(IC).

The ICs
Chapter 1 Computer comprise
semiconductor
materials.
System
1.1 IntroductIon to computer SyStem
A computer is an electronic device that can be
programmed to accept data (input), process it and
generate result (output). A computer along with
additional hardware and software together is called a “A computer would
computer system. deserve to be
A computer system primarily comprises a central called intelligent if
processing unit (CPU), memory, input/output devices it
and storage devices. All these components function could deceive a
together as a single unit to deliver the desired human into
output. A computer system comes in various forms
believing that it
and sizes. It can vary from a high-end server to
personal desktop, laptop, tablet computer, or a was
smartphone. human.”
Figure 1.1 shows the block diagram of a computer –Alan
system. The directed lines represent the flow of data Turing
and signal between the components.
Secondary
Storage Devices

Primary
Memory

Input Control Unit Output

Device (CU) Device

Arithmetic Logic
Unit (ALU)

Central Processing
Unit (CPU)
Figure 1.1: Components of a computer system

1.1.1 Central Processing Unit (CPU) In this chapter

It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries » Introduction to
out the actual processing and usually referred as the Computer System
brain of the computer. It is commonly called » Evolution of
processor also. Physically, a CPU can be placed on Computer
one or more microchips called integrated circuits
» Computer

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 2 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi

Memory
» Data Transfer
between Memory
Display monitor
and CPU
» Data and
Information
» Microprocessors Speaker
» Software
» Operating System

Printer

3D printer

Figure 1.3: Output

devices
The CPU is given
instructions and data
through programs.
The CPU then fetches
the program and
data from the
memory and
performs arithmetic
and logic operations
Figure 1.2: Input devices as per the given
instructions and
stores the result back
to memory.
While processing,
the CPU stores the
data as well as
instructions in its
local memory called
registers. Registers
are part of the CPU
chip and they are
limited in size and
number. Different
registers are used for
storing data,

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 C omputer S y Stem 3
instructions or intermediate
results. commonly used
printers are inkjet,
Other than the registers, the CPU has two main
laserjet and dot
components — Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and
matrix. Now-a-days,
Control Unit (CU). ALU performs all the arithmetic and
there is a new type
logic operations that need to be done as per the
of printer called 3D-
instruction in a program. CU controls sequential
printer, which is
instruction execution, interprets instructions and
used to build
guides data flow through the computer’s memory,
physical replica of a
ALU and input or output devices. CPU is also popularly
digital 3D design.
known as microprocessor. We will study more about it
These printers are
in section 1.5.
being used in
1.1.2 Input Devices manufacturing
The devices through which control signals are sent to industries to create
a computer are termed as input devices. These prototypes of
devices convert the input data into a digital form that products. Their
is acceptable by the computer system. Some usage is also being
examples of input devices include keyboard, mouse, explored in the
scanner, touch screen, etc., as shown in Figure 1.2. medical field,
Specially designed braille keyboards are also particularly for
available to help the visually impaired for entering developing body
data into a computer. Besides, we can now enter data organs.
through voice, for example, we can use Google voice
search to search the web where we can input the 1.2 evolutIon of
search string through our voice. computer
Data entered through input device is temporarily From the simple
stored in the main memory (also called RAM) of the calculator to a
computer system. For permanent storage and future modern day
use, the data as well as instructions are stored powerful data
permanently in additional storage locations called processor,
secondary memory. computing devices
1.1.3 Output Devices have evolved in a
relatively short span
The device that receives data from a computer of time. The
system for display, physical production, etc., is called evolution of
output device. It converts digital information into computing devices
humanunderstandable form. For example, monitor, in shown through a
projector, headphone, speaker, printer, etc. Some timeline in Figure
output devices are shown in Figure 1.3. A braille 1.4
display monitor is useful for a visually challenged A punched card is a
person to understand the textual output generated by piece of stiff paper that
computers. stores digital data in the
A printer is the most commonly used device to get form of holes at
predefined positions.
output in physical (hardcopy) form. Three types of

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 4 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
EDVAC/
Pascaline John Von Neumann introduced
Blaize Pascal invented a mechanical the concept of stored program
calculator known as Pascal calculator computer which was capable
or Pascaline to do addition and of storing data as well as
subtraction of two numbers directly program in the memory. The
and multiplication and division through then the ENIACEDVAC and were
computers
repeated addition and subtraction. developed based on this concept.

Tabulating Machine Integrated Circuit

Herman Hollerith designed An Integrated Circuit (IC) is
1642 a tabulating machine for 1945 a silicon chip which contains
summarising the data stored entire electronic circuit on a
on the punched card. It is very small area. The size of
computer drastically reduced

1970

1834 1947

Analytic Engine Transistor

Charles Babbage invented Vacuum tubes were
analytical engine, a replaced by transistors
500 BC mechanical computing device 1937 developed at Bell Labs,
for inputting, processing, using semiconductor
storing and displaying the materials.
output, which is considered
to form the basis of modern
computers.
Abacus Turing Machine
Computing is attributed to The Turing machine concept was a
the invention of ABACUS general purpose programmable
almost 3000 years ago. It machine that was capable of solving
was a mechanical device any problem by executing the
capable of doing simple program stored on the punched
cards.
ENIAC

step towards programming. because of ICs.

