MODIBBO ADAMA UNIVERSITY, YOLA

FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

LECTURE NOTE

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE

COURSE CODE: CSC101

2024
INTRODUCTION

The computer is fast becoming the universal machine of the twenty-first century. Early
computers were large in size and too expensive to be owned by individuals. Thus they
were confined to the laboratories and few research institutes. They could only be
programmed by computer engineers. The basic applications were confined to
undertaking complex calculations in science and engineering. Today, the computer is no
longer confined to the laboratory. Computers, and indeed, computing have become
embedded in almost every item we use. Computing is fast becoming ubiquitous. Thus
computers are an integral part of our lives. They are used for the reservation of tickets for
airplanes and railways, electricity bills, deposit and withdrawal of money from banks,
processing of business data, forecasting of weather conditions, diagnosis of diseases,
searching for information on the Internet, etc. Computers are also used extensively in
schools, universities, organizations, music industry, movie industry, scientific research,
etc.

Definition of Computer

The term "computer" is derived from the Latin word "computare" which means to
calculate. It was initially used to refer to human beings that perform mathematical
calculations. The best invention by man is computer. A computer is an electronic machine
or device that performs processes, calculations and operations based on instructions
provided by a user. It has the ability to accept data (input), process it, and then produce
outputs as desired. Computer performs both simple and complex operations, with speed
and accuracy.

A computer has been defined in various forms by different authors. Some of the
definitions are as follows:

 Computer is an electronic device which takes some input from the user, process it,
and produce output.
 An electronic machine which is capable of storing data, performing computation
on such data and retrieving information at a very high speed.
 A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions
stored in its own memory that can accept data (input), process the data according
to specified rules, produce information (output), and store the information for
future use.
 A computer is a programmable electronic machine. It takes raw facts as input,
process these and gives the final output which is the result of processing. It
responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.

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  Computer does not mean a monitor, keyboard, mouse and CPU, a computer is any
machine that can compute and execute instruction given to it in the form of
program. Technically even our cellphone is a computer, anything that can perform
a series of operation on its own is computer.

A computer is designed to execute applications and provides a variety of solutions

through integrated hardware and software components. It works with the help of
programs and represents the decimal numbers through a string of binary digits. It also
has a memory that stores the data, programs, and result of processing. The components
of a computer such as machinery that includes wires, transistors, circuits, hard disk are
called hardware. Whereas, the programs and data are called software.

The basic parts without which a computer cannot work are as follows:

 Processor: It executes instructions from software and hardware.

 Memory: It is the primary memory for data transfer between the CPU and storage.
 Motherboard: It is the part that connects all other parts or components of a
computer.
 Storage Device: It permanently stores the data, e.g., hard drive.
 Input Device: It allows you to communicate with the computer or to input data,
e.g., a keyboard.
 Output Device: It enables you to see the output, e.g., monitor.

Benefits of Using a Computer

 Increases your productivity: A computer increases your productivity. For

example, after having a basic understanding of a word processor, you can create,
edit, store, and print the documents easily and quickly.
 Connects to the Internet: It connects you to the internet that allows you to send
emails, browse content, gain information, use social media platforms, and more.
By connecting to the internet, you can also connect to your long-distance friends
and family members.
 Storage: A computer allows you to store a large amount of information, e.g., you
can store your projects, ebooks, documents, movies, pictures, songs, and more.
 Organized Data and Information: It not only allows you to store data but also
enables you to organize your data. For example, you can create different folders to
store different data and information and thus can search for information easily and
quickly.

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  Improves your abilities: It helps write good English if you are not good at spelling
and grammar. Similarly, if you are not good at math, and don't have a great
memory, you can use a computer to perform calculations and store the results.
 Keeps you entertained: You can use the computer to listen to songs, watch movies,
play games and more.

The computer has become a part of our life. There are plenty of things that we do in a day
which are dependent on a computer. Some of the common examples are as follows:

 ATM: While withdrawing cash from an ATM, you are using a computer that
enables the ATM to take instructions and dispense cash accordingly.
 Digital currency: A computer keeps a record of your transactions and balance in
your account and the money deposited in your account in a bank is stored as a
digital record or digital currency.
 Trading: Stock markets use computers for day to day trading.
 Smartphone: The smartphone that we use throughout the day for calling, texting,
browsing is itself a computer.
 VoIP: All voice over IP communication (VoIP) is handled and done by computers.

Applications of Computer

 Banking: They help in storing the account information of customers and verifying
the financial records in a matter of seconds, it also help in carrying out quick
transaction and making successful payment etc.
 Education: The computer has provided a lot of facilities in the education system.
Example Research is made easier as a result of the abundant information provided
by the computer on different fields. Some courses can be offered on the computer
virtually without going to the school environment.
 Entertainments: Computers have had a major impact on the entertainment
industry. The user can download and view movies, play games, incorporate visual
and sound effects using computers, etc. The users can also listen to music,
download and share music, create music using computers, etc.
 Health Care: Computers have become important part in hospitals, labs, and
dispensaries. The computers are being used in hospitals to keep the record of
patients and medicines. It is also used in scanning and diagnosing different
diseases and also used in performing Surgery.
 Marketing: In marketing, we use computers to create and make an advertisement
using the visual and the sound effects. For the advertisers, computer is a medium
via which the advertisements can be viewed globally. Also online shopping has
been made possible through the use of computerized catalogues that provide
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 access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to be filled by the
customers.
 Communication: Communication means to convey a message, an idea, a picture
or speech that is received and understood clearly and correctly by the person for
whom it is meant for. Some main areas in this category are: E-mail, WhatsApp, etc.
 Sports: A computer can be used to watch a game, view the scores, play games etc.
 Military: Computers are largely used in defense such as controlling missiles,
weapons etc. Some military areas where a computer has been used are: Missile
Control, Military Communication, Military Operation and Planning, Smart
Weapons etc.

Capabilities of Computer

 Speed: Ability to perform billions of action per second. Computers are incredibly,
fast, accurate and stupid while human being are incredibly slow, inaccurate and
brilliant.
 Storage capacity: Ability to store large amount of data.
 Accuracy: computer perform calculation with hundred percent accuracy. Error are
usually due to humans. The result produce by the computer is totally dependent
on the data given by the user, if the input is incorrect then the output will be
incorrect. In computer terminology is called garbage in garbage out.
 Diligence: Ability to work accuracy for a long period of time without getting
fatigue.
 Versatility: A computer can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.

Limitations of Computer

 No I.Q: A computer is a machine that has no intelligence to perform any task.

 Dependency: It functions as per a user’s instruction, so it is fully dependent on
human being.
 No Feeling: It cannot make judgment based on feeling, taste, experience, and
knowledge.

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Computer science is concerned with the study of the history and evolution of the
computers, programming languages, networking, database administration and the
design and implementation of a software. Computer science is the study of the theoretical
foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their
implementation and application in computer systems.

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So computer science is all about taking in information and then performing some
computations & analysis to solve a particular problem or produce a desired result, which
depends on the application at hand. In mathematics, a solution is often expressed in terms
of formulas and equations. In computer science, the solution is expressed in terms of a
program. However, computers do not understand arbitrary instructions written in
English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, etc. Instead, computers have their
own languages that they understand. Each of these languages is known as a
programming language. When thinking of jobs and careers, many people think that
computer science covers anything related to computers (i.e., anything related to
Information Technology).
However, computer science is not an area of study that pertains to IT support, repairing
computers, nor installing and configuring networks. Nor does it have anything to do with
simply using a computer such as doing word-processing, browsing the web or playing
games. The focus of computer science is on understanding what goes on behind the
software and how software/programs can be made more efficiently. Like any other
science, which uses some devices for the practical aspect, computer Science uses an
electronic or digital device called Computer.

The Computer Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) identifies four general areas that it
considers crucial to the discipline of computer science:

 Theory of computation: Investigates how specific computational problems can be

solved efficiently.
 Algorithms and data structures: Investigates efficient ways of storing, organizing
and using data.
 Programming methodology and languages: Investigates different approaches to
describing and expressing problem solutions.
 Computer elements and architecture: investigates the design and operation of
computer systems.

However, in addition, they also identify other important fields of computer science or
sub-disciplines. Major Fields of study in Computer Science include Software
Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Networking and Communication,
Database Systems, Parallel Computation, Distributed Computation, Computer Human
Interaction, Computer Graphics, Operating Systems, Numerical and Symbolic
Computation. A description for some of the disciplines is given below:

 Software Engineering: is a branch of computer science that deals with the

requirement gathering, design, development, testing, implementation and
maintenance of software.
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 It involves using engineering principles and techniques to create software that is
reliable, efficient, and scalable. Software engineers work to design software
systems that meet specific requirements and solve real-world problems. Software
engineering is an important field because software has become an essential part of
many industries including healthcare, finance, telecommunication, education, etc.
 Computer Networking and Communication: It is concerned with connecting
computers for the purpose of sharing resources.
 Database Systems: involves the study and design of efficient methods for
information storage, process and retrieval.
 Artificial Intelligence (AI): Is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software.
It is concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that
typically require human intelligence. In other words AI is the ability of a computer
to act like a human being. It has several applications including software simulation
and robotics. However, artificial intelligence is most commonly used in video
games, where the computer is made to act as another player.
 Computer Graphics: is a branch of Computer Science that deals with the creation,
manipulation, and display of visual content using computers. It involves the use
of algorithms and computer software to create, store and display images,
animations, and videos. Computer graphics has various applications in different
fields, including entertainment, education, engineering, etc. in entertainment,
computer graphics are used to create special effects in movies, television shows
and video games. In education computer graphics are used to create interactive
educational materials and in engineering, computer graphics are used to design
and visualize complex systems and structures.

A Computer Scientist design, develop, and analyze the software and hardware used to
solve problems in all kinds of business, industry, scientific, and social contexts. And
because computers solve problems to serve and enrich people, there is a significant
human component to computer science.

