KOPALINE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Bachelors of art in development studies
Name of Student: Michelo Policar

Student No. 120192261

Course: Information and Communication Technology.

Year: 2022

Assignment No: one

Semester: one

Lecturer Name:

Assignment due date: 17th April, 2022.

Assignment question
a) List four computer peripherals.
b) Provide one example of each of the following types of software: Systems Software,
Applications Software and Programming Software
c) Identify and briefly explain the key characteristics of the two main types of memory in a
computer.
d) Define what a Database Management System (DBMS) is.
e) What is the most commonly used type of DBMS?
f) Give two examples of DBMSs.
The use of computers is this modern cannot be ignored. 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.
Therefore, this academic assertion will discuss computer peripherals, software, computer
memories and data base management systems.

To begin with computer peripheral, Laplante (2000) defines a computer peripheral as An

auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The
term peripheral device refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are
controlled by the computer system, but they are not the core components of the computer, such
as the CPU or power supply unit. In other words, peripherals can also be defined as devices that
can be easily removed and plugged into a computer system.

There are many different peripheral devices, but they fall into three general categories namely
Input devices, such as a mouse and a keyboard, Output devices, such as a monitor and a printer,
Storage devices, such as a hard drive or flash drive.

The keyboard of a computer resembles the keyboard of a typewriter. It consists of alphanumeric

keys, punctuation keys and special keys. When a key is pressed, electronic signals are generated.
A keyboard encoder detects these signals and sends them to the CPU. The most popular
keyboard is the one with 101 keys. Cordless or wireless keyboards are an advancement over the
regular keyboards.

According to Jesson (2012), the mouse is one of the peripheral device. It is a handheld pointing
device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on the monitor or the display screen. It
is connected to the computer system through a cable or Bluetooth. A mouse has one to four
buttons (usually two or three) and can be used for clicking on an icon, selecting a text or an
object, dragging the selected items, etc. An additional feature of a scroller has also been added in
the later versions of the mouse. The scroller is used as a replacement of the keyboard scroll keys.
It enables easy scroll up and scroll down facilities.

Furthermore, the monitor is another computer peripheral. The monitor is an on-screen display
that acts as an interface between the user and the computer system. A computer monitor is also
known as computer display as it enables the user to view the results of data processing. The
image displayed on the monitor is generated by a video adapter. A video adapter is an expansion
board that plugs into one of the computer expansion slots and connects the output of the
computer system to the monitor. It converts the digital instructions given by the computer system
to an analogy signal that can be understood by the monitor. This signal in turn instructs the
monitor to display the output. It determines the overall quality of the image that the monitor
displays. The monitor has its own processing circuitry and memory called Video RAM (VRAM).
The output on the screen is referred to as a soft copy, while the printed version is called the hard
copy.

In additional, the printer is one of the computer peripherals. Laplante (2000) shows that it is most
common form of obtaining computer output is by getting hard copies. Printers are devices that
produce hard copies of information stored in computers on paper or on transparencies. Most of
the printers are connected to the computer through a printer cable. Other types of printers called
network printers have built-in network interfaces. These interfaces can be used by any user on
the network. Printers are generally categorized by the way they create print characters. There are
two basic types of print technologies namely, impact printers and non-impact printers.

Away from computer peripherals, it is vital to discuss computer software and examples of each
type of computer software. Mouritsen (1981) eludes that computer software is a set of
instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks. There are
three categories of software namely, system software, application software and programming
software.

To start with system software. Shaw (2001) shows that these software programs are designed to
run a computer's application programs and hardware. System software coordinates the activities
and functions of the hardware and software. In addition, it controls the operations of the
computer hardware and provides an environment or platform for all the other types of software
to work in. The operating system (OS) is the best example of system software; it manages all the
other computer programs.

Buckley (1991) defined application software as a software that is specifically designed to meet
end user needs. The most common type of software, application software is a computer software
package that performs a specific function for a user, or in some cases, for another application. An
application can be self-contained, or it can be a group of programs that run the application for the
user. Examples of modern applications include web browsers. There are many brands of web
browsers which include Fire fox, Google chrome just to mention a few.

Programming software also known as software development tools is the kind of software that is
created to enable computers achieve a specific function. Computer programmers use
programming software to write code. Programming software and programming tools enable
developers to develop, write, test and debug other software programs. Examples of programming
software include assemblers.