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 C omputer S y Stem 5
1890

arithmetic calculations only.

Figure 1.4: Timeline showing key inventions in computing technology

The Von Neumann architecture is shown in Figure 1.5. It consists of a Central
Processing Unit (CPU) for processing arithmetic and logical instructions, a
memory to store data and programs, input and output devices and
communication channels to send or receive the output data. Electronic
Numerical Integrator and
Computer (ENIAC) is the first
binary programmable Figure 1.5:
Von Neumann architecture for
computer based on Von
Neumann

the computer Integration (LSI) of electronic circuits allowed

integration of complete CPU on a single chip, called
microprocessor. Moore’s Law predicted exponential
growth in the number of transistors that could be
assembled in a single microchip. In 1980s, the
processing power of computers increased
In 1965, Intel cofounder exponentially by integrating around 3 million
Gordon Moore components on a small-sized chip termed as Very
introduced Moore’s Law
which predicted that
Large Scale Integration (VLSI). Further advancement
the number of in technology has made it feasible to fabricate high
transistors on a chip density of transistors and other components (approx
would double every two 106 components) on a single IC called Super Large
years while the costs Scale Integration (SLSI) as shown in Figure 1.6.
would be halved.
IBM introduced its first personal computer (PC) for
architecture. the home user in 1981 and Apple introduced
During the Macintosh
1970s, Large Scale

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 6 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
Number of Transistors
per Integrated Circuit

10,000,000,000
1,000,000,000 Core 2 DUO Core i7
100,000,000 Intel Microprocessors
Pentium II Pentium III IV
Pentium
10,000,000 Pentium
1,000,000 486
486
100,000 Invention of the 386
Transistor 286
10,000 8086
1,000 4004
100 Doubles every 2 years
10
1
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Figure 1.6: Exponential increase in number of transistors used in ICs over time
machines in 1984. The popularity of the PC surged by the
introduction of Graphical User Interface (GUI) based
operating systems by Microsoft and others in place of
computers with only command line interface, like UNIX or
DOS. Around 1990s, the growth of World Wide Web (WWW)
further accelerated mass usage of computers and thereafter
computers have become an indispensable part of everyday
life.
Further, with the introduction of laptops, personal
computing was made portable to a great extent. This was
followed by smartphones, tablets and other personal digital
assistants. These devices have leveraged the technological
advancements in processor miniaturisation, faster memory,
high speed data and connectivity mechanisms.
The next wave of computing devices includes the
wearable gadgets, such as smart watch, lenses, headbands,
headphones, etc. Further, smart appliances are becoming a
part of the Internet of Things (IoT), by leveraging the power
of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

1.3 computer memory

A computer system needs memory to store the data and
instructions for processing. Whenever we talk about the
‘memory’ of a computer system, we usually talk about the
main or primary memory. The secondary memory (also
called storage device) is used to store data, instructions and
results permanently for future use.

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 C omputer S y Stem 7
1.3.1 Units of Memory
A computer system uses binary numbers to store and
process data. The binary digits 0 and 1, which are the basic
units of memory, are called bits. Further, these bits are
grouped together to form words. A 4-bit word is called a
Nibble. Examples of nibble are 1001, 1010, 0010, etc. A two
nibble word, i.e., 8-bit word is called a byte, for example,
01000110, 01111100, 10000001, etc.
Like any other standard unit, bytes are grouped together
to make bigger chunks or units of memory. Table 1.1 shows
different measurement units for digital data stored in
storage devices.
Table 1.1 Measurement units for digital data
Unit Description Unit Description
KB (Kilobyte) 1 KB = 1024 Bytes PB (Petabyte) 1 PB = 1024 TB
MB 1 MB = 1024 KB EB (Exabyte) 1 EB = 1024 PB
(Megabyte)
GB 1 GB = 1024 MB ZB 1 ZB = 1024 EB
(Gigabyte) (Zettabyte)
TB (Terabyte) 1 TB = 1024 GB YB 1 YB = 1024 ZB
(Yottabyte)
Think and Reflect using other media, such as notebook, manual, journal,
Suppose there is a document, etc. Similarly, computers have two types of
computer with RAM memory — primary and secondary.
but no secondary (A) Primary Memory
storage. Can we install
a software on that Primary memory is an essential component of a
computer? computer system. Program and data are loaded into
1.3.2 Types of the primary memory before processing. The CPU
Memory interacts directly with the primary memory to perform
read or write operation. It is of two types viz. (i)
Human beings
Random Access Memory (RAM) and (ii) Read Only
memorise many
Memory (ROM).
things over a
RAM is volatile, i.e., as long as the power is
lifetime, and recall
supplied to the computer, it retains the data in it. But
from memory to
as soon as the power supply is turned off, all the
make a decision or
contents of RAM are wiped out. It is used to store data
some action.
temporarily while the computer is working. Whenever
However, we do
the computer is started or a software application is
not rely on our
launched, the required program and data are loaded
memory
into RAM for processing. RAM is usually referred to as
completely, and
main memory and it is faster than the secondary
we make notes
memory or storage devices.
and store
On the other hand, ROM is non-volatile, which
important data
means its contents are not lost even when the power
and information
is turned off. It is used as a small but faster permanent