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

Even before humans could read or write, they needed to count. First they used their
fingers, but when they had to deal with figures over ten, a counting device became
necessary. The first counting device was used by the primitive people. They used sticks,
stones and bones as counting tools, Pebbles and bits of wood arranged on the ground
were used to count goods and to figure prices. As human mind and technology improved
with time more computing devices were developed. Some of the popular computing
devices starting with the first to recent ones are described below:

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  Abacus (Ancient): The abacus is considered one of the earliest calculating devices
and is believed to have been developed by the Chinese around 3000 years ago. It
consists of beads or stones arranged on rods, and calculations are performed by
manipulating these beads to represent numbers and perform basic arithmetic
operations such as addition and subtraction. The Abacus played a crucial role in
early mathematical calculations and remains in use in some parts of the world
today.
 Napier's Bones (1617): Invented by the Scottish mathematician John Napier in
1614, it was a manual calculation device primarily used for multiplication. It
consisted of strips of wood or bone with multiplication tables marked on them,
allowing for efficient multiplication of numbers.
 Slide Rule (1622): Developed by William Oughtred, the slide rule was a
mechanical device that allowed for multiplication, division, and other
mathematical calculations using logarithmic scales and sliding rulers.
 Pascaline (1642): Invented by Blaise Pascal, it was an early mechanical calculator
capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using gears and wheels.
 Stepped Reckoner (1672): Designed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the stepped
reckoner was another mechanical calculator that could perform basic arithmetic
operations and even handle multiplication and division. It could evaluate square
roots by a series of stepped additions.
 Difference Engine (1822): Designed by Charles Babbage, it was a mechanical
device intended for automatically computing polynomial functions (i.e. capable of
solving equations), but it was not fully completed during Babbage's time due to
lack of funds.
 Analytical Engine (1837): Developed by Charles Babbage, it can store data and
intermediate results. It had also a unit for calculations. The analytical engine
worked on the principle of input, processing and output. The modern computer is
based on this principle so Charles Babbage is known as the father of Computer
Science, Lady Augusta ADA Lovelace was the world’s first programmer. She
wrote the program for the analytical engine designed by Charles Babbage.
 Tabulating Machine (1890): Developed by Herman Hollerith, it was an
electromechanical device used for processing and tabulating data from punched
cards. It played a significant role in the early days of data processing and was used
for compiling the 1890 U.S. Census.
 UNIVAC (1951): The UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first
commercially available computer produced in the United States. It utilized

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 vacuum tubes and magnetic tape for data storage and was primarily used for
scientific and business applications.
 Mark I (1944): Also known as the Harvard Mark I, it was an electromechanical
computer developed by Howard Aiken and IBM. It was one of the earliest general-
purpose computers and could perform complex calculations. It was the first
operating machine that could execute long computations automatically. It is also
known as IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC).
 ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) (1942-1945): The ABC was an electronic
computer designed by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. It used vacuum tubes
and binary arithmetic to solve systems of simultaneous linear equations.
 EDVAC (1945): The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC)
was one of the earliest stored-program computers. It was designed by John von
Neumann and introduced the concept of storing program instructions and data in
the same memory. This means that the computer had the capability to store both
the instructions for the program being executed and the data required for
computation in its memory.
 ENIAC (1946): The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was
one of the first general-purpose electronic computers. The ENIAC was designed to
perform a wide range of numerical calculations and was primarily used for
scientific and military applications. The computation in ENIAC was facilitated by
the use of vacuum tubes, which served as key electronic components for
processing data.
 EDSAC (1949): The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was
one of the earliest stored-program computers. It was designed and built at the
University of Cambridge and played a significant role in early computer
advancements.
 DEC PDP-8 (1965): The Programmed Data Processor (PDP-8), developed by
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), was a minicomputer that became popular
due to its small size and affordability. It played a significant role in the early
computer industry and was widely used in various applications.
 Cray-1 (1976): The Cray-1 was a supercomputer designed by Seymour Cray. It
introduced vector processing capabilities, enabling high-speed computation for
scientific and engineering applications.
 IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) (1981): The International Business Machine
(IBM PC) was one of the first widely successful personal computers. It set the
standard for PC hardware and software, leading to the widespread adoption of
personal computing.

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  In 1992, Microsoft Corporation, led by Bill Gates, released Windows 3.1. This
operating system was a significant milestone as it made IBM and IBM-compatible
PCs more user-friendly by integrating a graphical user interface (GUI) into the
software. Windows 3.1 replaced the previous Windows command-line system,
providing a more user-friendly and easy-to-use way for users to interact with their
computers.

GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in computer technology

with time. In 1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform the
counting. It replaced the gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous
computing machines. In each new generation, the circuits became smaller and more
advanced than the previous generation circuits. The miniaturization helped increase the
speed, memory and power of computers. There are five generations of computers which
are described below:

First generation of computers (1946 - 1959)

 Major electronic component/device used: Vacuum Tube

 Memory: Magnetic drums (main memory)
 Programming language used: Machine language
 Power: Consume a lot of electricity and generate a lot of heat (i.e. used a large
number of vacuum tubes).
 Speed: Very slow, the processing speed was in few Kilo Hz.
 Size: Very large in size (often taking up entire room).
 Input / output devices: Punched cards and paper tape.
 Examples: ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC, IBM 650, IBM 701, etc.

The first generation computers were used for scientific applications as they were the
fastest computing device of their time and were very costly. The machines were prone to
frequent malfunctioning and required constant maintenance. Since first generation
computers used machine language, they were difficult to program.

Second generation of Computers (1959 - 1965)

 Major electronic component/device used: Transistor

 Memory: Magnetic core (primary memory) and magnetic tape and magnetic disk
(secondary storage).
 Programming languages used: Machine language and Assembly language

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  Power: Low power consumption and generate less heat than first generation
computers.
 Speed: The processing speed has increased and it is also in Kilo Hz (58 Kilo HZ).
 Size: Smaller in size (Transistors allowed computers to become smaller) compared
to vacuum tubes, thus the size of the computer was reduced.
 Input / output devices: punched cards and magnetic tape.
 Examples: PDP-8, (Programmed data Processor) IBM (International Business
Machine) 1401, and CDC (Control data corporation) 1604, etc.

The second generation computers were also very costly, but its energy efficient and
reliable they required less maintenance than the first generation computers, thus
transistors were assembled manually.

Third generation of Computers (1965 - 1971)

 Major electronic component/device used: Integrated circuits (IC) chips

 Memory: Large magnetic core (memory), magnetic tape and magnetic disk
(storage).
 Software Technology: Operating system allowed different applications to run at
the same time. High-level languages were used extensively for programming,
instead of machine language and assembly language. Example COBOL, PASCAL,
FORTRAN etc.
 Power: Used less power and generate less heat than the second generation
computers.
 Speed: The use of IC chip increased the speed and the efficiency of computer, the
processing speed was in Mega Hz which make it to be faster.
 Size: The size of these computers was quite small compared to the second
generation computers.
 Input / output devices: The keyboard and the monitor were interfaced through
the operating system.
 Examples: IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP 11 etc.

The cost of the computer was reduced significantly, as individual components of the
computer were not required to be assembled manually. The maintenance cost of the
computers was also less compared to their predecessors.

Fourth Generation of Computers (1971 - 1980)

 Major electronic component/device used: Microprocessors

 Memory: Semiconductor memory (such as RAM & ROM) and secondary storage
magnetic disks become smaller in physical size & very high in capacity.
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  Software Technology: Operating systems like the MS-DOS and MS Windows
developed during this time. This generation of computers supported Graphical
User Interface (GUI). High-level programming languages are used for the writing
of programs like C, C++ etc.
 Power: They generate much lesser heat and consume less electricity.
 Speed: There is improvement in speed, accuracy, and reliability. The processing
speed is measured in Giga Hz which make it to be very high.
 Size: They are smaller than the computers of the previous generation, some can
even fit into the palm of the hand.
 Input / output devices: keyboard, monitor, pointing devices (mouse), printer, etc.
 Examples: Laptop, desktop, CRAY-1 (Super Computer), DEC 10 etc.

Computers became very cheap and widely available for commercial purposes. PCs
became available to the home user. The linking of computers is another key development
of this era. The computers were linked to form networks that led to the emergence of the
Internet. Networking has resulted in resource sharing and communication among
different computers, making computing more portable and reliable.

Fifth Generation Computers (1980 - till date)

 Major electronic component/device used: Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI)

 Memory: These computers have extremely high memory requirements example;
floppy drives, hard disk drives, solid state drive, cloud storage etc.
 Software Technology: Based on Artificial Intelligence, they try to simulate the
human way of thinking and reasoning which include, Robotics, development of
expert systems to make decision in real life situation, voice recognition, speech
recognition, Game playing etc. The Programming Languages used in this
generation were C, C++, Java, etc.
 Power: Consume less power and there is no major heating issue.
 Speed: Remarkable improvement of speed, accuracy and reliability (in comparison
with the fourth generation computers). Thus the processing speed is super-fast it
is measured also in Giga Hz.
 Size: Portable and very small in size (available in various sizes and features), and
have a huge storage capacity.
 Input / output device: Keyboard, monitor, printer, mouse, touch screen, Biometric
devices (Face Scanner, Fingerprint Scanner, Voice Scanner).
 Examples: Desktop, laptop, NetBook, UltraBook, tablet, smartphone, etc.

The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop computers that respond to natural
language input (understand human language as well as recognize picture) and are
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capable of learning and self-organization. Scientist want this computers to act like human
beings, they might solve problem without being told. This generation of computers uses
parallel processing that allows several instructions to be executed in parallel, instead of
serial execution and is intended to solve complex problems including decision making,
logical reason and they will be able to use more than one CPU. The Intel dual core
microprocessor uses parallel processing. Thus Parallel processing results in faster
processing speed. The user interface is very friendly making them easy to operate via
multimedia features (menus and icons). The fifth generation of computers is very
powerful, affordable at a cheaper rates, and makes good use of network and
communication. However, some individuals misuse this technology to spread incorrect
and inappropriate information to people.

COMPUTER OPERATIONS

A Computer is a tool for solving problems. In general, Computer is an electronic device

that accepts data, Processes the data, Generates output, and Stores data.

 Input: The computer accepts input data; data are raw facts that may not make
much meaning to the user. In other words Data is a collection of facts from which
information may be derived from the user via an input device like keyboard,
mouse. The input data can be characters, word, text, sound, images, document, etc.
 Processing: The computer processes the input data. For this, it performs some
actions on the data by using the instructions or program given by the user of the
data. The action could be an arithmetic or logic calculation, editing, modifying a
document, etc. During processing, the data, instructions and the output are stored
temporarily in the computer’s main memory.
 Output: The output is the result generated after the processing of data, it is also
known as Information. Information is the result of processed data or data that has
been interpreted, translated, or transformed to reveal the underlying meaning.
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 The output may be in the form of text, sound, image, document, etc. The computer
may display the output on a monitor screen or the visual display unit, send output
to the printer for printing, play the output, etc.
 Storage: The input data, instructions and output are stored permanently in the
secondary storage devices like disk, tape. The stored data can be retrieved later,
whenever needed.
 Controlling: This operation is performed by the control unit that is part of CPU.
The control unit ensures that all basic operations are executed in a right manner
and sequence.

TYPES OF COMPUTER

We can categorize computer in to two: on the basis of data handling capabilities and size

On the basis of data handling capabilities, the computer is of three types:

 Analogue Computer
 Digital Computer
 Hybrid Computer

Analogue computers: Are designed to process analogue data. Analogue data is

continuous data that changes continuously in real time within a range of values. We can
say that analogue computers are used where we don't need exact values (discrete) always
such as speed, temperature, pressure and current. Analogue computers directly accept
the data from the measuring device without first converting it into numbers and codes.
Analog Computer measures the continuous changes in physical quantity rather than
count, thus they are taking to measuring instruments such as thermometer, measuring
scales, fuel gauges, blood pressure measuring machines, clock, speedometer, and tire
pressure gauge are examples of analogue devices.

Digital Computer: Digital computer is designed to perform calculations and logical

operations at high speed. All information including variables are represented using the
digits 0s and 1s and processes it with programs stored in its memory to produce the
output. It counts the data it deals with, whether representing numbers, letters or other
symbols, are converted into binary form on input to the computer. The data undergoes a
processing after which the binary digits are converted back to alpha numeric form for
output for human use. All modern computers like laptops, desktops including
smartphones that we use at home or office, calculators, digital watches, are all digital
computers.