Jesson (2012) eludes that the Assembler is a Software that converts an assembly language code to
machine code. It takes basic Computer commands and converts them into Binary Code that
Computer’s Processor can use to perform its Basic Operations. These instructions are assembler
language or assembly language. We can also name an assembler as the compiler of assembly
language. This is because a compiler converts the high-level language to machine language. On the
other hand, an assembler is doing the same task but, for assembly language, the name compiler of
assembly language.

Having discussed the computer software, at this point in time it paramount to explain characteristics
of the two main types of memory in a computer. Stoler (1984) noted that a computer memory is
a device or system that is used to store information for immediate use in a computer or
related computer hardware and digital electronic devices. The term memory is often synonymous
with the term primary storage or main memory. An archaic synonym for memory is store.

The Primary memory processes the data and instructions while the computer unit is being
processing. Primary memory stores the data or instructions for quick access. Semiconductor
chips are the main component used in primary memory. The primary memory of the computer is
known as the main memory or temporary memory on the computer.

The main purpose of primary memory used to store frequently used programs that can be directly
accessed by the processor for further processing. It is volatile memory, meaning that data
is stored temporarily and can be lost when the power is switched off. This memory is present in
the CPU of the computer, from where the device receives the data and
instructions. RAM and ROM are examples of the Primary Memory of computers.
Primary memory has numbers of characteristics which makes it different from other memories.
The following are examples of the characteristics of the primary memory. The primary memory
of computer is also called main memory, temporary memory, or prime memory. It is
a volatile memory, this memory is made of semiconductors technology, data is automatically
deleted in the event of power failure. Their processing speed is faster than secondary memory.
Primary memory is the main working memory of the computer.

Another type of memory is the secondary memory. Wallace (1971), shows that this type of
memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower than the main memory.
These are used for storing data/information permanently. CPU directly does not access these
memories, instead they are accessed via input-output routines. The contents of secondary
memories are first transferred to the main memory, and then the CPU can access it. For example,
disk, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.

Secondary memory has the following characteristics. It is non-volatile in nature. It is less costly
in comparison to primary memory. The storage capacity is quite high and scalable. It can be
removable or fixed as per the requirement. Examples of secondary memory are Hard Drive, SSD,
Flash, Optical Drive, USD Drive are some examples of secondary memories in computer.

Having discussed types of memory, at this point it is vital to discuss about database management
systems. Rajiv (2010) eludes that a database management system (or DBMS) is essentially
nothing more than a computerized data-keeping system. Users of the system are given facilities
to perform several kinds of operations on such a system for either manipulation of the data in the
database or the management of the database structure itself. Database Management Systems
(DBMSs) are categorized according to their data structures or types.
According to Patin (2022), there are many types of database management systems. Among those
databases the most commonly used one is relational database management database. A relational
database is a type of database that stores and provides access to data points that are related to one
another. Relational databases are based on the relational model, an intuitive, straightforward way
of representing data in tables. In a relational database, each row in the table is a record with a
unique ID called the key. The columns of the table hold attributes of the data, and each record
usually has a value for each attribute, making it easy to establish the relationships among data
points.

Sumathi (2007) eludes that some examples of database management system include MySQL,
PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access, SQL Server, FileMaker, Oracle, RDBMS, dBASE, Clipper, and
FoxPro. Since there are so many database management systems available, it is important for
there to be a way for them to communicate with each other. For this reason, most database
software comes with an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver that allows the database to
integrate with other databases. For example, common SQL statements such as SELECT and
INSERT are translated from a program's proprietary syntax into a syntax other databases can
understand.

In conclusion it can be clearly noted that computer have a lot of concepts, the assertion tried to
discuss the types of peripheral devices, software’s which included system, application and
programing software. It also described the characteristic of two types of memories. Database
management systems and characteristic of relational database management system.
 References

Buckley, A. (1991). Computer studies. Macmillan: London.

Jesson, J. (2012). The really useful ICT Book. A practical guide to using technology across
primary curriculum. Routledge: USA.

Laplante, P. A. (2000). Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology. CRC

Press: USA.

Mouritse, O. G. (1981). Computer studies of phase transitions and critical phenomena. Spring-
verlag. New York.

Patin, C.J. (2022). Database management system. Taylor and Francis Limited: Tokyo.

Rajiv, C. (2010). Database management systems: A practical approach. S Chand and company
Limited: New Delhi.

Shaw, N. G. (2001). Strategies of managing computer software upgrade. Idea Group

publishing: London.

Stoler, P. (1984). The computer generation. PHI: London.

Sumathi, S.C. (2007). Fundamentals of relational database management systems. Springer:

Berlin.

Wallace, B.R. (1971). Electronic computer memory technology. McGraw-Hill: New York.