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 8 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
(boot loader) that loads the
storage for the operating system into primary memory, is stored in
contents which are ROM.
rarely changed.
For example, the (B) Cache Memory
startup program RAM is faster than secondary storage, but not as fast
as a computer processor. So, because of RAM, a CPU
may have to slow down. To speed up the operations of the CPU, a very high
speed memory is placed between the CPU and the primary memory known as
cache. It stores the copies of the data from frequently accessed primary
memory locations, thus, reducing the average time required to access data
from primary memory. When the CPU needs some data, it first examines the
cache. In case the requirement is met, it is read from the cache, otherwise the
primary memory is accessed.
(C) Secondary Memory
Primary memory has limited storage capacity and is either volatile (RAM) or
read-only (ROM). Thus, a computer system needs auxiliary or secondary
memory to permanently store the data or instructions for future use. The
secondary memory is non-volatile and has larger storage capacity than
primary memory. It is slower and cheaper than the main memory. But, it
cannot be accessed directly by the CPU. Contents of secondary storage need
to be first brought into the main memory for the CPU to access. Examples of
secondary memory devices include Hard Disk Drive (HDD), CD/ DVD, Memory
Card, etc., as shown in Figure 1.7.
However, these days, there are secondary storage devices like SSD which
support very fast data transfer speed as compared to earlier HDDs. Also, data
transfer between computers have become easier and simple due to the
availability of small-sized and portable flash or pen drives.

1.4 data tranSfer between memory and cpu

Data need to be transferred between the CPU and primary memory as well as
between the primary and secondary memory.
Data are transferred between different components of a computer system
using physical wires called bus. For example, bus is used for data transfer
between a USB port and hard disk or between a hard disk and main memory.
Bus is of three types — (i) Data bus to transfer data between different
components, (ii) Address bus to transfer addresses between CPU and main
memory. The address of the memory location that the CPU wants to read or
write from is specified in the address bus,

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 C omputer S y Stem 9

Figure 1.7: Storage

devices
and (iii) Control bus to
communicate control signals
between different components of
a computer. All these three buses
collectively make the system bus,
as shown in Figure 1.8.
As the CPU interacts directly
with main memory, any data
entered from input device or the
data to be accessed from hard
disk needs to be placed in the main memory for further processing.
Figure 1.8: Data transfer between components through The data is then transferred
between system bus CPU and main memory using bus.
The CPU places on the address bus, the
address of the main memory location from which
it wants to read data or to write data. While
executing the instructions, the CPU specifies the

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1 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
0 read
or write control signal through the control bus.
As the CPU may require to read data from main
memory or write data to main memory, a data
bus is bidirectional. But the control bus and
address bus are unidirectional. To write data into
memory, the CPU places the data on the data bus,
which is then written to the specific address
provided through the address bus. In case of read
operation, the CPU specifies the address, and the
data is placed on the data bus by a dedicated
hardware, called memory controller. The memory
controller manages the flow of data into and out
of the computer's main memory.

1.5 mIcroproceSSorS
In earlier days, a computer's CPU used to occupy
a large room or multiple cabinets. However, with
advancement in technology, the physical size of
CPU has reduced and it is now possible to place a
CPU on a single microchip only. A processor (CPU)
which is implemented on a single microchip is
called microprocessor. Nowadays, almost all the
CPUs are microprocessors. Hence, the terms are
used synonymously for practical purpose.
Microprocessor is a small-sized electronic
component inside a computer that carries out
various tasks involved in data processing as well
as arithmetic and logical operations. These days,
a microprocessor is built over an integrated circuit
comprising millions of small components like
resistors, transistors and diodes.
Microprocessors have evolved over time in
terms of their increased processing capability,
decreasing physical size and reduced cost.
Currently available microprocessors are capable of
processing millions of instructions per millisecond.
Table 1.2 lists different types of microprocessors
along with their generation, time period, and
underlying technology since their inception in
early 1970s.
Table 1.2 Generations of Microprocessor
Generation Era Chip Word Maximum Clock Cores Example*
type size memory size speed

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 C omputer S y Stem 1
First 1971-73 LSI 4/8 1
1 KB 108 KHz- Single Intel 8080
bit
200 KHz
Second 1974-78 LSI 8 bit 1 MB Upto 2 MHz Single Motorola 6800
Intel 8085
Third 1979-80 VLSI 16 bit 16 MB 4 MHz - 6 Single Intel 8086
MHz
Fourth 1981-95 VLSI 32 bit 4 GB Upto 133 Single Intel 80386
MHz Motorola 68030
Fifth 1995 till SLSI 64 bit 64 GB 533 MHz - Multicore Pentium,
date 34 GHz Celeron, Xeon
*few prominent examples are included.