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Hybrid computer: has features of both analogue and digital computer. It is fast like an
analogue computer and has memory and accuracy like digital computers. It can process
both continuous and discrete data, it accepts analogue signals and convert them into
digital form before processing. It needs a conversion element which accepts analog
inputs, and output digital value. Such converters are called digitizers. There is need for a
converter from digital to analog also. It has the advantage of giving real-time response
on a continuous basis. Hybrid computer is widely used in specialized applications where
both analogue and digital data is processed. For example, a processor is used in petrol
pumps that converts the measurements of fuel flow into quantity and price, similarly,
they are used in airplanes, hospitals, and scientific applications.

On the basis of size, the computer can be of five types:

Supercomputers: are the biggest, fastest and most expensive computers with high
processing speed. A supercomputer can process trillions of instructions in a second. It
has thousands of interconnected processors that can work in parallel. Thus they are
designed to process huge amount of data. Supercomputers are used for highly
calculation-intensive tasks such as weather forecasting, (Today whether forecast for the
entire globe can be predicted by one super computer), climate research (global warming),
molecular research, biological research, nuclear energy research, and aircraft design.
They are also used in major universities, military agencies and scientific research
laboratories. Some examples of supercomputers are IBM Roadrunner, IBM Blue gene and
Intel ASCI red.

Mainframe computers: are designed to support hundreds or thousands of users

simultaneously. They can support multiple programs at the same time. It means they can
execute different processes simultaneously. These features of mainframe computers
make them ideal for big organizations like banking and telecom sectors, which need to
manage and process high volume of data. Thus Mainframe computers are high
performance computers, they operate at a very high speed, have very large storage
capacity and can process huge amount of data, e.g. millions of transactions in a second in
the banking sector. Also can be used in such places like WAEC, NEPA and JAMB. The
user can access the mainframe computer via a PC or terminal emulator on a workstation
that is connected through a network in order to use the processing power and the storage
facility of the mainframe computer.

Minicomputer: It is a midsize multiprocessing digital computer generally used in multi-

user systems. They have high processing speed and high storage capacity than the
microcomputers. It consists of two or more processors and can support 4 to 200 users at
one time. Minicomputers are used for real-time applications in industries, research
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centers, institutes and departments for tasks such as billing, accounting and inventory
management. The users can access the minicomputer through their PCs or terminal. A
minicomputer lies between the mainframe and microcomputer as it is smaller than
mainframe but larger than a microcomputer. PDP 11, IBM (8000 series) are some of the
widely used minicomputers.

Workstation: Workstation is a single user computer that is designed for technical or

scientific applications. It has a faster microprocessor, a large amount of RAM and it has
relatively good graphical capabilities. It generally performs a specific job with great
expertise; accordingly, they are of different types such as graphics workstation, music
workstation and engineering design workstation. Workstation are used for software
development, desktop publishing, and creating engineering applications.

Microcomputer: is also known as a personal computer. It is a general-purpose computer

that is designed for individual use. It has a microprocessor as a central processing unit,
memory, storage area, input unit and output unit. They are suitable for personal work
such as making an assignment, watching a movie, or at office for office work. It is the
smallest in size and low-cost among all types of computers and less expansive, it does
not require the user to have special skills or training to use it and is capable of
multitasking such as printing, scanning, browsing, watching videos, etc. Laptops,
Desktops, NoteBook, Tablet computer, Smart Phones are examples of microcomputers.

FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF A COMPUTER

Computer is a device that operates upon information or data. It is an electronic device

which accepts input data, stores the data, does arithmetic and logic operation and outputs
the information in desired format. Even though the size, shape, performance, reliability
and cost of computers have been changing over the years, the basic logical structure
proposed by Von Neumann has not change. The internal architecture of computers
differs from one system model to another. A block diagram of the basic computer
organization specifying different functional units is shown below.

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INPUT UNIT

Input unit accepts coded information from human operators through electro mechanical
devices such as the keyboard. The information received is either stored in the memory
for later reference or immediately used by the Arithmetic and Logic circuitry to perform
the desired operation. Finally the result is sent back to the outside through the output
unit.

Input devices: They are used to get data into a computer system and act as an interface
between the computer system and the outside world. The ideal input device would
collect all required data accurately, without human in intervention. Commonly used
input devices includes keyboard, mouse, microphone, joystick, touch screen, scanner,
remote control, webcam etc.

Examples of Input Devices

Keyboard Mouse Scanner Joystick

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 Microphone Touch screen Webcam Remote control

Keyboard: is a basic input device that is used to enter data into a computer or any other
electronic device by pressing keys. It has different sets of keys for letters, numbers,
characters, and functions. Keyboards are connected to a computer through USB or a
Bluetooth device for wireless communication.
Keyboard keys consist of:
 Alphabetic keys contain alphabets from A-Z & a-z
 Numerical keys contain numbers 0-9
 Symbols keys contain many symbols like !, @, #, $, % etc.
 Functional keys contain f1-f12, design for special purpose.
 Extra keys contain Esc, Alt, Ctrl, Backspace, and Enter.

Mouse: is a hand-held input device which is used to move cursor or pointer across the
screen. It is designed to be used on a flat surface and generally has left and right button
and a scroll wheel between them. Laptop computers come with a touchpad that works as
a mouse. It lets you control the movement of cursor or pointer by moving your finger
over the touchpad.

Scanner: uses the pictures and pages of text as input. It scans the picture or a document.
The scanned picture or document then converted into a digital format or file and is
displayed on the screen as an output. It uses optical character recognition techniques to
convert images into digital ones.

Microphone: is a computer input device that is used to input the sound. It receives the
sound vibrations and converts them into audio signals or sends to a recording medium.
The audio signals are converted into digital data and stored in the computer. The
microphone also enables the user to telecommunicate with others. It is also used to add
sound to presentations and with webcams for video conferencing.

Touch screen: It is the display screen of a device such as a smartphone, tablet, etc., that
allows users to interact or provide inputs to the device by using their finger. Today, most
of the electronic devices come with touchscreen as an alternative to a mouse for
navigating a graphical user interface. For example, by touching, you can unlock your
phone (either by password, pin, fingerprint, and pattern), open emails, open files, play
videos, etc.
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OUTPUT UNIT

Output unit is responsible for supplying output or result to the outside world, thus
output unit sends information from computers to users. Example printer, graphic
displays etc.

Output device: displays the result of the processing of raw data that is entered in the
computer through an input device. Output can be in two forms soft copy and hard copy.
There are a number of output devices that display output in different ways such as text,
images, hard copies, and audio or video. Some of the popular output devices are:
monitor, printer, projectors, speakers, headphone, plotter etc.

Examples of Output Devices

CRT monitor LCD monitor Laser printer Inkjet printer

Projector Speakers

Plotter Headphones

Monitor: The monitor is the display unit or screen of the computer. It is the main output
device that displays the processed data or information as text, images, audio or video.

Printer: produces hard copies of the processed data. It enables the user, to print images,
text or any other information onto the paper.

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Projector: is an output device that enables the user to project the output onto a large
surface such as a big screen or wall. It can be connected to a computer and similar devices
to project their output onto a screen. It uses light and lenses to produce magnified texts,
images, and videos. So, it is an ideal output device to give presentations or to teach a
large number of people.

Speaker: One of the most popular output devices is a speaker that connects to a computer
to generate a sound output. While some speakers can only be connected to computers,
others can be used with any type of sound system.

Headphones/earphones: These are also output devices much like speakers, which offer
audio that can only be heard by one listener.

MEMORY UNITS

Memory is used to store data and program instructions for CPU to execute. A memory
unit is an ordered sequence of bytes, each holds eight bits. A program and its data must
be brought to memory before they can be executed. Binary digit or bit is the basic unit for
storing data in the computer memory. A bit is a single binary digit, i.e., 0 or 1 and the
data is handled by the computer as a combination of bits, thus they are used to represent
information in digital form. For example in computer memory, a sequence of bits can be
used to represent numbers, text, images, audio, and other types of data, thus An 8-bit
machine could handle only-byte (a character) at a time. A group of 4 bits form a nibble, a
group of 8 bits form a byte. A byte can store a single character of data (a letter, numeral,
or special character). Using a single byte, we can only represent numbers between 0 and
255 (because 8 bit can represent 28 = 256 values) with different combinations of bits which
can represent 256 different symbols.
In a byte, the different combinations of bits fall in the range 00000000 to 11111111. The
capacity of the memory or the storage is expressed in terms of number of bytes it can hold
or store. A group of bytes can be further combined to form a word. A word can be a group
of 2, 4 or 8 bytes. A word is defined as the number of bits that constitute a common unit
of data. The length of a word varies from computer to computer. In a 32-bit computer
system, a word is usually 4 bytes long, and in 64 bit system, a word is usually 8 bytes
long. Example the letter ‘A’ is one byte or eight bits that can be represented by a byte that
has binary value of 01000001. Using a word of 2 bytes (16 bits) we can represent 1024 in
binary as 00000100 00000000.

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Some of the commonly used memory units are shown in the table below:

Unit Abbrev. Value Size (in bytes) Approximation

Bit b 0 or 1 1/8 of a byte 0.125 byte

Nibble nib 4 bits ½ byte 0.5 byte

Byte B 8 bits 1 byte 1 byte

Kilobyte KB 210 = 1024 bytes 1024 bytes 103 bytes

Megabyte MB 220 = 1024 KB 1024 × 1024 bytes 106 bytes

Gigabyte GB 230 = 1024 MB 1024 × 1024 × 1024 bytes 109 bytes

Terabyte TB 240 = 1024 GB 1024 × 1024 ×1024×1024 bytes 1012 bytes

Example 1: Convert 240 MB of memory in bytes and kilo bytes

Solution:
Number of bytes in 1 MB = 220
Total number of bytes in 240 MB = 240 x 220 bytes
Number of Kilo bytes in 1 MB = 210 KB = 1024 KB
Total number of Kilo bytes in 240 MB = 240 x 1024 KB

Example 2: Convert 60 GB of memory in to words

Solution:
Number of bytes in 1 GB = 230
Number of bytes in 60 GB = 60 x 230 bytes
Number of Words in 2 bytes = 1 words
Number of words in 60 GB = 60/2 x 230
= 30 x 230 words

Example 3: A computer has 32 MB (megabytes) of memory. How many bits are needed
to address any single byte in memory?

Solution:
The memory address space is 32 MB, or 225 (25 × 220). This means that we need log2 225, or
25 bits, to address each byte.

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Categories of Memory

The internal memory and external memory are the two broad categories of memory used
in the computer. The internal memory consists of the CPU registers, cache memory and
primary memory. The internal memory is used by the CPU to perform the computing
tasks. The external memory is also called the secondary memory. The secondary memory
is used to store the large amount of data and the software. The speed of memories is
dependent on the kind of technology used for the memory. The registers, cache memory
and primary memory are semiconductor memories. They do not have any moving parts
and are fast memories. The secondary memory is magnetic or optical memory, has
moving parts and has slow speed.

