FIRST TERM 2024/2025 SESSION

COMPUTER NOTE FOR JS2

SCHEME OF WORK

Lesson One: COMPUTER SOTWARE

Lesson Two: Units of Storage in Computer

Lesson Three: Secondary memory or Auxiliary memory

Lesson Four: Computer program solving Skill

Lesson Five: BASIC programming

LESSON ONE
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Computer Software is defined as step-by-step instructions used to instruct the computer on
what to do.
It could also be defined as set of instructions and procedures passed to the computer to
perform certain activities or tasks.
Software can also be called programs or instructions. Software acts as a communication link
between the user and the computer.
Types of Software
Software can be divided into the following:

(i) System Software

(ii) Application Software

SYSTEM SOFTWARE
These are software that control the way the different computer components communicate with
one another. It is the software that consists of all the programs, languages and documentations
supplied by the computer manufacturer.
System software can be further classified into the following:

i. Bootstrap loader
ii. Operating system
iii. Utility program
iv. Translator
v. Executive

UTILITY PROGRAM: This is also known as service program. It is a common tool for file and
computer management. These are software that is used for general housekeeping functions on
the computer such as repairing the computer, back file up, copying, sorting and printing of
data. Examples are Norton utilities, antivirus, scandisk, defragment, windows explorer etc.
TRANSLATOR: This is software that translates programs written by users into machine
language. Examples include MS DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), Windows 7, Windows
8, Windows XP, Linux Redhat, Linux Mandrake.

Program Translator Machine language

EXECUTIVE: This is a master program that is permanently held in the internal storage of the
computer.
BOOTSTRAP LOADER: This is a program that loads other programs and imports parts of the
operating systems into the main memory.

OPERATING SYSTEM
These are software that supervise input and output operations and control communication that
exists among the different components of the computer system. This is a set of programs that
manage the computer resources. It is a set of routines and procedures that govern the
operation of a computer.
FUNCTIONS OF OPERATING SYSTEM
1. It controls and monitors access to the computer system by different user.
2. It organizes how data are stored temporarily in RAM or permanently in disks and tapes
3. It responsible for allocating computer system resources.
4. It starts the control of all input and output resources.
5. It informs the user of any hardware and software errors in the system.
6. It contains utility programs such as scandisk, and the disk manager which are used to
solve system hardware problems.
7. It controls all operations of the system.

Examples of Operating Systems

1. Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS DOS)
2. Microsoft Windows (MS Windows)
3. Linux
4. Unix
5. Others examples are Windows,
6. NT OS/2
7. Apple Macintosh OS

Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows are a series of software operating systems and graphical user Interfaces
produced by Microsoft. They are Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows XP, Windows
2000, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows Vista

APPLICATION SOFTWARE
These are software that is used to perform a specific task or job on the computer.
Examples are Microsoft Word, CorelDraw, PageMaker, Dac Easy, Peachtree, Dbase, Oracle,
AutoCAD etc
Classification of Application Software
i. Word Processing application Software: These software packages are used in achieving word
processing job objectives, such as typing letters, memos, reports, and projects. Examples
are: Ms-Word, Notepad, Word pad, Word Perfect, PageMaker
ii. Data Processing/ Spreadsheet application Software: They are used for calculation, statistics
and data analysis. Example: MS-Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Sage, Dac Easy and Peachtree
iii. Database Management System (DBMS) application Software: These are software packages
that are used for database creation and manipulations. Examples of packages of these group
are: MS-Access, Dbase and Oracle.
iv. Graphic application Software: These software packages are used for drawing, creating logos,
letterheads, editing photographs etc. Examples are Ms-Paint, CorelDraw, Instant Artists,
Paintbrush etc
v. Presentation application Software: It is used for information presentation, especially in
seminars, conferences and workshops. It is used to create slides. Examples include Ms-
PowerPoint, Easy worship etc
vi. Entertainment application Software: It is used as a means of relaxation. Examples include:
Power DVD player, Windows media player, WinDVD, Ayo, Yahoo, bow and Arrow etc
vii. Architectural/Engineering application Software: It is used for architectural designs and
engineering work such as measurements and calculations examples are: AutoCAD, ArchiCAD
viii. Learning application Software: It is used for learning in schools and homes. Examples
include Marvin Beacon Tutors and Encyclopaedia etc.