1.5.1 Microprocessor Specifications

Microprocessors are classified on the basis of
different features which include chip type, word
size, memory size, clock speed, etc. These
features are briefly explained below:
(A) Word Size
Word size is the maximum number of bits that a
microprocessor can process at a time. Earlier, a
word was of 8 bits, as it was the maximum limit at
that time. At present, the minimum word size is
16 bits and maximum word size is 64 bits.
(B) Memory Size
Depending upon the word size, the size of RAM varies.
Activity 1.1
Initially, RAM was very small (4MB) due to 4/8 bits word
size. As word size increased to 64 bits, it has become The maximum
feasible to use RAM of size upto 16 Exabytes (EB). memory size of
microprocessors of
(C) Clock Speed different generations
Computers have an internal clock that generates pulses are given at Table 1.2.
(signals) at regular intervals of time. Clock speed simply Represent
of power ofeach of the
means the number of pulses 2. memory size in terms
Activity 1.2 generated per second by the clock
inside a computer. The clock speed indicates the
Find out the clock
speed at which the computer can execute
speed of the
microprocessor of instructions. Earlier, it was measured in Hertz (Hz)
your computer and and Kilohertz (kHz). But with advancement in
compare
peers? with that of technology and chip density, it is now measured in
Gigahertz (GHz), i.e., billions of pulses per second.
(D) Cores
Core is a basic computation unit of the CPU.
Earlier processors had only one computation unit,
thereby capable of performing only one task at a
time. With the advent of multicore processor, it

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1 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
2 has
become possible for the computer to execute
multiple tasks, thereby increasing the system’s
performance. CPU with two, four, and eight cores
is called dual-core, quad-core and octa-core
processor, respectively.
1.5.2 Microcontrollers
The microcontroller is a small computing device
which has a CPU, a fixed amount of RAM, ROM
and other peripherals all embedded on a single
chip as compared to microprocessor that has only
a CPU on the chip. The structure of a
microcontroller is shown in Figure 1.9. Keyboard,
mouse, washing machine, digital camera,
pendrive, remote controller, microwave are few
examples of microcontrollers. As these are
designed for specific tasks only, hence their size
as well as cost is reduced.
Because of the very small size of the microcontroller, it is embedded in
another device or system to perform a
specific functionality. For example, the
Clock CPU
microcontroller in a fully automatic washing
Memory
machine is used to control the washing
Bus System
cycle without any human intervention. The
cycle starts with the filling of water, after
Input Output which the clothes are soaked and washed;
I/O-ports thereafter the water is drained and the
clothes are spin dry. The simple use of
microcontroller has permitted repetitive
execution
of tedious tasks automatically without any human
Figure 1.9: Structure of
microcontroller intervention, thereby saving precious time.

1.6 data and InformatIon

A computer is primarily for processing data. A
computer system considers everything as data,
be it instructions, pictures, songs, videos,
documents, etc. Data can also be raw and
unorganised facts that are processed to get
meaningful information.
So understanding the concept of data along
with its different types is crucial to understand the
overall functioning of a computer. Sometimes

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 C omputer S y Stem 1
people use the terms data, 3
information and knowledge interchangeably,
which is incorrect.
1.6.1 Data and Its Types
A computer system has many input devices,
which provide it with raw data in the form of facts,
concepts, instructions, etc., Internally everything
is stored in binary form (0 and 1), but externally,
data can be input to a computer in the text form
consisting of English alphabets A–Z, a–z, numerals
0 – 9, and special symbols like @, #, etc. Data can
be input in other languages too or it can be read
from the files. The input data may be from
different sources, hence it may be in different
formats. For example, an image is a collection of
Red, Green, Blue (RGB) pixels, a video is made up
of frames, and a fee receipt is made of numeric
and non-numeric characters. Primarily, there are
three types of data.
(A) Structured Data
Data which follows a strict record structure and is
easy to comprehend is called structured data.
Such data with pre-specified tabular format may
be stored in a data file to access in the future.
Table 1.3 shows structured data related to
monthly attendance of students maintained by
the school.

Table 1.3 Structured data: Monthly attendance records of students

Roll No Name Month Attendance (in %)
R1 Mohan May 95
R2 Sohan May 75
R3 Sheen May 92
R4 Geet May 82
R5 Anita May 97
R1 Mohan July 98
R2 Sohan July 65
R3 Sheen July 85
R4 Geet July 94
R5 Anita July 85
Think and Reflect
Can you give some more examples of unstructured data?

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 1 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
4 railway ticket bookings, ATM
It is clear that transactions, etc.
such data is
organised in (B) Unstructured Data
row/column format Data which are not organised in a pre-defined record
and is easily format is called unstructured data. Examples include
understandable. audio and video files, graphics, text documents,
Structured data may social media posts, satellite images, etc. Figure 1.10
be sorted in shows a report card with monthly attendance record
ascending or details sent to parents. Such data are unstructured as
descending order. In they consist of textual contents as well as graphics,
the example, which do not follow a specific format.
attendance data is
sorted in increasing
order on the column
‘month’. Other
examples of
structured data
include sales
transactions, online

Figure 1.10: Unstructured data: Monthly attendance record

(C) Semi-structured Data

Data which have no well-defined structure but maintains internal tags or
markings to separate data elements are called semi-structured data.
Examples include email document, HTML page, comma separated values (csv
file), etc. Figure 1.11 shows an example of semi-structured data containing
student’s month-wise attendance details. In this example, there is no specific
format for each attendance record. Here, each data value is preceded by a
tag (Name, Month, Class, Attendance) for
Figure 1.11: Semi-structured data:
Name: Mohan Month: July Class: XI Attendance: 98 the interpretation
Name: Sohan Month: July Class: XI Attendance: 65 Month-wise total
Name: Sheen Month: July Class: XI Attendance: 85 of the data
Name: Geet Month: May Class: XI Attendance: 82 attendance record
Name: Geet Month: July Class: XI Attendance: 94
maintained by the school value
while processing.
1.6.2 Data Capturing, Storage and Retrieval
To process data, we need to first input or capture the data. This is followed by
its storage in a file or a database so that it can be used in the future.
Whenever data is to be processed, it is first retrieved from the file or database
so that we can perform further actions on it.

