. Popular mobile computing devices are tablet PCs, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and
smartphones.

Internet of Things (IOT):

The IoT refers to the connection of devices (other than typical fare such as computers and smartphones) to the
Internet. Cars, kitchen appliances, and even heart monitors can all be connected through the IoT. And as the
Internet of Things grows in the next few years, more devices will join that list.

Cloud Computing:
In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead
of your computer's hard drive.
The advantage of cloud computing is that you don‘t have to buy and maintain a complex computer system. i.e.
your service and data will be managed by someone else remotely
The disadvantage of cloud computing is that it requires a reliable high speed broadband connection functioning
the whole time you are working.

Data centers
Data centers are simply centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for the
purpose of collecting, storing, processing, distributing or allowing access to large amounts of data. It may be
housed in a room, an entire building or a group of buildings. Organizations such as government agencies, banks,
telecommunication companies and social networking services use large amount of data and thus have
requirement for data centers.

Hardware & Software:

Computer hardware is any physical device used in or with your machine, whereas software is a collection
of code installed onto your computer's hard drive. For example, the computer monitor you are using to read text
and the mouse you are using to navigate is computer hardware. The Internet browser that allowed you to visit
this page and the operating system that the browser is running on is considered software.

Types of computer software: Computer software can be classified into following types

● System software
● Application software

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 ● Internet software
● Licensed software, open source software, shareware and freeware

Software

Licenced, Open
Internet
System S/W Application S/W Source, Shareware.
Applications
Freeware S/W
Operating System Productivity S/W Licenced S/W
Device Drivers Business S/W Web Applications Open Source S/W
utility Software Entertainment S/W Cloud Computing Shareware
Application
Language Translators Educational S/W Freeware
Socail Media App

System Software: System software is a type of computer program that is designed to run a computer's hardware
and application programs. It controls and coordinate the activities of a computer system. Some examples of
system software are operating system, Device drivers, Utility Software, and Language Processors / Translators.

Operating System: operating system is an organized collection of programs that is specially designed to
manage the resources of the computer system. Some commonly used operating systems are Windows,
Linix, Mac OS.

Device Drivers: A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to
your computer. There are device drivers for printers, displays, diskette drives, and so on.

Utility software: A utility or software utility is computer system software planned to analyze, configure,
monitor, or help maintain a computer. Some of the utility software are Antivirus, Screen saver, File
manager, Backup software

Language preprocessor/Translator: Language preprocessor are used to translate computer programs

into machine language. Types of language processors are Assembler, Compiler and Interpreter.

Assember: is a translator software which converts Assembly language into Machine Language.
Interpreter: Interpreter is a translator software which translate High level language into Machine language line
by line.

Compiler: Compiler is a translator software which translate High level language into Machine language. Important
part of this translation is that it converts whole program at once into machine language.

Application Software: An application is any program, or group of programs, that is designed for the end user.
These software are designed to perform a specific task. some examples of application software are

● Productivity software
● Business software
● Entertainment software
● Educational software
Productivity Software: Productivity software is used to improve the way people do their work. Productivity
software includes Word-processing, spreadsheet, database management and graphics software.

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Business Software: Busrness software is used to run business activities. It helps in efficiently running business
functions of a company. Examples of business software are payroll, accounting, inventory and retail software.

Entertainment Software Entertainment software is used to entertain people. It includes games, audio video
player, etc.

Educational Software Educational software is used for learning purpose. Examples of educational software are
programs that teach about human body, working of an engine, solar system, typing, foreign language, music and
subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, etc.

INTERNET APPLICATIONS
● Web Applications
● Cloud Computing Applications
● Social Media Network Applications

web Applications

A Web application is a program that runs on a remote server while its users interact with It through a Web
browser. Some common Web applications include web-based email program, online ticketing service, on line
banking service etc.

Cloud Computing Applications

Cloud application is a program that supports cloud computing. A cloud application! entirely stored on a remote
server and is delivered over the Internet through a Web browser, Users of a cloud application need a computer
with a high speed internet connection. E.g. Gmail

Social Media Network Applications

Social media is an intemet-based communication system that allows the creation an exchange of information,
ideas, common interests and other forms of expression. Social media websites connect users with their friends,
family and colleagues through the use of internet Some popular examples of social media are Facebook, Twitter
and WhatsApp.

Licensed Software:

A software license is a document that provides legally binding guidelines for the use and distribution of software.
Software licenses typically provide end users with the right to one or more copies of the software without
violating copyrights. E.g. windows, MS office etc.

Open-source software:
Open-source software is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the
copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose

Shareware:
software that is available free of charge and often distributed informally for evaluation, after which a fee
may be requested for continued use.
Freeware:
Freeware is software that is free to use. Unlike commercial software, it does not require any payment or
licensing fee.
Firmware:

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Firmware is software that is embedded in a piece of hardware. You can think of firmware simply as
"software for hardware."

Computer Hardware

The physical components of a computer that we can see, touch and feel are called hardware. Computer hardware
consists of Input /Output devices, Storage devices, Central processing Unit CPU and electronic circuitry links.

Input Devices:
An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer, allowing you to interact with and control
the computer. Some of the basic input devices are Keyboard, mouse, joystick, microphone and image scanner.

Keyboard: The keyboard is the piece of computer hardware used to input text, characters, and other
commands into a computer or similar device.

Pointing Devices: pointing devices are used to control the movement of the pointer(cursor) to select items on a
screen or open computer programs or files. Commonly used pointing devices are mouse, trackball, joystick, touch
screen. Light pen and touch pad.