LESSON TWO

UNITS OF STORAGE IN COMPUTERS

Before the invention of the computer, people stored information in various means such as the
brain, books (textbooks and notebooks), plates and leather. There were many limitations of
these means which the computer has corrected. Computer has ability to store data and large
information for a very long period of time. The computer also stores information in various
units.

The various units of storage in computer science are the means of representing, storing and
measuring data and information in the computer.

The common units’ of storage include:

1. Bit: This means(Binary Digit) either 0 or 1 in the binary number system. In computer
processing and storage, a bit is the smallest unit of information handled by a computer.
2. Byte: This consists of eight bits. In computer processing and storage, a byte is the
equivalent of a single character, such as a letter, a numeral, or a punctuation mark.
3. Nibble: This consists of four bits.
4. Character: This is not necessarily visible, either on the screen or on the paper.
 5. Word: A word is a string of bits stored in computer memory; large computers use words
up to 64bits long.
6. Kilobyte (KB): This is 1024 bytes or 210 bytes. It is equivalent to one thousand bytes
7. Megabytes (MB): This is 1,048,576 bytes or 220 bytes i.e. 1024 X 1024 bytes. It is
equivalent to one million bytes
8. Gigabyte (GB): This is 230 bytes i.e. 1024 X 1024 X 1024 bytes. It is equivalent to one
billion bytes.
9. Terabyte (TB): This is 240 bytes i.e. 1024 X 1024 X 1024 X 1024 bytes. It is equivalent to
one trillion bytes
10. Petabyte: This is a unit of information that is equal to 1024 terabytes i.e. 1024 X 1024
X1024 X 1024 X 1024 bytes

Conventional capacities of known storage media and their drive notations

Storage media name Notation Letter Size

1 3½ floppy disk or Diskette A: 1.44MB
2. 5¼ Floppy disk or Diskette B: 1.44MB
3. CD-ROM/DVD ROM D: 12MB to 700 MB and
above
4 Hard Disk C: 4GB to 300GB and
above
5. Flash Drive E: or F: 218MB to 2GB and
above
6. Zip disk E: or F: 100MB to 2GB and
above
7 Jas disk Any letter 1GB and more

CONVERSION FROM ONE UNIT TO ANOTHER

Unit of storage Size

1 kilobyte (KB) 1024 bytes

1 megabyte (MB) 1024KB (approximately 1000kilobyte)

1 Gigabyte (GB) 1024MB (approximately 1000 Megabyte)

1 Terabyte (TB) 1024GB (approximately 1000 Gigabyte)

1 Petabyte (PB) 1024TB (approximately 1000 Terabyte)

CONVERSION EXAMPLES

1. Convert 50KB to Megabyte (MB)

1024KB = 1 MB
50𝐾𝐵
Therefore 50KB = x 1MB
1024𝐾𝐵
 = 0.0488MB or 0.05MB

2. Convert 0.15MB to Kilobyte

I MB =1024KB
0.15𝑀𝐵
Therefore 0.15MB = X 1024
1𝑀𝐵
= 153.6KB
3. Convert 2000KB to Gigabyte
1024 X 1024KB =1 GB
2000𝐾𝐵
Therefore 2000KB = (1 024 𝑋 1024)𝐾𝐵
X 1KB
2000
= x 1GB
1 048 576)
=0.0019GB or 0.002GB
4. Convert 0.00005GB to Kilobyte
1 GB = 1024 X 1024KB
0.00005
Therefore, 0.00005GB = X (1024 X 1024)KB
1
=0.00005 X 1 048 576KB
= 52.428KB or 52.4KB
5. Convert 10240GB to terabyte (TB)
1 TB = 1024GB
10240
Therefore, 10240GB = X 1TB
1024
= 10 TB
6. Convert 0.17TB to Gigabyte (GB)
1 TB = 1024 GB
0.17𝑇𝐵
Therefore, 0.17TB = X 1024GB
1𝑇𝐵
= 174.08GB or 174GB
7. Convert 1024bits into bytes
If 8 bits = 1 byte
1bits = 1/8 bytes
1
Then 1024bits = X 1024 bytes = 128bytes
8