Internal Memory

CPU registers: Registers are very high-speed storage areas located inside the CPU. After
CPU gets the data and instructions from the cache or RAM, the data and instructions are
moved to the registers for processing. Registers are manipulated directly by the control
unit of CPU during instruction execution. That is why registers are often referred to as
the CPU’s working memory, thus Registers are the fastest and the most expensive among
all the memory types and are directly accessible by the CPU.

Cache memory: Cache memory is placed in between the CPU and the RAM. Cache
memory is a fast memory, faster than the RAM. Cache memory is a very high speed
semiconductor memory that can speed up the CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU
and the main memory. It is used to hold those parts of data and programs which are most
frequently used by the CPU. The parts of data and programs are transferred from the
disk to cache memory by the operating system, from where the CPU can access them.

Primary memory: it is the main memory of computer. It is used to store data and
instructions during the processing of data, is a semiconductor memory. Primary memory
is of two kinds namely; Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM).

Random Access Memory

 RAM is used to store data and instructions during the operation of computer
(processing of data).
 Any program or data (input data that is entered using the input unit) that has to
be executed must be brought into RAM from the secondary storage devices like
the hard disk.
 CPU interacts with RAM to get the data and instructions for processing.

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  RAM loses information when the computer is powered off. It is a volatile memory.
When the power is turned on, again, all files that are required by the CPU are
loaded from the hard disk to RAM.
 RAM provides temporary storage for data and instructions.
 The output data generated after processing is stored in RAM before being sent to
the output device

Read Only Memory

ROM is a non-volatile primary memory. It does not lose its content when the power is
switched off. The features of ROM are described as follows:
 ROM, as the name implies, has only read capability and no write capability. After
the information is stored in ROM, it is permanent and cannot be corrected.
 ROM comes programmed by the manufacturer. It stores standard processing
programs that permanently reside in the computer such as BIOS.
 ROM stores the data needed for the startup of the computer. The instructions that
are required for initializing the devices attached to a computer are stored in ROM.

The key features of internal memory are:

 Limited storage capacity

 Temporary storage
 Fast access
 High cost
 Registers, cache memory, and primary memory constitute the internal memory.

Secondary memory

Secondary memory is non-volatile and is used for permanent storage of data and
programs. A program or data that has to be executed is brought into the RAM from the
secondary memory. The secondary storage devices which are connected to the computer
are known as a secondary memory of the computer. It is also known as external memory
or auxiliary storage. The secondary memory is accessed indirectly via input/output
operations. It is non-volatile, so it permanently stores the data even when the computer
is turned off or until this data is overwritten or deleted. The CPU can't directly access the
secondary memory. First, the secondary memory data is transferred to primary memory
then the CPU can access it. Examples of secondary storage: Hard disk drive, floppy drive,
optical disk drives, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, SD card etc.

The key features of secondary memory:

The key features of secondary memory storage devices are as follows:

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  Very high storage capacity.
 Permanent storage (non-volatile), unless erased by user.
 Relatively slower access.
 Stores data and instructions that are not currently being used by CPU but may be
required later for processing.
 Cheaper than the primary memory.
 It provides back-up storage for data and instructions.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A Central Processing Unit is also called a processor, central processor, or microprocessor.

The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of a computer, CPUs may appear
anywhere, in Desktop computers and mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, it
retrieves instructions from the memory and performs computation and carries out all the
important functions of a computer. It receives instructions from both the hardware and
active software and produces output accordingly. CPU also helps input and output
devices to communicate with each other. It is also the heart of the computer system. The
CPU is responsible for executing a sequence of stored instructions called a program. The
programs tells a computer what to do and how to do? This program will take inputs from
an input device, process the input in some way and output the results to an output device.
The speed of CPU is measured by Hertz (Hz), which represent a CPU circle. 1 hertz or
Hz = 1 cycle per second, 1 KHz = 1 thousand cycles per second or 1000 Hz, 1 MHz = 1
million cycles per second or 1000 KHz, 1 GHz = 1 billion cycles per second or 1000 MHz.
The speed of CPU is known as Computer Speed. It consists of two sub-units namely;
Arithmetic Logic Unit and Control Unit.

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

ALU consists of two units namely; Arithmetic unit and Logic unit. The arithmetic unit
performs arithmetic operations on the data that is made available to it. Some of the
arithmetic operations supported by the arithmetic unit are addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. The logic unit of ALU is responsible for performing logic
operations. Logic unit performs comparisons of numbers, letters and special characters.
Logic operations include testing for greater than, less than or equal to condition. ALU
performs arithmetic and logic operations, and uses registers to hold the data that is being
processed. Access times to registers are 5 to 10 times faster than access time to memory.

Control unit (CU)

The control unit of a computer does not do any actual processing of data. It organizes the
processing of data and instructions. It acts as a supervisor and, controls and coordinates
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the activity of the other units of computer. CU coordinates the input and output devices
of a computer. It directs the computer to carry out stored program instructions by
communicating with the ALU and the registers. CU tells when to fetch the data and
instructions, what to do, where to store the results, the sequencing of events during
processing, Controlling access to the main storage and control data flow between the
ALU and main memory.

Different between Human brain and CPU

Human brain CPU

High IQ level Have no IQ

Sometime slow Basically fast

Can develop CPU Reduces human efforts

Based on emotion, feeling and Based on algorithms, pseudo code,

Natural intelligence commands and Artificial intelligence

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

Hardware

Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitutes a computer

system. Computer hardware refers to the physical parts or components of a computer
including the devices connected to it. The components like monitor, keyboard, processor,
and mouse, constitute the hardware. You cannot create a computer or use software
without using hardware.

Software

Software is a set of program (instructions) that operate a computer, manipulate the data
and execute particular functions or tasks. For software to perform various functions, it
must be programmed. That is, the instructions need to be written in a programming
language that the computer can understand. Without a program, a computer is useless.
Computer program is a sequence of instructions that can be executed by a computer to
carry out a process. The computer hardware cannot perform any task on its own. It needs
to be instructed about the tasks to be performed. Software tells the computer how the
tasks are to be performed; hardware carries out these tasks. Thus software control the
function of hardware. Different sets of software can be loaded on the same hardware to
perform different kinds of tasks. For example, a user can use the same computer

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hardware for writing a report or for running a payroll program. If a computer is to
function, software is not optional. Everything that a computer does, from the time you
turn the power switch on until you shut the system down, is under the control of
software. The software can be of three types: system software, application software, and
programming software.

System Software

The system software is the main software that runs the computer. When you turn on the
computer, it activates the hardware and controls and coordinates their functioning.
System software provides basic functionality to the computer, thus system software is
required for the working of computer itself. The user of computer does not need to be
aware about the functioning of system software, while using the computer. For example,
when you buy a computer, the system software would also include different device
drivers. When you request for using any of the devices, the corresponding device driver
software interacts with the hardware device to perform the specified request. Thus
System software act as an interface between user, application software and computer
hardware. Generally, users do not interact with system software as it works in the
background. Major type of system software are operating system, device drivers and
system utilities.

Operating system (OS): is the system software that works as an interface to enable the
user to communicate with the computer. OS controls and coordinates the use of hardware
among the different application software and the users. It provides an interface (in the
form of commands and graphical interface) that is convenient for the user to use, and
facilitates efficient operations of the computer system resources. Some of the services that
an OS provides to programs are; saving files to disk and reading them from disk into
memory, checking available disk or memory space, and allocating memory to hold data
for a program. Thus it manages and coordinates the functioning of hardware and
software of the computer. The commonly used operating systems are Microsoft
windows, Linux, Unix etc.

Device driver: This system software controls hardware devices connected to a computer.
It enables the computer to use the hardware by providing an appropriate interface. The
kernel of a Computer's CPU communicates with different hardware through this
software. Nowadays, the operating system comes preloaded with some commonly used
device drivers, like the device driver for mouse, webcam, and keyboard. The device
drivers of these devices are preinstalled on the computer, such that the operating system
can automatically detect the device when it is connected to the computer. Such devices
are called plug and play devices. Thus the operating systems generally come with most
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of the device drivers. If the operating system does not have a device driver for hardware,
you have to install the device driver before using that hardware device.

System Utilities: A utility program performs a specialized task that enhances the
computer’s operation or safeguards data. Examples of utility programs are virus
scanners, file compression programs, and data backup programs. System utility software
is required for the maintenance of computer. System utilities are used for supporting and
enhancing the programs and the data in computer. Some system utilities may come
embedded with OS and others may be added later on. Some examples of system utilities
are; Anti-virus utility to scan computer for viruses, data compression utility to compress
the files, cryptographic utility to encrypt and decrypt files, disk cleaners to find files that
have not been used for a long time, backup utility to make a copy of all information stored
on the disk, network Managers to check the computer network, and disk Partitioning to
divide a single drive into multiple logical drives so that each drive is then treated as an
individual drive and has its own file system.

Application software
Application software is a set of programs designed to perform a specific task. It does not
control the working of a computer as it is designed for end-users. A computer can run
without application software. Application software can be easily installed or uninstalled
as required. It can be a single program or a collection of small programs. Users always
interact with application software while doing different activities. Example include;
Microsoft office, Adobe Photoshop, and any other software like payroll software or
income tax software. Thus they are all designed to perform specific tasks. Accordingly,
they can be of different types such as:

 Word processing software: This software allows users to create, edit, format, and
manipulate the text and more. It offers lots of options for writing documents,
creating images, and more. For example, MS Word, WordPad, Notepad, etc.
 Spreadsheet software: It is designed to perform calculations, store data, create
charts, etc. It has rows and columns, and the data is entered in the cell, which is an
intersection of a row and column, e.g., Microsoft Excel.
 Multimedia software: These software are developed to perform editing of video,
audio, and text. It allows you to combine texts, videos, audio, and images. Thus,
you can improve a text document by adding photos, animations, graphics, and
charts through multimedia software. For example, VLC player, Window Media
Player, etc.
 Enterprise software: These software are developed for business operational
functions. It is used in large organizations where the quantum of business is too

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 large. It can be used for accounting, billing, order processing and more. For
example, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), BI (Business Intelligence),
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), SCM (Supply Chain Management), customer
support system, and more.
 Presentation graphics: Presentation Graphics enable users to create highly
stylized images for slide shows and reports. The software includes functions for
creating various types of charts and graphs and for inserting text in variety of fonts.
Most systems enable us to import data from a spreadsheet application to create the
charts and graphs. Presentation graphics is often called business graphics. Some of
the popular presentation graphics software are Microsoft PowerPoint, Lotus
Freelance Graphics, Harvard Presentation Graphics, etc.
 Database management applications: Are computer programs that let people
create and manipulate data in a database. A database is a collection of related
information that can be manipulated and used to sort information, conduct
statistical analyses or generate reports. Example is Microsoft Access, Microsoft
SQL, MySQL and Oracle database.

Application software can be grouped into two broad categories

General purpose application software: These are called package software or commercial
software. A single software can be applied to a wide variety of tasks. By using such
software a user can fulfill his or her general needs. General purpose software includes,
MS Office, Corel Draw, Page maker, Adobe Photo shop, etc.
Special purpose application software: The software that is designed to perform a specific
task is known as special purpose application software. This is also called Custom
software. The Software can perform only one task for which it has been designed. Custom
software for the tasks of a large organization may be extremely complex and takes a lot
of time to develop. For example, Software to process inventory control, software to
maintain Bank Accounts, Software used in Airline Booking System, etc.