Mouse: A computer mouse is a pointing device that controls a cursor in a GUI and can move and
select text, icons, files, and folders. For desktop computers, the mouse is placed on a flat surface such as a
mouse pad or a desk and is placed in front of your computer.

Trackball: An input device that looks like an upside-down mouse. A trackball is a computer cursor control
device used in many notebook and laptop computers

Joystick: A joystick is an input device commonly used to control video games. Joysticks consist of a base
and a stick that can be moved in any direction

Touch Screen: A touch screen is a computer display screen. It is an input as well as output device. The
screen is sensitive to pressure. user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or words on the
screen.

Light Pen: A light pen is a light-sensitive computer input device, basically a stylus, that is used to select
text, draw pictures and interact with user interface elements on a computer screen or monitor.

Touch Pad: A touchpad is an input device on laptops and some keyboards to move a cursor with your
finger. It can be used in place of an external mouse.

Microphone:

Microphone is used to convert the spoken words to digital signals for computer input. It converts audio signals to
electrical waves and these are converted by electronic circuitry in the computer to digital form.

Digital Camera:

A digital camera is a hardware device that takes pictures like a regular camera, but stores the image as data instead
of printing it to film. Many digital cameras are capable of recording video in addition to taking photos

Scanner:

A scanner is an input device that scans documents such as photographs and pages of text. When a document is
scanned, it is converted into a digital format. This creates an electronic version of the document that can be
viewed and edited on a computer.

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handheld scanner. A scanner that is moved by handover the material being captured. Handheld scanners are
small and less expensive

Flatbed Scanner: in flatbed scanner, the image to be scanned is placed face down on the glass and a cover is
lowered over it to exclude light. The camera moves across glass pane, reading the entire area.

Barcode Reader
Barcode reader is also a type of scanner which is used to scan barcode, also called UPC (Universal Product Code),
available on various products. These barcodes contain information about the product like name of the product,
company, manufacturing date, expiry date, etc.

Magnetic Stripe Cards

A magnetic stripe card is a card (e.g., a credit card) that contains a stripe of magnetically-encoded data. These
cards are paired with readers and writers, and are used in a wide variety of applications for storing information.

OUTPUT DEVICES:
An output device is any device used to send data from a computer to another device or user. The output generated
on paper by an output device such as printer or plotter is called Hardcopy and the output in the form of data or
information stored on a storage device or displayed on monitor is called softcopy.

MONITOR:
Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output device of a computer. It forms
images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image depends
upon the number of pixels. There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors.

● Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)

● Liquid Crystal display (LCD)

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

CRT monitors are similar to the standard television sets because they contain Cathode Ray Tube. The Cathode Ray
Tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a phosphors coated screen. The electron gun, fires a
beam of electrons which falls repeatedly on the phosphors coated screen and it glows fora fraction of a second.

Liquid Crystal Display:

(LCD) is a thin and light weight monitor. It contains a substance called liquid crystal between two sheets. The
molecules of this substance are lined up in such a way that the light behind the screen is blocked or allowed to
create an image on the screen. LCDs provide a sharper image than CRT

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

An LED monitor (short for Light Emitting Diode) or LED display is a flat screen, flat panel computer monitor or
television. It has a very short depth and is light in terms of weight. The actual difference between this and a
typical LCD monitor is the backlighting.

Printers:

Printers are used to produce hare copy of output. Based on the quality, ability to print graphics and printing speed
printers can be categorized into two types.

● Impact printers
● Non-Impact printers

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Impact printers: An impact printer is a type of printer that operates by striking a metal or plastic head against an
ink ribbon. The ink ribbon is pressed against the paper, marking the page with the appropriate character, dot, line,
or symbol. Common examples of impact printers include dot matrix, daisy-wheel printers.

Non-Impact Printers:

A non-impact printer prints characters and graphics on a piece of paper without striking the paper. Some of these
printers use spray ink while others use heat and pressure to create images. These printers are faster than impact
printer e.g. Laser printer, Inkjet printer, Thermal printer

Plotters:
Plotters are special type of printers which are able to draw high quality images on very large piece of paper.
Plotters are used for a variety of applications, such as drawing graphs, making maps, plotting civil engineering
drawing etc.
Plotters are of two types:
Flatbed plotter: A flatbed plotter is a computerized plotter that works by using an arm that moves a pen over
paper rather than having paper move under the arm.

Drum plotter: A drum plotter is a plotter that uses a drum revolver to move the paper during printing while the
actual pen performs the printing.
Exercise: Select the best answer for the following MCQs.

i. _______________of the following is the smallest computer.

A. Mainframe B. Minicomputer C. Microcomputer D. Supercomputer
ii. How many instructions per second a Minicomputer can execute?
A. Thousands B. Millions C. Billions D. Above trillion instructions
iii. What type of software MS Word is?
A. System software B. Application software C. Utility software D. Language processor
iv. _______________device is most suitable for playing games.
A. Mouse B. Keyboard C. Joystick D. Light pen
v. Which of the following is an impact printer?
A. Dot matrix printer B. Laser printer C. ink jet printer D. Plotter
vi. ______________Software controls the operation of a hardware device.
A. Utility software B. Language processor C. Application software D. Device driver
vii. Which of the following devices is used to print large size hardcopy?
A. Plotter B. lnkjet printer C. Laser printer D: Chain printer
viii. Which of the following devices converts spoken words into electrical form?
A. Touch pad B. Microphone C. Scanner D. Digital Camera
ix. _____ Software converts computer programs to machine language.
A. Utility program B. Device driver C. Language processor D. Application software
x. Which of the following is productivity software?
A. Spreadsheet software B. Utility software C. Windows7 D. Compiler

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