Computer :

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

computer system.

A computer system primarily comprises of a central processing unit, memory,

input/output devices, and storage devices. All these components function
together as a single unit to deliver the desired output.

Central Processing Unit:

• It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out the actual
processing and is usually referred to as the brain of the computer. It is also
commonly called 'processor' also.
• Physically, a CPU can be placed on one or more microchips called
integrated circuits (IC).

The CPU has two main components —

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and Control Unit (CU).

ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic operations that need to be done as per
the instruction in a program.

CU controls sequential instruction execution, interprets instructions and guides

data flow through the computer’s memory, ALU and input or output devices.

CPU is also popularly known as microprocessor.

Input Devices:

The devices through which control signals are sent to a computer are termed as input
devices. These devices convert the input data into a digital form that is acceptable by
the computer system.

Some examples of input devices include keyboard, mouse, scanner, touch screen, etc.

Data entered through input device is temporarily stored in the main memory (also called
RAM) of the computer system.

Output Devices:

The device that receives data from a computer system for display, physical production,
etc., is called output device. It converts digital information into human understandable
form.
For example, monitor, projector, headphone, speaker, printer etc.
A printer is the most commonly used device to get output in physical (hard-copy) form.
Three types of commonly used printers are inkjet, LaserJet and dot matrix.

Computer Memory:
The computer system needs memory to store the data and instruction for processing.

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.

Types of Memory:
Computers have two types of memories namely —primary memory and
secondary memory.
Primary Memory:
The primary memory is an essential component of a computer system.
Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before processing.
The CPU interacts directly with the primary memory to perform read/write
operation.
It is of two types- Random access memory (RAM) and Read only memory
(ROM).
RAM:
RAM is volatile i.e. as long as the power is supplied to the computer,
it retains the data in it. But as soon as the power supply is turned off,
all the contents of RAM are wiped out. It is used to store data
temporarily while the computer is working
ROM:
ROM is non-volatile, means its contents are not lost even when the
power is turned off.

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.
• 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 include Hard Disk Drive (HDD),
CD/DVD, Memory Card, etc.

Cache Memory:
• 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 to access memory, it first examines the cache.
In case the requirement is met, it is read from the cache, otherwise the
primary memory is accessed.

Software:
• Software is a set of instructions and data that makes hardware
functional to complete the desired task.
• It is that component of a computer system, which we cannot touch or
view physically.
• The computer software and hardware complete any task together.
• Some examples of software include operating systems like Ubuntu or
Windows 7/10, word processing tools like LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft
Word, video player like VLC Player, photo editors like Paint and LibreOffice
Draw.

Need of Software:

• The sole purpose of a software is to make computer hardware useful

and operational. A software knows how to make different hardware
components of a computer work and communicate with each other as well
as with the end user.
• Software acts as an interface between human users and the
hardware.
Software can be divided into three groups:
1. System SW
1.1 Operating System
1.2 System Utilities
1.3 Device Driver

2. Application SW
2.1 General purpose software.
2.2 Customized application software.

3. Proprietary or Free and Open Source Software

System Software:
• The software that provides the basic functionality to operate a computer by
interacting directly with its constituent hardware is termed as system software.
• A system software knows how to operate and use different hardware
components of a computer.
• It provides services directly to the end user, or to some other software.
• Examples of system software include operating systems, system utilities,
device drivers, etc.
Operating System:
• Operating system is a system software that operates the computer. An
operating system is the most basic system software, without which other software
cannot work.
• The operating system manages other application programs and provides
access and security to the users of the system.
• Some of the popular operating systems are Windows, Linux, Macintosh,
Ubuntu, Fedora, Android, IOS, etc.

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 de-fragmentation tool, 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.

Device Drivers:
• The purpose of a device driver is to ensure proper functioning of a particular
device.
• 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.

Application Software:
• Different users need the computer system for different purposes depending
upon their requirements. Hence, a new category of software is needed to cater to
different requirements of the end users.
• This specific software that works on top of the system software is termed as
application software.

General Purpose Software:

• The application software developed for generic applications, to cater to a
bigger audience in general are called general purpose software.
• Such ready-made application software can be used by end users as per their
requirements.
• For example, spreadsheet tool, LibreOffice Calc can be used by any
computer user to do calculation or to create an account sheet. Adobe Photoshop,
GIMP, Mozilla web browser, iTunes, etc. fall in the category of general purpose
software.

Customized Software:
• These are custom or tailor-made application software that are developed to
meet the requirements of a specific organization or an individual.
• Some examples of user-defined software include websites, school
management software, accounting software, etc.

Proprietary or Free and Open Source Software:

Developers of some software allow public to freely use their software along with
source code with an aim to improve further with each other’s help. Such software
is known as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
For example, the source code of operating system Ubuntu is freely accessible for
anyone with the required knowledge to improve/add new functionality. More
examples of FOSS include Python, Libreoffice, Openoffice, Mozilla Firefox, etc.

Software that are freely available for use but source code may not be available, is
called freeware.
Examples of freeware are Skype, Adobe Reader etc.

When 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