Programming software

Programming software is a set or collection of tools that help developers in writing other
software or programs. It assists them in creating, debugging, and maintaining software
or programs or applications. We can say that these are facilitator software that helps
translate programming language such as Java, C++, Python, etc., into machine language
code. So, it is not used by end-users. For example, compilers, linkers, debuggers,
interpreters, text editors, etc. This software is also called a programming tool or software
development tool. Some examples of programming software include; Eclipse: It is a java

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language editor, Notepad++: It is an open-source editor for windows, Sublime text: It is a
cross-platform code editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Programming language

Languages are a means of communication, normally people interact with each other
through a language. On the same pattern, communication with computers is carried out
through a language, these languages set the procedures & rules to write computer
programs, just as every language like English, Arabic, French, has its grammatical rules
likewise every computer language is bound by rules known as SYNTAX of that language,
programmers have to follow that rules which is set by programming languages. Thus
programming language is a set of rules that provides a way of instructing the computer
to perform certain operations. Programming languages are said to be lower or higher,
depending on whether they are closer to the language the computer itself uses or to the
language that people uses. The choice of programming language for writing a program
depends on the functionality required from the program and the kind of program to be
written. Example of programming language includes FORTRAN, C/C++, COBOL, Java,
and Python. Programming language level includes:

Machine language: Sometimes referred to as machine code or object code, machine

language is a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer reads and interprets.
Machine language is the only language a computer is capable of understanding because
it consist of numbers only, each kind of CPU has its own unique machine language.
Machine languages are machine dependent. Programming using Machine Language is
very tedious and time consuming. The programmer must keep track of a tremendous
amount of detail and one must understand the technical operations of the computer.
Programming in machine code has one advantage over programming at other language
levels - its execution is very fast and efficient because the computer can accept the
machine code as it is.

Assembly language: Assembly language falls in between machine language and high-
level language, they are similar to machine language, but easier to program in, because
they allow the programmer to substitute names for numbers. Thus they are also known
as symbolic languages as they use abbreviations or mnemonic code which replace the 0s
and 1s of machine language. An assembly language has a one-to-one correspondence
with the machine language of a computer and is machine dependent. Assembly
languages are more standardized and easier to use than machine languages. Assembly
languages and Machine languages are also called low-level languages, and are generally
used to write the system software.

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High-level language: is easier to understand and use for the programmer but difficult
for the computer. Regardless of the programming language used, the program needs to
be converted into machine language so that the computer can understand it. In order to
do this a program is either compiled or interpreted. A line of code in high-level program
may correspond to more than one line of machine code. Programs written in high-level
languages are easily portable from one computer to another Application software is
usually written in high-level languages. The program written in a programming
language is also called the source code. Example includes PHP, C/C++, Java, Python etc.

Software Characteristics

 Software does not wear out

 Software is not manufactured
 Maintainability- ease of modifying software for changing or adding capabilities or
improving performance.
 Flexibility- extent of modifying system for other user or environment.
 Portability- ease of modifying system for operating in different environment.
 Reusability- re-use of existing code or reusability of components.

Language translators

As mention earlier, one of the disadvantages of a high-level language is that it must be

translated to machine language. High level languages are translated using translators.
Translator software is used to convert a program written in high-level language and
assembly language to a form that the computer can understand. Translator software
converts a program written in assembly language, and high-level language to a machine-
level language program. The translated program is called the object code. There are three
different kind of translator software namely; Assembler, Compiler, and Interpreter.

Compiler
Source Object
Assembler
Code Code
Interpreter

Assembler: converts a program written in assembly language to machine language. The

mnemonics that are being used to represent instructions are not directly understandable
by machine. Hence to make the machine understand the instructions provided by the
Assembly language, Assembler are required to convert these instructions into machine
language.

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Compiler: A program written in a high-level language has to be converted to a language
that the computer can understand, i.e. binary form. Compiler is the software that
translates the program written in a high level language to machine language. The
program written in high-level language is referred to as the source code and compiled
program is referred as the object code. The object code is the executable code, which can
run as a stand-alone code. It does not require the compiler to be present during execution.
Compiler converts the entire source code into object-code and creates the object code. The
object code is then executed by the user. Each programming language has its own
compiler. Some languages that use a compiler are C++, COBOL, Pascal, and FORTRAN.

Interpreter: The purpose of interpreter is similar to that of a compiler. The interpreter is

used to convert the high level language program into computer-understandable form.
However, the interpreter functions in a different way than a compiler. Interpreter
performs line-by-line execution of the source code during program execution. Interpreter
reads the source code line-by-line, converts it into machine understandable form,
executes the line, and then proceeds to the next line. Since interpreter interprets line-by-
line, the interpreted code runs slower than the compiled code .Some languages that use
an interpreter are BASIC and Python.

USER INTERFACE

In general, a user interface is the interaction between a user and a computer. A part of
an OS is dedicated to providing a user interface between the OS and the user. Example:
The OS provides an interface for the user to manipulate the file system. We have two type
of user interface namely; Command line interface, and Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Command line interface: In a command line interface, the user types in keywords that
are instructions to the OS. Example is command prompt in PC systems.

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Graphical user interface: In a graphical user interface, the computer screen displays
graphical objects such as icons, menus, and windows. The user has a pointing device to
activate functions related to the objects.

COMPUTER NETWORK

A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. It enables computers

to communicate with each other and to share commands, data, etc., including the
hardware and software resources. Each computing device in a network is called a node
or station. The nodes can be routers, personal computers, and servers. Data
transformation is done via the network using rules known as protocols. The protocols are
the set of rules which every node of the network should follow for transferring
information over the wired or wireless network. Businesses are not the only ones that can
benefit from creating a network. Home users can enjoy sharing music, movies and
printers from any computer.

Popular Computer Networks:

 Local Area Network (LAN)

 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
 Wide Area Network (WAN)

Local Area Network (LAN): As the name suggests, the local area network is a computer
network that operates in a small area, i.e., it connects computers in a small geographical
area like within an office, company, school, or any other organization. So, it exists within
a specific area, e.g. home network, office network, school network, etc. A local area
network may be a wired or wireless network or a combination of both. The devices in a
LAN are generally connected using an Ethernet cable, which offers an interface to connect
multiple devices like router, switches, and computers.

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Features of LAN

 The network size is small, which consists of only a few kilometers.

 The data transmission rate is high, ranging from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.
 Some network devices connected to the LAN will be limited.
 If more devices are added than prescribed network may fail.

Primary Functions of LAN

 Sharing of files: It allows you to share or transfer files from one computer to
another computer within the LAN. For example, in a bank, it can be used to send
a file with the details of transactions of a customer from the server to clients.
 Sharing of printers: It also allows shared access to a printer, file servers, etc. For
example, ten computers that are connected through LAN can use a single printer,
file server, etc.
 Mail and message related services: It allows sending and receiving mails between
computers of a LAN. You are required to have a mail server for this.
 Database services: It also allows storing and retrieving data with the help of a
database server.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): is a high-speed network that spreads over a large
geographical area such as town. It is set up by connecting the local area networks using
routers and local telephone exchange lines. It can be operated by a private company, or
it may be a service provided by a company such as a local telephone company. MAN is
ideal for the people of a relatively large area who want to share data or information. It
provides fast communication via high-speed carriers or transmission media such as
copper, fiber optics, and microwaves. The area covered by MAN is larger than the LAN
but smaller than a WAN. Its network ranges from 5 to 50 km. An organization can use a
MAN to connect all of its LANs located at its different offices across the city.

Examples of MAN

 Cable TV Network
 Connected fire stations in a city
 Connected branches of a school in a city

Features of MAN

 The size of the MAN is in the range of 5km to 50km.

 The MAN ranges from the campus to the entire city.
 The MAN is maintained and managed by either the user group or the Network
provider.

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  Users can achieve the sharing of regional resources by using MAN.
 The data transmission rates can be medium to high.

Wide Area Network (WAN): extends over a large geographical area. It is not confined
within an office, school, city, or town and is mainly set up by telephone lines, fiber optic,
or satellite links. It is mostly used by big organizations like banks and multinational
companies to communicate with their branches and customers across the world.

Features of WAN

 Has a much larger capacity.

 WAN covers distances larger than 50 Km, e.g., 1000km or more.
 We can share the regional resources by using WAN.
 It does not connect individual computers; rather, they are designed to link small
networks like LANs and MANs to create a large network through ISPs.

Example of WAN

 Railway reservation system

 Stock exchanges network etc.

Standards for Good Network

 Performance: The performance is measured using transmit time and response

time. The network quality will be improved if the performance of the network is
high. The total performance of the network depends on many factors, which
include several users, Topology used in the network, and software and hardware
used.
 Transmit time: The time taken to send a message from one device to another
device is called as transmit time.
 Response time: The time passed from inquiry to response is called as response
time.
 Reliability: The reliability in a network state whether the data delivery to the
authorized and intended users was done correctly.
 Security: Network security involves the protection of data from unintended users'
protection of data from damage and disruption. Security in a network avoids data
breaches and data loss.
 Network Topology: It refers to the physical arrangement and representation of all
the nodes and components of the network. In general terms, Topology defines the
structure of the entire network. Network topologies are categorized into the
following basic types: bus, ring, star, tree and mesh.

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS

An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that

collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making
and control in an organization. In addition to supporting decision making, coordination,
and control, information systems may also help managers and workers analyze
problems, visualize complex subjects, and create new products. Three activities in an
information system produce the information that organizations need to make decisions,
control operations, analyze problems, and create new products or services. These
activities are input, processing, and output. Input captures or collects raw data from
within the organization or from its external environment. Processing converts this raw
input into a more meaningful form. Output transfers the processed information to the
people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used. Information systems
also require feedback, which is output that is returned to appropriate members of the
organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage.

Components of Information Systems

 Resources of people: End users: also called users or clients, they are people who
use an information system or the information it produces. They can be accountants,
salespersons, engineers, clerks, customers, or managers.
 Hardware: Physical computer equipment’s and associate device, machines and
media.
 Software: Programs and procedures.
 Data: Knowledge bases and data.
 Networks: Communications media (such as twisted pair wire, coaxial cable) and
network support such as Internet packages. Telecommunications networks like the

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 Internet have become essential to the successful operations of all types of
organizations and their computer-based information systems.

Management of Information Systems

 The Chief Information Officer (CIO): is the head of the information-systems

function. This person aligns the plans and operations of the information systems
with the strategic goals of the organization. Tasks include budgeting, strategic
planning, and personnel decisions for the information systems function.
The CIO position does not necessarily require a lot of technical expertise, it is more
important for this person to have good management skills and understand the
business. Many organizations do not have someone with the title of CIO. Instead,
the head of the information systems function is called the Director of Information
Systems.
 Information Security Officer: An information security officer is in charge of
setting information security policies for an organization and then overseeing the
implementation of those policies. This person may have one or more people
reporting to them as part of the information security team. As information has
become a critical asset, this position has become highly valued. The information
security officer must ensure that the organization’s information remains secure
from both internal and external threats.