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 C omputer S y Stem 1
(A) Data Capturing 5
It involves the process of gathering data from different sources in the
digital form. This capturing may vary from simple instruments like
keyboard, barcode readers used at shopping outlets (Figure 1.12),
comments or posts over social media, remote sensors on an earth
orbiting satellite, etc. Sometimes, heterogeneity among data sources
makes data capturing a complex task.
(B) Data Storage
It is the process of storing the captured data for
processing later. Now-a-days data is being produced
at a very high rate, and therefore data storage has
become a challenging task. However, the decrease in
the cost of digital storage devices has helped in
simplifying this task. There are numerous digital
storage devices available in the market like as shown
in Figure 1.7.
Data keeps on increasing with time. Hence, the
storage devices also require to be upgraded
periodically. In large organisations, computers with
larger and faster storage called data servers are
deployed to store vast amount of data. Such
dedicated computers help in processing data
efficiently. However, the cost (both hardware and
software) of setting up a data server as well as its
maintenance is high, especially for small
organisations and startups.
(C) Data Retrieval
It involves fetching data from the storage devices, for
its processing as per the user requirement. As
databases grow, the challenges involved in search
and retrieval of the data in acceptable time, also
increase. Minimising data access time is crucial for
faster data processing.
1.6.3 Data Deletion and Recovery
One of the biggest threats associated with digital
data is its deletion. The storage devices can
malfunction or crash down resulting in the deletion of
data stored. Users can
Activity 1.3
showroom, and
Visit some of the
find out
places 2
like bank,
automobile shopping
mall, tehsil office,
digital format.

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1 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
6
etc.,
– 3 names
of tools or instruments
used to capture data in

Figure 1.12: Capturing data using barcode reader

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 C omputer S y Stem 1
accidentally erase data from 7
storage devices, or a hacker or malware can delete the
Activity 1.4
digital data intentionally.
Explore possible ways Deleting digitally stored data means changing the
of recovering deleted details of data at bit level, which can be very
data or data from a
timeconsuming. Therefore, when any data is simply
corrupted device.
deleted, its address entry is marked as free, and that
much space is shown as empty to the user, without actually deleting the data.
In case data gets deleted accidentally or corrupted, there arises a need to
recover the data. Recovery of the data is possible only if the contents or
memory space marked as deleted have not been overwritten by some other
data. Data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, corrupted and lost data
from secondary storage devices.
Activity
1.5
Create a test file and
then delete it using
Shift+Delete from the
keyboard. Now recover
the file using the
methods you have
explored in Activity

There are usually two security concerns associated with data. One is its
deletion by some unauthorised person or software. These concerns can be
avoided by limiting access to the computer system and using passwords for
user accounts and files, wherever possible. There is also an option of
encrypting files to protect them from unwanted modification.
The other concern is related to unwanted recovery of data by unauthorised
user or software. Many a times, we discard our old, broken or malfunctioning
storage devices without taking care to delete data. We assume that the
contents of deleted files are permanently removed. However, if these storage
devices fall into the hands of mischief-mongers, they can easily recover data
from such devices; this poses a threat to data confidentiality. This concern can
be mitigated by using proper tools to delete or shred data before disposing off
any old or faulty storage device.

1.7 Software
Till now, we have studied about the physical components or the hardware of
the computer system. But the hardware is of no use on its own. Hardware
needs to be operated by a set of instructions. These sets of instructions are
referred to as software. It is that component of a computer system, which we
cannot
touch or view physically. It comprises the instructions hardware. The
and data to be processed using the computer

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 1 C omputer SC ien Ce – C la SS xi
8 computer operating systems,
software and hardware complete any task together. system utilities,
The software comprises a set of instructions which device drivers, etc.
on execution deliver the desired outcome. In other (A) Operating
words, each software is written for some System
computational purpose. Some examples of software As the name
include operating systems like Ubuntu or Windows implies, the
7/10, word processing tool like LibreOffice or Microsoft operating system
Word, video player like VLC Player, photo editors like is a system
GIMP and LibreOffice draw. A document or image software that
stored on the hard disk or pen drive is referred to as a operates the
soft-copy. Once printed, the document or an image is computer. An
called a hard-copy. operating system
1.7.1 Need of Software is the most basic
system software,
The sole purpose of a software is to make the
without which
computer hardware useful and operational. A
other software
software knows how to make different hardware
cannot work. The
components of a computer work and communicate
operating system
with each other as well as with the end-user. We
manages other
cannot instruct the hardware of a computer directly.
application
Software acts as an interface between human users
programs and
and the hardware.
provides
Depending on the mode of interaction with Hardware refers to the
hardware and functions to be performed, the software physical components
can be broadly classified into three categories viz. (i) of the computer system
System software, (ii) Programming tools and (iii) which can be seen and
Application software. touched. For example,
RAM, keyboard,
1.7.2 System Software printer, monitor, CPU,
etc. On the other hand,
The software that provides the basic functionality to software is a set of
operate a computer by interacting directly with its instructions and data
constituent hardware is termed as system software. A that makes hardware
system software knows how to operate and use functional to complete
different hardware components of a computer. It the desired task.
provides services directly to the end user, or to some
other software. Examples of system software include
access and security to the users of the system. Some
of the popular operating systems are Windows,
Linux, Macintosh, Ubuntu, Fedora, Android, iOS, etc.
(B) System Utilities
Software used for maintenance and configuration of
the computer system is called system utility. Some
system utilities are shipped with the operating
system for example disk defragmentation tool,

