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CH0 Introduction

This document provides an introduction and syllabus for a course on computer science. It outlines the instructor, class times and locations, grading policy, textbooks, and topics to be covered over the semester. The topics include data storage, data manipulation, operating systems, networking, algorithms, and data abstractions. It also provides a brief 3-sentence introduction to computers, defining them as digital electronic machines that can be programmed to carry out sequences of operations automatically according to a program. A brief history of algorithms and computing is also presented.

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Nikko Szeto
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
12 views22 pages

CH0 Introduction

This document provides an introduction and syllabus for a course on computer science. It outlines the instructor, class times and locations, grading policy, textbooks, and topics to be covered over the semester. The topics include data storage, data manipulation, operating systems, networking, algorithms, and data abstractions. It also provides a brief 3-sentence introduction to computers, defining them as digital electronic machines that can be programmed to carry out sequences of operations automatically according to a program. A brief history of algorithms and computing is also presented.

Uploaded by

Nikko Szeto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 22

Introduction to Computer

Chapter 0: Brief Introduction

Hiuk Jae Shim (沈爀在)

Nanjing Univ. of Information Science & Technology


Course Syllabus
◼ Instructor: Hiuk Jae Shim (심혁재, 沈爀在)
([email protected], office: 信息科技 building 1604)

◼ Class Hour: Monday class (15:55-17:35, 文德N412) (CST)


Tuesday class (15:55-17:35, 文德S206) (AI, EIE, IET)

◼ Grading Policy
Attendance 5% Homework 10 %
LAB 5%
Midterm Exam 30 % Final Exam 50 %

◼ Late submission: 10% per day penalty


◼ Copy of homework: 0 point for every same copy

2
Textbooks & References
◼ Lecture class: Glenn Brookshear and Dennis Brylow, Computer
Science: An Overview, 12th Edition, Pearson, 2015

◼ References
◼ Ron White, Timothy Edward Downs, How Computers Work: The
Evolution of Technology, 10th Edition, Que Publishing, 2014
◼ Wladston Ferreira Filho, Computer Science Distilled: Learn the Art of
Solving Computational Problems, Code Energy LLC, 2017
◼ Online lecture : Introduction to Computer Science
(https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-
cs50x#!)

3
Topics to cover
◼ Lecture class (week 4 to 14) ※can be changed
◼ Ch 1 Data Storage

◼ Ch 2 Data Manipulation

◼ Ch 3 Operating Systems

◼ Ch 4 Networking and the Internet

◼ Ch 5 Algorithms

◼ Ch 8 Data Abstractions (?)

◼ Lab class (week 15 to 18)


◼ Introduction to Python

◼ Branch and loop

◼ List and tuple

◼ Set and dictionary

◼ Function

4
What is Computer?
◼ A computer* is a digital electronic machine that can be
programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or
logical operations automatically.
◼ Modern computers can perform generic sets of

operations known as programs. These programs


enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks.

◼ In short, A “computer” is a machine for manipulating data


according to a list of instructions known as a program

◼ Computer science
◼ A discipline that seeks to build a scientific foundation

for computer design and information processing using


computers
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer 5
Types of Computer

https://www.informationq.com/what-is-computer-types-of-computer/ 6
Key Components of Computer
◼ Central Processing Unit (CPU)
◼ Volatile Memory (RAM)
◼ Non-volatile Storage (Hard disks, Flash)

7
Computing Systems
◼ A computer alone does not do anything!

◼ To complete some useful tasks, we need a “Computing


System”

◼ A computing system is a precisely coordinated operation


of hardware, software, and input data that produces
proper output data

8
Terminology
◼ Algorithm
◼ A set of steps that defines how a task is performed

◼ Program
◼ A representation of an algorithm

◼ Programming
◼ The process of developing a program

◼ Software
◼ A collection of programs and algorithms

◼ Hardware
◼ Equipment / Machinery

◼ CPU + memory + storage + I/O devices

9
Algorithm for a magic trick

10
11
History of Algorithms
◼ The study of algorithms was originally a subject in
mathematics

◼ Early examples of algorithms


◼ Long division algorithm
◼ Euclidean Algorithm
◼ The word algorithm is derived from the name of the 9th-century
Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
(Latinized as Algoritmi)

◼ Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem


◼ “In any reasonable mathematical system there will always be true
statements that cannot be proved.”
◼ Some problems cannot be solved by algorithms

12
The Euclidean algorithm (300 BC)

13
History of Computing
◼ Early computing devices

◼ Abacus: positions of beads


represent numbers
Difference Engine

◼ Gear-based machines (1600s-1800s)


◼ Positions of gears represent numbers
◼ Pascal’s adding machine (1642)
◼ Leibniz’s calculator (1671)
◼ Babbage’s Difference Engine (1832) and Analytical Engine (1833)
◼ The Analytical Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form
of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first
design for a general-purpose computer

14
Programmable vs. Hardwired
◼ Early computers based on gears are not “easily”
programmable – the hardware must be modified in order to
perform a different task
◼ The concept of “programmable” computers was also invented in
1800’s (i.e. Analytical Engine)
◼ “Programmable computers” also refer to as general purpose
computers

◼ Today, hardwired (non-programmable) computing systems are


as popular as programmable computing systems

15
Early Data Storage
◼ Early data storage: punched cards
◼ First used in Jacquard’s loom (1801) to store patterns for weaving
cloth
◼ Also used to store programs in Babbage’s Analytical Engine
◼ Ada Byron, who wrote a “program” for this machine, was recognized as
the first programmer in the world
◼ In 1887, Herman Hollerith invented punched cards to store
programs for computers, which were popular through the 1970’s
and are still used today for data input

◼ Gear positions

punched card

16
Early Computers
◼ Based on mechanical relays
◼ 1940: Stibitz at Bell Laboratories
◼ 1944: Mark I: Howard Aiken and IBM at Harvard

◼ Based on vacuum tubes


◼ 1937-1941: Atanasoff-Berry at Iowa State
◼ 1940s: Colossus: secret German code-breaker
◼ Regarded as the world's first programmable, electronic, digital
computer (Alan Turing’s contribution, his machine was Bombe)
◼ 1940s: ENIAC: Mauchly & Eckert at U. of Penn.
17
The ENIAC computer

18
Microprocessors & Microcomputers
◼ The first microprocessor is Intel 4004 (1971)
◼ The first computer based on microprocessor is Intel SIM4-01

19
Personal Computers
◼ First used by hobbyists in 1975
◼ Altair 8800*

◼ IBM introduced the PC in 1981


◼ Accepted by business
◼ Became the standard hardware design for most desktop computers
◼ Most PCs use software from Microsoft

*http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Personal/Altair.html 20
Into the Millennium
◼ Internet revolutionized communications
◼ World Wide Web
◼ Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft)

◼ Miniaturization of computing machines


◼ Embedded (GPS, in automobile engines)
◼ Smartphones

21
Reading Assignment:
Chapter 1

End of chapter 0

22

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