Type of Information System

Transaction Processing System (TPS): Transaction Processing System are information

system that processes data resulting from the occurrences of business transactions. Their
objectives are to provide transaction in order to update records and generate reports i.e
to perform store keeping function Examples are Bill system, payroll system, Stock control
system.

Management Information Systems (MIS): Middle managers need systems to help with
oversight, control, decision making, and administrative activities. The main question that
this type of system must answer is: is everything working correctly? Its role is to
summarize and report on essential business operations using data provided by
transaction processing systems.

Decision Support System (DSS): Decision Support System is an interactive information

system that provides information, models and data manipulation tools to help in making
the decision in a semi-structured and unstructured situation. Decision Support System
comprises tools and techniques to help in gathering relevant information and analyze the
options and alternatives, the end user is more involved in creating DSS than an MIS.
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Examples are financial planning systems, Bank loan management systems. This type of
system attempts to answer questions such as what would the level of Return on
investment be if the plant schedule were delayed by more than six months?

Executive support system (ESS): ESS helps top management make decisions. They
address exceptional decisions requiring judgment, assessment, and a holistic view of the
business situation. ESS uses graphics and data from many sources through an interface
that senior managers easily understand. ESS is designed to integrate data from the
external environment, such as new taxes or competitor data, these systems also include
business intelligence analysis tools to identify key trends and forecasts.

Decision making and Information systems

Decision-making in companies is often associated with top management. Today,

employees at the operational level are also responsible for individual decisions since
information systems make information available at all company levels. So decisions are
made at all levels of the company. Although some of these decisions are common,
routine, and frequent, the value of improving any single decision may be small, but
improving hundreds or even thousands of "small" decisions can add value to the
business. Not all situations that require decisions are the same. While some decisions
result in actions that significantly impact the organization and its future, others are less
important and play a relatively minor role. Many situations are very structured, with
well-defined entrances and exits. For example, it is relatively easy to determine the
amount of an employee's pay if we have the appropriate input data (for example, the
number of hours worked and their hourly wage rate), and all the rules of relevant
decision (for example, if the hours worked during a week are more than 40, then the
overtime must be calculated), and so on. In this type of situation, it is relatively easy to
develop information systems that can be used to help (or even automate) the decision.

Types of Decisions, according to managerial level, are presented below

Decision level Characteristics of decision Examples of decision

Decide whether or not to come in

to the market
Top Management Unstructured
Approve the budget allocated to
capital

Intermediate Design a marketing plan

Semi-structured
Management Design website for the company

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 Operational Determine over time hours
Structured Grant credit to customers
Management
Give special offers to customer

The Primary Roles of Information System in an Organization

 Decision making: In an organization or business the managers need to make

decisions all the time. The decision must be backed by quality judgment of the
situation and its implications. Data collected, compiled and presented in a simple
way helps managers understand the position of the organization and take
appropriate decisions. For example the final report of a company shows the
companies sources of funds and it applications for return. If there is more source
of funds available then the manger has to find good investment opportunities.
Similarly restaurants can see the most ordered dish and beverage which helps the
manger to promote it more.
 Operations management: Information system is used to manage every day
operation in an organization such as employee monthly salary, taxes, attendance,
leave records, record income and expenses. Human Resources or HR, fall under
this, which handles a great many issues in the workplace. The primary function is
the recruiting, selecting and hiring of new employees, but goes way beyond that
in most organizations. Human Resources is also responsible to see that workplace
standards meet legal and ethical criteria, including the manner in which employees
are treated by their supervisors.
 Customer interactions: Information system also helps in customer interaction.
Few forms of customer interactions based on Information System are ATM
machines, recharge card in mobiles, monthly bill etc. Thus the implication of the
use of Information System for customer interaction is gaining more popularity.
With online shopping in Amazon, Jumia etc. are some of the more successful
organizations that have used Information System for customer interactions.
 Collaboration on teams: Information system has made the world a smaller place.
With connectivity available communication has increased a lot. People can conduct
meeting from different countries through skype, zoom etc. Friends and family
members can keep in contact through Facebook, celebrities and even head of states
can reach out to the general people through the use of Twitter. Information system
has made this possible.
 Individual productivity: Productivity is highly increased by Information system
but the user should be able to understand its effectiveness. For example, excel is

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 very useful for accountants and finance personnel with a lot of features in it. If
people do not understand these they cannot make full use of it.

Difference between Computers and Information Systems

Computers provide effective and efficient ways of processing data, and they are a
necessary part of an information system. An Information System (IS), however, involves
much more than just computers. The successful application of an IS requires an
understanding of the business and its environment that is supported by the IS. For
example, to build an IS that supports a public transportation system it is necessary to
understand necessary ingredient of the system such as Buses, but more is needed.
Designing the bus routes, bus stops, different schedules, and so on requires considerable
understanding of customer demand, traffic patterns, city regulations, safety
requirements, and the like. In learning about information systems, it is therefore not
sufficient just to learn about computers. Computers are only one part of a complex system
that must be designed, operated, and maintained.

Different between Information Technology and Information Systems

Information technology broadly defined as the collection of computer systems used by

an organization. Information technology, in its narrow definition, refers to the
technological side of an information system. It includes the hardware, software,
databases, networks, and other electronic devices. It can be viewed as a subsystem of an
information system. Sometimes, though, the term information technology is also used
interchangeably with information system. Information technology is the techniques used
in Information system. An information system collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and
disseminates information for a specific purpose. Communication is the backbone of
Information technology. Computer System, Internet, Telecommunication systems are the
information technology we use. Information systems are scattered throughout
organizations, often in several locations and sometimes in two or more organizations.
Information technology is implemented here to relay the information between these
locations. Not only the organization but also the individual today is dependent on
Information technology for career development and education. Education Institutions
today provide distant education and online examinations.

E-Governance

Electronic governance or e-governance is the application of information and

communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of
information, transactions, etc. which makes the whole administrative process convenient,
efficient, transparent, fully accountable, responsible and saving huge costs.
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Due to the rapid rise of the internet and digitization, Governments all over the world are
initiating steps to involve Information Technology in all governmental processes.

Advantages of E-Governance

 Speed: Technology makes communication faster. Internet, smartphones have

enables instant transmission of high volumes of data all over the world.
 Saving Costs: a lot of the Government expenditure goes towards the cost of buying
stationery for official purposes. Letters and written records consume a lot of
stationery. However, replacing them with smartphones and the internet can saves
lot of money and enhancing the effectiveness of spending money by government
every year.
 Transparency: The use of e-governance helps make all functions of the business
transparent. All Governmental information can be uploaded onto the internet. The
citizens access whichever information they want, whenever they want it, at the
click of a mouse, or the touch of a finger. However, for this to work the
Government has to ensure that all data as to be made public and uploaded to the
Government information forums on the internet.
 Accountability: Transparency directly links to accountability. Once the functions
of the government are available, we can hold them accountable for their actions.
Thus e-government could also receive feedbacks from people.

Disadvantages of E-government

E-government is not all about advantages but it also has some disadvantages, too. The
primary disadvantages of e-government is:

 The absence of public Internet access for all citizens.

 Reliability of the published information on the web by the governmental agencies.
 Capabilities of government and its agencies which can affect public opinions
potentially.
 Higher surveillance and monitoring: Once government implement e-government,
people will be compelled to communicate with it on a wider scale electronically.
As the government receives more and more information about its citizens, this
could possibly lead to a lack of privacy for civilians.
 Being too costly: Implementing, maintaining and optimizing e-government is not
cheap and requires to spend lots of money.
 Inaccessibility for all: e-government could not be accessible by all including those
who are living in distant regions, or have low rates of literacy and income on the
poverty line.

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Among the most interesting and challenging socio technological issues of e-government
are in the area of e-democracy, which aims to apply information and communication
technology to improve electoral processes in such a way that election can be made
transparent, free, fair and credible.

OFFICE AUTOMATION SYSTEM

Office automation refers to the use of computer and software to digitally create, collect,
store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks and
goals. The use of computer systems to do a variety of office operations, such as word
processing, accounting, and e-mail. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the
management of electronic business information comprise the basic activities of an office
automation system. Office automation helps in optimizing or automating existing office
procedures. The backbone of office automation is a LAN, which allows users to transmit
data, mail and even voice across the network. All office functions, including dictation,
typing, filing, copying, fax, microfilm and records management, telephone, fall into this
category.

Components of Office Automation System

 Microsoft Word: provides everything to produce professional-looking documents,

communicate your ideas, and share information with others.
 Microsoft Excel: makes it easy to build spreadsheets and then use, share, and
analyze the data, as well as provide reports and present the data graphically.
 Microsoft PowerPoint: allows you to organize, illustrate, and present your ideas
in a multimedia presentation. It gives you the tools to communicate with impact,
whether in the classroom, to parents, or to colleagues.
 Microsoft Access: lets you develop and use databases to store, manipulate, and
share information.

DATABASE

Database is a shared collection of logically related data and its description, designed to
meet the information needs of an organization. A database resembles a very well
organized electronic filing cabinet in which powerful software, known as a database
management system (DBMS), helps manage the cabinet’s contents. DBMS is a collection
of programs that manages the database structure and controls access to the data stored
in the database. Examples of database applications are: computerized library systems,
automated teller machines, flight reservation systems etc. So nowadays, we use relational
database management systems (RDBMS) to store and manage huge volume of data.

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This is called relational database because all the data is stored into different tables and
relations are established using primary keys or other keys known as foreign keys.

A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a software that:

 Enables you to implement a database with tables, columns and indexes.

 Guarantees the Referential Integrity between rows of various tables.
 Updates the indexes automatically.
 Interprets an SQL query and combines information from various tables.

RDBMS Terminology:

Let us revise few definitions related to database

 Database: A database is a collection of tables, with related data.

 Table: A table is a matrix with data. A table in a database looks like a simple
spreadsheet.
 Column: One column (data element) contains data of one and the same kind, for
example the column firstName.
 Row: A row (tuple, entry or record) is a group of related data, for example the data
of one Student.
 Redundancy: Storing data twice.
 Primary Key: A primary key is unique. A key value cannot occur twice in one
table. With a key, you can find at most one row.
 Foreign Key: A foreign key is the linking pin between two tables.
 Compound Key: A compound key (composite key) is a key that consists of
multiple columns, because one column is not sufficiently unique.
 Index: An index in a database resembles an index at the back of a book.
 Referential Integrity: Referential Integrity makes sure that a foreign key value
always points to an existing row.

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a unique tool released by Microsoft that provides both the
functionality of a database and the programming capabilities to create end-user screens.
Microsoft Access stores information in what is called a database. Microsoft Access is an
information management tool that helps you store information for reference, reporting,
and analysis. Microsoft Access helps you analyze large amounts of information, and
manage related data more efficiently than Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet
applications.

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There are four major steps to using Microsoft Access:

 Database Creation: Create your Microsoft Access database and specify what kind
of data you will be storing. A retail business might create a database to store all
their sales information (i.e. items sold, customer, employee, commission, etc).
 Data Input: After your database is created you can now store the data for everyday
business transaction into the Access database.
 Query: This is a fancy term to basically describe the process of retrieving
information from the database.
 Report (optional): Information from the database is organized in a nice
presentation that can be printed in an Access Report.