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9
formatting utility, system restore utility, etc. Another
set of utilities are those which are not shipped with
the operating system but are required to improve the
performance of the system, for example, anti-virus
software, disk cleaner tool, disk compression
software, etc.
(C) Device Drivers
Activity As the name signifies, the purpose of a device driver is
1.6 to ensure proper functioning of a particular device.
When it comes to the overall working of a computer
Ask your teacher to
help you locate any
system, the operating system does the work. But
two device drivers everyday new devices and components are being added
installed on your to a computer system. It is not possible for the
computer. operating system alone to operate all of the existing and
new devices, where each device has diverse characteristics. The responsibility
for overall control, operation and management of a particular device at the
hardware level is delegated to its device driver.
The device driver acts as an interface between the device and the
operating system. It provides required services by hiding the details of
operations performed at the
hardware level of the device. Just
like a language translator, a
device driver acts as a mediator
between the operating system
and the attached device. The
categorisation of software is
shown in Figure 1.13.
1.7.3 Programming Tools
In order to get some work done by
the computer, we need to give
instructions which are applied on
the input data to get the desired
outcome.
Computer languages are developed Figure 1.13: Categorisation of software
for writing these instructions.
It is important to understand here that computers and noteS
humans understand completely different languages. While
humans are able to write programs in high-level language,
computers understand machine language. There is a continuous
need for conversion from high level to machine level language,
for which translators are needed. Also, to write the instruction,
code editors (e.g., IDLE in Python) are needed. We will briefly
describe here the programming languages, language translators

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0 and program development
tools.
(A) Classification of Programming Languages
It is very difficult for a human being to write
instructions in the form of 1s and 0s. So different
types of computer programming languages are
developed to simplify the coding. Two major
categories of computer programming languages are
low-level languages and high-level languages.
Low-level languages are machine dependent
languages and include machine language and
assembly language. Machine language uses 1s and
0s to write instructions which are directly understood
and executed by the computer. But writing a code in
machine language is difficult as one has to remember
all operation codes and machine addresses. Also
finding errors in the code written in machine
language is difficult.
To simplify the writing of code, assembly language
was developed that allowed usage of English-like
words and symbols instead of 1s and 0s. But one
major drawback of writing a code in this language is
that the code is computer specific, i.e., the code
written for one type of CPU cannot be used for
another type of CPU.
High level languages are machine independent
and are simpler to write code into. Instructions are
using English like sentences and each high level
language follows a set of rules, similar to natural
languages. However, these languages are not directly
understood by the computer. Hence, translators are
needed to translate high-level language codes into
machine language. Examples of high level language
include C++, Java, Python, etc.
(B) Language Translators
As the computer can understand only machine
language, a translator is needed to convert program
written in assembly or high level language to
machine

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Code in high code 1
level language written in assembly language to machine language is
(Source Code)
called assembler. Each assembler can understand a
specific microprocessor instruction set only and
hence, the machine code is not portable.
Language
translater We also need translators to convert codes written
in high level language (source code) to machine
understandable form (machine code) for execution by
the computer. Compiler converts the source code into
Code in machine machine code. If the code follows all syntactic rules of
language
(Object Code)
the language, then it is executed by the computer.
Once translated, the compiler is not needed.
Figure 1.14: Translator An interpreter translates one line at a time instead
to convert source code
of the whole program at one go. Interpreter takes one
into object code
line, converts it into executable code if the line is
language. The syntactically correct, and then it repeats these steps
program code for all lines in the source code. Hence, interpreter is
written in assembly always needed whenever a source code is to be
or high-level executed.
language is called
(C) Program Development Tools
source code. The
source code is Whenever we decide to write a program, we need a
converted by a text editor. An editor is a software that allows us to
translator into the create a text file where we type instructions and store
machine the file as the source code. Then an appropriate
understandable translator is used to get the object code for execution.
form called object In order to simplify the program development, there
(machine) code as are software called Integrated Development
depicted in Figure Environment (IDE) consisting of text editor, building
1.14. tools and debugger. A program can be typed,
As we have compiled and debugged from the IDE directly. Besides
different types of Python IDLE, Netbeans, Eclipse, Atom, Lazarus are few
computer other examples of IDEs. Debugger, as the name
languages, different implies, is the software to detect and correct errors in
translators are the source code.
needed to convert 1.7.4 Application Software
the source code to The system software provides the core functionality
machine code. The of the computer system. However, different users
three types of need the computer system for different purposes
translators used in depending upon their requirements. Hence, a new
computing systems category of software is needed to cater to different
are assembler, requirements of the endusers. This specific software
compiler and that works on top of the system software is termed as
interpreter. application software. There are again two broad
The translator categories of application software — general purpose
used to convert the and customised application software.