INTERNET

Internet is a global network of computers which allows access to an expanding number

of individual Web sites that provide us a facility of exchange data, messages, and files
with other computers that are connected to the internet. Information offers including the
contents of daily newspapers, the price of goods in local shopping malls, sports news and
chat-rooms. The Internet is a worldwide network of connected computers. This allows
the sharing of electronic information and resources. The Internet is considered the largest
telecommunications system ever created. A common set of rules, known as protocols,
allow the transport and viewing of files and documents found on computers connected
to the Internet. The internet is a wonderful and amazing arena where we can find
information about almost anything of the world. On the internet, we have ocean of
knowledge about the books, magazines, encyclopedia, and any other type of reference
material readily available. In addition, we can have expert opinions on any topic and can
communicate with world community on all ranges of subjects. Essentially, the internet
has brought the world nations to realization of global village in which we feel everyone
as close as our neighbor.

Brief History of Internet

The Internet was born in 1969, it was created by a group of researchers from the Defense
Department of the United States as a means of sharing information and protecting
communications with other agencies of the Government in the event of a nuclear attack.
It was designed as ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency network). In the
beginning, ARPANET was used mainly for communication technology research and
development, with scientists at various sites connected through a network, to share the
information. The fear that an attack could destroy all the information stored in the same
place obliged them to avoid storing the information in one single central computer and,

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instead, store it in multiple interconnected computers. It is currently estimated that
Internet groups 25,000 networks that communicate among themselves through telephone
line, fiber optics or via satellite. Until the end of the eighties, Internet was mainly used by
American researchers and academicians, i.e. in 1989 all the previous networks, created
for, military use were abandoned and replaced by National Science Foundation’s (NSF)
this was the turning point as the internet began serving the civilian community along
with the military as well.
Now the service was available to anybody in the community and people started
patronizing and monitoring the internet. Today, even the internet has become too much
commercialized; NSF is still donating a lot of funds to it. But in the present decade, since
it began to become popular among all kind of persons, it has grown at an unrestrained
pace, which makes a census in Internet as impossible to carry out as counting the heads
in a riot. Mindful of this, the Internet population can be anything between 10 to 100
million users approximately. The Internet does not have a director to manage or control
it. Neither does it belong to a private or governmental entity. The majority of its services
and resources are offered on a free basis to its users.

Why is the Internet Called a Network

Internet is called a network as it creates a network by connecting computers and servers

across the world using routers, switches and telephone lines, and other communication
devices and channels. So, it can be considered a global network of physical cables such
as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, TV cables, etc. Furthermore, even wireless
connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi make use of these cables to access the Internet.

How does internet work

Before understanding this let us understand some basics related to internet. The internet
works with the help of clients and servers. A device such as a laptop, which is connected
to the internet is called a client, not a server as it is not directly connected to the internet.
However, it is indirectly connected to the internet through an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) and is identified by an IP address, which is a string of numbers. Just like you have
an address for your home that uniquely identifies your home, an IP address acts as the
shipping address of your device. The IP address is provided by your ISP, and you can
see what IP address your ISP has given to your system.
A server is a large computer that stores websites. It also has an IP address. A place where
a large number of servers are stored is called a data center. The server accepts requests
send by the client through a browser over a network (internet) and responds accordingly.
To access the internet we need a domain name, which represents an IP address number,
i.e., each IP address has been assigned a domain name. For example, youtube.com,
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facebook.com, paypal.com are used to represent the IP addresses. Domain names are
created as it is difficult for a person to remember a long string of numbers. However,
internet does not understand the domain name, it understands the IP address, so when
you enter the domain name in the browser search bar, the internet has to get the IP
addresses of this domain name from a huge phone book, which is known as DNS
(Domain Name Server). For example, if you have a person's name, you can find his phone
number in a phone book by searching his name.
The internet uses the DNS in the same way to find the IP address of the domain name.
DNS servers are managed by ISPs or similar organizations. When you turn on your
computer and type a domain name in the browser search bar, your browser sends a
request to the DNS server to get the corresponding IP address. After getting the IP
address, the browser forwards the request to the respective server. Once the server gets
the request to provide information about a particular website, the data starts flowing. The
data is transferred through the optical fiber cables in digital format or in the form of light
pulses. As the servers are placed at distant places, the data may have to travel thousands
of miles through optical fiber cable to reach your computer.

Internet Protocol

Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the world with
each other and to the World Wide Web. It uses standard internet protocol suite (TCP/IP)
to connect billions of computer users worldwide. It is set up by using cables such as
optical fibers and other wireless and networking technologies. At present, internet is the
fastest mean of sending or exchanging information and data between computers across
the world. The internet is a massive “network of networks,” a networking infrastructure.
It connects millions of computers together globally. The computer you are sitting at (as
long as it’s connected to the internet) can communicate with the computer across the
street, down the block, or even around the world so long as the computer on the other
end is connected to the internet as well.
Information that travels over the internet does so via a variety of languages known as
protocols. Thus when you connect computers together, you get a "network" which allows
computers to "talk" to each other. The standard for communicating on the Internet is
called "TCP/IP" (pronounced as TCPIP without the '/') which is short for Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The key concept in TCP/IP is that every computer has
to know or can figure out where all other computers are on the network, and can send
data by the quickest route, even if part of the route is down. Reason the route is down
might include a computer is shut down or a phone line disconnected.

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Definition: TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a connection-based protocol that
provides a reliable flow of data between two computers. TCP/IP transfers information in
small chunks called "packets." Each packet includes the following information: The
computer the data came from, the computer to which it is headed, the data itself, the
error-checking information (to ensure that the individual packet was accurately and
completely sent and received).

Is the World Wide Web (WWW) the same as the Internet

The World Wide Web (or WWW) is one part of the Internet. Other parts of the Internet
include: e-mail or FTP files. The World Wide Web is a hypertext-based system.
Hypertext allows users to click on buttons or highlighted text using a mouse to go to
other Web pages containing text, sound, pictures, or video. The World Wide Web is
accessed by the use of a web browser. Many people use the terms internet and World
Wide Web interchangeably, but in fact the two terms are not synonymous. The internet
and the web are two separate but related things. The World Wide Web is a way of
accessing information over the medium of the internet. The web uses the HTTP protocol
(hypertext transfer protocol), which is only one of the many “languages” spoken over the
internet, to transmit data. Email, instant messaging, and uploading and downloading
files are all things that you do on the internet but are not part of the HTTP protocol. The
web utilizes special software called browsers to access web documents (more commonly
known as web pages) that are linked to each other via hyperlinks.
Web pages contain some or all of the following: text, images, audio, and video. If you
walk into a car dealership and say “I want to buy a vehicle...” Well, a vehicle can be any
number of things: a car, a van, a truck, a motorcycle, maybe even a boat. “Vehicle” is a
very general term. If you walk into a car dealership and say “I want to buy a car,” then
you are being (somewhat) more specific and eliminating trucks, vans, and so forth from
your buying options. Think of the term “vehicle” as being similar to the internet. It’s a
broad term that covers a lot. Think of “World Wide Web” as a term similar to car it is a
bit more specific. While the vast majority of “vehicles” on the road are in fact cars, not all
vehicles are cars. Similarly, while the vast majority of what you may do on the internet
involves the World Wide Web, not everything on the internet is part of the web.

Basic Services of Internet

 Electronic mail
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 Telnet
 The World Wide Web
 Social Networking
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  Online Services
 Information Resources

Electronic Mail: It is also known as e-mail in short, it enables to send and receive a mail
(message). It is faster than paper mail. Has additional features (attachment), which enable
you enclosed additional files with your email. You can attach Images, audio, video which
can be sent along with text (word processing document, spreadsheet and programs).

Limitation of Email

 Email is not necessarily private: Since Messages are passed from one
system to another, and sometimes through several system or networks,
there are many opportunities for someone to intercept or read email.
 Some email system can send or received text files only: even though you
can send and received images, programs, files produced by word processing
programs, some individual may not be able to properly view your message.
 It is possible to forge email: this is not common, but it is possible to forge
the address of the sender. You may want to take steps to confirm the source
of some email you receive.
 It is difficult to express emotion using email: The recipient does not have
the benefit of viewing your facial expression or hearing your voice.
 You can receive too much or unwanted emails: you can receive “junk”
email in the same way you receive other types of junk mail. On the internet,
junk mail is called spam. You may have to take active steps to delete the
email you receive and try to stop it from being sent to you in the first place
 You may not know about the person with whom you are communicating:
the communication is often in text and it is possible for us to get an incorrect
impression of the person sending us email also, some people misrepresent
themselves.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP): It enables users to move a file from one computer to
another computer. A file may contain: Text, document, Image, Artwork, Movie, Sound
and Software.

Telnet service: enables users to login to another computer on internet from their local
computer for using: Computing power of remote computer, Software on remote
computer, Database of remote computer, this action is called ‘remote login’.

The World Wide Web: It is a most popular method of accessing internet, it uses a concept
called hypertext. Hypertext documents on internet are known as web pages, Web pages
are created by using a special language called Hyper Text Markup Language (html).
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Social Networking: Now a days, Social networking system is very common it was first
created in 2004. These network help in sharing knowledge discussion on a specific topic,
problems and their solutions. Some of the most famous social networks are enlist below:
Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram etc.

Online Services: The Internet has made life very convenient. With numerous online
services you can now perform all your transactions online. You can book tickets for a
movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills, taxes etc. right from your home.

Information Resources: Information is probably the biggest advantage that Internet

offers. Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any
topic under the sun is available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, Yahoo
are at your service on the Internet. There is a huge amount of information available on
the Internet for just about every subject known to man, ranging from government law
and services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new ideas and technical
support, the list is simply endless. Students and children are among the top users who
surf the Internet for research.

Advantages of Internet

Communication: Easiest thing that can be done using the internet is that we can
communicate with the people living far away from us with extreme ease. Now people
can not only chat but can also do the video conferencing. It has become extremely easy to
contact the loved ones who are in some other part of the world. Communication or the
instant messaging is the most important gift that the internet has given to the common
man. Email, social networking sites are some of the prime example of it. This is one such
gift of the internet which is cherished by everyone and has made our life easier to much
extent.

Research: Now the point that has been placed next is research. In order to do research
you need to go through hundreds of books as well as the references and that was one of
the most difficult jobs to do earlier. Since the internet came into life, everything is
available just a click away. You just have to search for the concerned topic and you will
get hundreds of references that may be beneficial for your research. And since internet is
here to make your research public, you can then benefit a large amount of people from
the research work that you have done. Research is one such thing which has got lots of
benefit from this evolution of internet. Research process has now got wings and has
gained the most due to the internet.

Education: The next point that we have in this list is education. Yes you read it right.
Education is one of the best things that the internet can provide. There are a number of
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books, reference books, online help centers, expert’s views and other study oriented
material on the internet that can make the learning process very easier as well as a fun
learning experience. There are lots and lots of websites which are related to different
topic. You can visit them and can gain endless amount of knowledge that you wish to
have. With the use of internet for education, you are non-longer dependent on some other
person to come and teach you. There are various number of tutorials available over the
internet using which you can learn so many thing very easily. There can’t be any excellent
use of the internet other than education as it is the key to achieve everything in life.

Financial Transaction: Mentioned here is financial transaction. Financial transaction is

the term which is used when there is exchange of money. With the use of internet in the
financial transaction, your work has become a lot easier. Now you don’t need to stand in
the queue at the branch of your particular bank rather you can just log in on to the bank
website with the credential that has been provided to you by the bank and then can do
any transaction related to finance at your will such as online shopping. With the ability
to do the financial transaction easily over the internet you can purchase or sell items so
easily. Financial transaction can be considered as one of the best uses of resource in the
right direction.

Real time updates: this have been placed at the number fifth position here. This has been
mentioned here in regards to the news and other happenings that may be on-going in
different parts of the world but with the use of internet we come to know about it very
easily and without any difficulty. There are various websites on the internet which
provides you with the real time updates in every field be it in business, sports, finance,
politics, entertainment and others. Many a time the decisions are taken on the real time
updates that are happening in various parts of the world and this is where internet is
very essential and helpful.

Checking emails: It is reported that the first thing that 90 % of Internet users do when
they connected to the net is to check if they have received any emails. Internet has
drastically changed the mail pattern and has made it incredibly fast.

Download: It is hard to find an Internet user, who has not used it to download music and
movies. Apart from it, there are lots of other things that can be downloaded using internet
as well.

Search For Relevant Information: If you are not sure about something, then one of the
easiest way to know more about it is by searching it on internet. Internet has got a huge
database of information on almost every subject and one can easily find out lots of
information on any topic using internet.

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Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost every place in a
city, country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any other service near your location.

Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it using a system
with internet access. Today, many companies allow their employees to work from home.

Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and send you CV
through email if required.

Disadvantages of Internet

 It promotes violence and bad behavior within society, as it contains violent videos
and other disturbing images.
 It can encourage negative activities such as pornography, this things can now be
explored more openly due to the internet.
 It stops children from going out, as they wish to stay home and use the internet to
talk to friends etc.
 Time wastage: Although, Internet has a lot of advantages, it also contains some
disadvantages. Time wasting is one of among them. It can decrease your
productivity if you are spending too much time on the Internet using social media
apps while doing nothing. Rather than wasting time, one should use that time to
do something useful and even more productive.
 Bad impacts on health: You can get health related issues if you spend too much
time online; your body needs outside activities, exercise, and many other things. If
you look at the screen for a long time, it causes negative effects on the eyes.
 Cyber Crimes: These days, crimes including hacking, and data theft are increasing
day by day. Cybercriminals can quickly break into your system and store all of
your private information. Below are safety tips for Cyber Crime
 Use antivirus software
 Uninstall unnecessary software
 Maintain backup
 Check security settings
 Never give your full name or address to strangers

Web Browsers

A web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with
text, images, videos, music, and other information that could be on a website. Text and
images on a web page can contain hyperlinks to other web pages at the same or different
website. Web browsers allow a user to quickly and easily access information provided on
many web pages at many websites by traversing these links. Web browsers format HTML
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information for display so the appearance of a web page may differ between browsers.
Web browser is used to run the software application that allows retrieving, presenting
and traversing the information from one place to another. Example includes Internet
explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera etc.

Title Bar: List the title of the web page that you are viewing. There are three buttons to
the right of the title bar which reduce, maximize, or close the screen.
Content Area: Displays the current web page that is open on the browser.
Address Field: Shows the URL (Web address) of the web page that is currently displayed.
Status Indicator: Shows whether or not the Web page has completely loaded and can be
viewed.
Progress Bar: Indicates how much of the web page has loaded for viewing.
Status Message Field: Tells you the status of the web page. Indicates when the web page
is done and open for viewing.
Scroll Bar: This is used to move up or down on the web page.

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The Browser Toolbar

A browser “reads” the WWW pages, which are written in Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML), and converts them into a readable form. WWW consists of web sites. A web site
is similar to a magazine with articles. It is a collection of web pages. A home page is “the
front cover” that tells what is inside. A web page is an individual page that can be found
on a web site.

Web Addresses

http://library.sullivan.edu/ is an example of a web address (also known as a Uniform

Resource Locator or URL). Every web page must have a unique web address to be found
on the Internet. Your browser uses the web address (URL) to find information located on
another computer and to retrieve the corresponding page situated on that server. Each
part of the URL directs the browser to the correct web page.

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Different Domain on the WWW

How to Access Web Pages

Here are three ways to access a web page:

 Type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in the address box: Type the Uniform
Resource Locator (web address) in the browser address box. Click GO (or press the
ENTER button on the keyboard). The web address must be correct (no
misspellings, extra spaces, etc.) to go to the correct web page.
 Click on hypertext links on a web page. Hypertext links on a web page lead to
other web pages. The links on a web page are usually highlighted, underlined, or
are pictures. When you place the mouse cursor over a link, the arrow will change
into a hand. Click on the link to go to another web page. Use your BACK button to
return to the original web page.
 Use a search tool such as a keyword search engine (Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Bing,
and YouTube) or web directory (DMOZ: Directory Mozilla, Yahoo, Yelp, Hotfrog,
Jasmine directory): Search Engine: A search engine is a kind of website through
which users can search the content available on the Internet. For this purpose, users
enter the desired keywords into the search field. Then the search engine looks
through its index for relevant web pages and displays them in the form of a list.
Before you start a search, look closely at your subject topic, Are there unique
words, abbreviations, acronyms or synonyms for your topic? Are there any terms
you would want to leave out of a search? Do any of the topic words belong together
as a phrase? Enter the most important words first. Often search engines will search
and rank the first term used before any of the other search words. Use
capitalization for proper nouns and acronyms.

Limitations of the Web

 Web pages can be updated, redesigned, or removed

 Not everything can be found on the web
 Not everything is free on the web
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  The web may not be the best place to start your research. You may choose to:
Review reference books for background information. Then… look for WWW sites
to supplement or update your information.

Evaluating a Web Site

 Anyone can publish on the web. The author of a web page may be opinionated or
incorrect about facts.
 It is very important to evaluate a web site to make sure that it contains accurate
and reliable information.
 Look at the main purpose of the web site.
 Is the site informative or does it try to persuade you of something.
 Is the web site accurate?
 Are there errors in spelling or punctuation?
 Does the information appear reliable?
 Look at the authority of the web site.

COMPUTER VIRUS

Computer viruses are unwanted software programs or pieces of code that interfere with
the functioning of the computer. They spread through contaminated files, data, and
insecure networks. Once it enters your system, it can replicate to produce copies of itself
to spread from one program to another program and from one infected computer to
another computer. So, we can say that it is a self-replicating computer program that
interferes with the functioning of the computer by infecting files, data, programs, etc.
There are many antiviruses, which are programs that can help you protect your machine
from viruses. It scans your system and cleans the viruses detected during the scan. Some
of the popular antiviruses include Avast, Quickheal, McAfee, etc.

Types of Computer Virus

Overwrite Virus: It is the simplest computer virus that overwrites the code of the host
computer system's file with its own malicious code. The content of the infected file is
replaced partially or completely without changing the size of the file. Thus, it destroys
the original program code by overwriting it with its defective code. The infected files
must be deleted or replaced with a new copy as this virus cannot be removed or
disinfected.
Append Virus: As the name suggests, this virus appends its malicious code to the end of
the host program's file. After that, it alters the file's header in a way that the file's header
is redirected to the start of the malicious code of the append virus. Thus, this code is

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executed each time the program runs. However, it does not destroy the host program;
rather, it modifies it in a way that it holds the virus code and enables the code to run itself.
Macro virus: alters or infects the macros of a document or data file. It is embedded as a
macro in a document and adds its codes to the macros of the document. The virus spreads
when infected documents or data files are opened in other computers. It also spreads
through software programs, which execute macros such as Ms Word, Ms Excel. Each time
a document is opened using these programs, other related documents will also get
infected.
Boot virus: alters the boot sector program stored in the hard disk or any other storage
device such as floppy disks. It replaces the boot sector program with its own malicious
version. It infects the computer only when it is used to boot up the computer. If it enters
after the boot-up process, it will not infect the computer. For example, if someone forgets
to remove the infected floppy disk when the pc is turned off and then turns on this pc, it
runs the infected boot sector program during the booting process. Usually, it enters into
your system through corrupt media files, infected storage devices, and insecure computer
networks. The spread of this virus is very rare these days due to the decline in the use of
floppy disk and use of boot-sector safeguards in the present-day operating systems.
The resident virus: stays permanently in the primary memory (RAM) of the computer.
When you start the computer, it becomes active and corrupts the files and programs
running on the computer.
Non-resident virus: Unlike the resident virus, the non-resident virus does not reside in
the memory of a computer. So, it is not executed from the computer's memory. For
example, executable viruses.
File infector virus: It is one of the commonly found computer viruses. It mainly infects
the executable files; the files with .com or .exe extensions. The virus becomes active when
the infected file is executed. The active virus overwrites the file partially or completely.
Thus it may destroy the original file partially or completely.
Trojan horse: Trojan horse is a malware like a virus or a worm, but it is technically
different from both. It can't replicate like virus and worm. Trojan horse hides itself in a
program. Once you install any such program, the trojan horse enters into your computer.
It can provide unauthorized access to your computer, send your files to other computers,
and may delete files or can make other unwanted changes in your computer.
Encrypted virus: It encrypts its payload to make its detection more difficult. It comprises
two parts: an encrypted virus body and a decryptor, which decrypts the virus when it is
executed. After decryption, the virus can execute itself in order to replicate and become

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a resident. Furthermore, it is different from crypto locker, which is a computer virus that
encrypts the hard drive data and holds it for ransom.
Executable virus: It is a non-resident computer virus, which resides in an executable file.
Whenever the infected file is executed, it infects the other files.

Symptoms of a Computer Virus

Slow computer performance: The machine may work slowly, e.g., it will take more time
to open or shut down the computer or while opening a file, document, computer
application, etc. The operating system and internet speed may get slow.
Frequent pop-ups: A virus may cause unusual frequent pop-ups on your window.
Hard drive issue: The hard drive may exhibit unusual high activity even when it is not
in use. It may cause unwanted changes to your hard drive and may freeze or crash this
device.
Frequent crashes: One may experience frequent sudden system crashes while playing
games, watching videos, or doing some other work using the infected system. A blue
screen appears when it crashes.
Unknown programs: Unwanted programs may open or start automatically when you
start your computer. You can see these programs in your computer's list of active
applications. Sometimes, the window shuts down unexpectedly without any reason.
Unusual activities: Your machine may perform differently, such as you may not be able
to log into your accounts, to delete the corrupt files, and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
may appear frequently, and more. Furthermore, the hardware, software, or OS may start
malfunctioning leading to crashing the system abruptly.
Unnecessary advertisement: We often see advertisements while browsing, but if you see
them even when you are not browsing, it may indicate a virus on your computer.
Display problems: You may experience different colors in your display if your computer
is affected by a virus.
Dialog boxes: Many dialog boxes keep appearing suddenly on your screen.
Strange messages: One may see strange messages on a computer screen such as error
messages, e.g., "cannot rename "folder" as a folder already exists with this name".

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