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2 organisation, considering that
(A) General they are designed as per special requirements. Some
Purpose Software examples of user-defined software include websites,
The application school management software, accounting software,
software developed etc. It is similar to buying a piece of cloth and getting
for generic a tailor-made garment with the fitting, colour, and
applications, to fabric of our choice.
cater to a bigger
audience in general 1.7.5 Proprietary or Free and Open Source
are called general Software
purpose software. The developers of some application software provide
Such ready-made their source code as well as the software freely to the
application public, with an aim to develop and improve further
software can be with each other’s help. Such software is known as
used by end users Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). For example,
as per their the source code of operating system Ubuntu is freely
requirements. For accessible for anyone with the required knowledge to
example, improve or add new functionality. More examples of
spreadsheet tool FOSS include Python, Libreoffice, Openoffice, Mozilla
Calc of LibreOffice Firefox, etc. Sometimes, software are freely available
can be used by any for use but
computer user to Activity 1.7
do calculation or to
create account With the help of your
sheet. Adobe teacher, install one
application software in
Photoshop, GIMP, your computer.
Mozilla web A computer system can work without
browser, iTunes, application software, but it cannot work without system
etc., fall in the software. For example, we can use a computer even if no word
category of general processing software
purpose software. is installed, but if no operating system is
installed, we cannot
(B) Customised work on the computer. In other words, the use of computer is
Software possible in the absence of application software.
These are custom
or tailor-made
application
software, that are
developed to meet
the requirements of
a specific
organisation or an
individual. They are
better suited to the Activity
needs of an 1.8
individual or an Withcomputer.
the help of your
your

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 C omputer S y Stem 2
teacher, install one 3
Types of User
free and open source Interface of
application software Operating
System
Think and Reflect
When a computer is Command-based
turned on, who Interface
brings the OS into
RAM from the
secondary storage?
Graphical User
Interface

Touch-based
Interface

Voice-based
Interface

Gesture-based
Interface

Figure 1.15: Types of user interface of OS

source code may not be available. Such software are
called freeware. Examples of freeware are Skype,
Adobe Reader, etc. When the software to be used has
to be purchased from the vendor who has the
copyright of the software, then it is a proprietary
software. Examples of proprietary software include
Microsoft Windows, Tally, Quickheal, etc. A software
can be freeware or open source or proprietary
software depending upon the terms and conditions of
the person or group who has developed and released
that software.

1.8 operatIng SyStem

An operating system (OS) can be considered to be a
resource manager which manages all the resources of
a computer, i.e., its hardware including CPU, RAM,

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4 to provide an interface to the user
Disk, Network and through which the user can interact with the
other input-output computer. A user interface is a software component
devices. It also which is a part of the operating system and whose job
controls various is to take commands or inputs from a user for the
application software operating system to process.
and device drivers,
manages system 1.8.1 OS User Interface
security and There are different types of user interfaces each of
handles access by which provides a different functionality. Some
different users. It is commonly used interfaces are shown in Figure 1.15.
the most important
(A) Command-based Interface
system software.
Command-based interface requires a user to enter the
Examples of popular
commands to perform different tasks like creating,
OS are Windows,
Linux, Android,
Macintosh and so
on.
The primary
objectives of an
operating system
are two-fold. The
first is to provide
services for building
and running
application
programs. When an
application program
needs to be run, it is
the operating
system which loads
that program into
memory and
allocates it to the
CPU for execution.
When multiple
application
programs need to
be run, the
operating system
decides the order of
the execution.
The second
objective of an
operating system is

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C omputer S y Stem 25

opening, editing or deleting a file, etc. The user has

to remember the names of all such programs or
specific commands which the operating system
supports.
The primary input device used by the user for
command based interface is the keyboard. Command
based interface is often less interactive and usually
allows a user to run a single program at a time.
Examples of operating systems with command-
based interface include MS-DOS and Unix.
(B) Graphical User Interface
Graphical User Interface (GUI) lets users run
programs or give instructions to the computer in the
form of icons, menus and other visual options. Icons
usually represent files and programs stored on the
computer and windows represent running programs
that the user has launched through the operating
system.
The input devices used to interact with the GUI
commonly include the mouse and the keyboard.
Examples of operating systems with GUI interfaces
include Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu, Fedora and
Macintosh, among others.
(C) Touch-based Interface
Today smartphones, tablets and PCs allow users to
interact with the system simply using the touch
input. Using the touchscreen, a user provides inputs
to the operating system, which are interpreted by the
OS as commands like opening an app, closing an
app, dialing a number, scrolling across apps, etc.
Examples of popular operating systems with
touchbased interfaces are Android and iOS. Windows
8.1 and 10 also support touch-based interfaces on
touchscreen devices.
(D) Voice-based Interface
Modern computers have been designed to address
the needs of all types of users including people with
special needs and people who want to interact with
computers or smartphones while doing some other
task. For users who cannot use the input devices like
the mouse, keyboard, and touchscreens, modern
operating systems provide other means of human-

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6
computer interaction. Users today can use voice-
based commands to make a computer work in the
desired way. Some operating
Operating system is called 1.8.2 Functions of Operating System
resource manager as it
manages different resources Now let us explore the important services and tasks
like main memory, CPU, I/O that an operating system provides for managing the
devices, so that each
resource is used optimally computer system.
and system performance
does not deteriorate.
(A) Process Management
systems which While a computer system is operational, different
provide voice-based tasks are running simultaneously. A program is
control to users intended to carry out various tasks. A task in
include iOS (Siri), execution is known as process. We can activate a
Android (Google Now system monitor program that provides information
or “OK Google”), about the processes being executed on a computer. In
Microsoft Windows 10 some systems it can be activated using
(Cortana) and so on. Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It is the responsibility of operating
system to manage these processes and get multiple
(E) Gesture-based
tasks completed in minimum time. As CPU is the main
Interface resource of computer system, its allocation among
Some smartphones processes is the most important service of the
based on Android and operating system. Hence process management
iOS as well as laptops concerns the management of multiple processes,
let users interact with allocation of required resources, and exchange of
the devices using information among processes.
gestures like waving,
tilting, eye motion (B) Memory Management
and shaking. This Primary or main memory of a computer system is
technology is evolving usually limited. The main task of memory
faster and it has management is to give (allocate) and take (free)
promising potential memory from running processes. Since there are
for application in multiple processes running at a time, there arises a
gaming, medicine and need to dynamically (on-the-go) allocate and free
other areas. memory to the processes. Operating system should do
it without affecting other processes that are already
residing in the memory and once the process is
finished, it is again the responsibility of the operating
system to take the memory space back for re-

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C omputer S y Stem 27

utilisation. Hence, memory management concerns

with management of main memory so that maximum
memory is occupied or utilised by large number of
processes while keeping track of each and every
location within the memory as free or occupied.
(C) File Management
Data and programs are stored as files in the secondary
storage of a computer system. File management
involves the creation, updation, deletion and
protection of these files in the secondary memory.
Protection is a crucial function of an operating system,
as multiple users can access and use a computer
system. There must be a mechanism in place that will
stop users from accessing files that belong to some
other user and have not been shared with them. File
management system manages secondary memory,
while memory management system handles the main
memory of a computer system.
(D) Device Management
A computer system has many I/O devices and
hardware connected to it. Operating system manages
these heterogeneous devices that are interdependent.
The operating system interacts with the device driver
and the related software for a particular device. The
operating system must also provide the options for
configuring a particular device, so that it may be used
by an end user or some other device. Just like files,
devices also need security measures and their access
to different devices must be restricted by the
operating system to the authorised users, software

Summary
• A computing device, also referred as computer,
processes the input data as per given
instructions to generate desired output.
• Computer system has four physical components
viz. (i) CPU, (ii) Primary Memory, (iii) Input
Device and (iv) Output Devices. They are
referred to as hardware of computer.
• Computer system has two types of primary
memories viz. (i) RAM, the volatile memory and
(ii) ROM, the non-volatile memory.

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and other hardware only. noteS• System bus is used to
transfer data, addresses and control signals between
components of the computer system.
• A microprocessor is a small-sized electronic
component inside a computer that performs basic
arithmetic and logical operations on data.
• Microcontroller is a small computing device which
has a CPU, a fixed amount of RAM, ROM and other
peripherals embedded on a single chip.
• Software is a set of instructions written to achieve
the desired tasks and are mainly categorised as
system software, programming tools and
application software.
• Hardware of a computer cannot function on its
own. It needs software to be operational or
functional.
• Operating system is an interface between the
user and the computer and supervises the
working of computer system, i.e., it monitors and
controls the hardware and software of the
computer system.

exercISe
1. Name the software required to make a computer
functional. Write down its two primary services.
2. How does the computer understand a program
written in high level language?
3. Why is the execution time of the machine code
less than that of source code?
4. What is the need of RAM? How does it differ from
ROM?
5. What is the need for secondary memory?
6. How do different components of the computer
communicate with each other?
7. Draw the block diagram of a computer system.
Briefly write about the functionality of each
component.
8. What is the primary role of system bus? Why is
data bus is bidirectional while address bus is

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C omputer S y Stem 29

unidirectional?
9. Differentiate between proprietary software and
freeware software. Name two software for each
type.
10. Write the main difference between
microcontroller and microprocessor. Why
do smart home appliances have a
microcontroller instead of microprocessor
embedded in them?
11. Mention the different types of data that
you deal with while browsing the
Internet.
12. Categorise the following data as structured,
semistructured and unstructured:
• Newspaper
• Cricket Match Score
• HTML Page
• Patient records in a hospital
13. Name the input or output device used to do the
following:
a) To output audio
b) To enter textual data
c) To make hard copy of a text file
d) To display the data or information
e) To enter audio-based command
f) To build 3D models
g) To assist a visually-impaired individual in entering data
14. Identify the category (system, application,
programming tool) of the following software: a)
Compiler
b) Assembler
c) Ubuntu
d) Text editor

explore yourSelf
1. Ask your teacher to help you locate any two device
drivers installed on your computer.

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0
2. Write any two system software and two application
software installed on your computer.
3. Which microprocessor does your personal computer have?
Which generation does it belong to?
4. What is the clock speed of your microprocessor?
5. Name any two devices in your school or home that have a
microcontroller.
noteS6. Check the size of RAM and HDD of a computer in your
school. Make a table and write their size in Bytes,
Kilobytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes.
7. List all secondary storage devices available at your
school or home.
8. Which operating system is installed on your
computer at home or school?

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