LESSON THREE

SECONDARY MEMORY OR AUXILIARY MEMORY

Secondary Memory also known as the auxiliary storage .It holds large amount of information on
a long term basis. It is the safest and most secured form of storage. Whenever the computer is
switched on the required data and program from the auxiliary storage or memory are easily
transferred into the main memory (primary memory)

Also, secondary memory are the device on which data or programs could be recorded until
when they are required for processing.

Common types of secondary storage devices are:

 1. Magnetic Tape
2. Magnetic Disk
3. Compact Disk
4. Flash Drive
5. Diskette or Floppy Disk

Uses of Auxiliary storage

i. It is used to retrieve information from the system
ii. it is transferable
iii. It is used in holding information for a very long term
iv. It is cheap
v. It is durable

Care for Auxiliary memory

1. Do not bend or twist it
2. Do not use sharp pen to write on the diskette
3. Do not place heavy object on it.
4. Protect it from dust, smoke and duty materials
5. Never touch the magnetic head surface
6. Protect diskette from sunlight extreme heat or close
7. Reject the flash drive before removing it from the drive

LESSON FOUR

COMPUTER PROGRAM SOLVING SKILLS

LANGUAGE is a system of communication by written or spoken word which is used by the

people of a particular country or area.

COMPUTER LANGUAGE: This is a system of instructions and commands for operating a

computer.

A PROGRAM: This is a series of instructions which enable the computer to carry out some laid
down procedures to accomplish a given task or solve a problem.

PROGRAMMING: This is the act of giving the computer a set of instructions or codes to carry
out, or perform a specific task.

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE is a large number of steps required to carry out a

procedure.

Types of Computer Languages

1. Low level language
2. High level Language

Low Level Language (LLL)

Unlike human beings, the computer understands codes of digital binary numbers. These binary
digits are made up of zeros (0) and ones (1), for examples, 11000111, 101001101. These digits
are called low level language and it is the language the computer understands since the CPU
operates by responding to electrical signals. There are two types of low level languages. They
are:
(a) Machine Language
(b) Assembly Language

Machine Language: This is the only language understood by computers. It is almost impossible
for humans to use because it consists of only 1 and 0 (i.e. binary number).

Assembly Language: This language contains the same instructions as the machine language but
the instructions have names (mnemonics) instead of number. Assembler is the translator to
translate assembly language to machine language

High Level Languages (HLL)

High level languages are human understandable languages. They allow programmers to write
programs that are not dependent on the design of the CPU.

Compiler and interpreters are responsible for translating high-level language into machine
language.

Compiler translates entire program into machine language before execution while Interpreter
translates and executes one instruction at a time into machine language.

Examples of high level language include

BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction code)
FORTRAN (Formula Translation)
ALGOL (Algorithmic Language)
APL (A Programming Language)
C++
JAVA
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)

Advantages of High Level Language

1. It is user-friendly
2. Similar to English with vocabulary of words and symbols
3. It is easier to learn
4. They require less time to write
5. They are easier to maintain
6. It is independent of the machine on which it is used
Disadvantages of high level language
1. A high-level language has to be translated into the machine language by a translator and
thus a price in computer time is paid.
2. The object code generated by a translator might be in efficient compared to an
equivalent assembly program.

Very high- level language/ Fourth generation languages:

This is a programming language with a very high level of abstraction, used primarily as a
professional programmer productivity tool. Example is Logo.
QUERY LANGUAGE: These languages are used to make queries into databases and information
systems. Examples are SQL, MDL.

Programming Language Level Examples

1 Machine Language Binary or Decimal code
2. Low level Language Assembly Language
3. High Level Language BASIC, PASCAL, COBOL, FORTRAN,
C++, LOGO, SNOBOL etc
4. Fourth Generation Language SQL, QBE, MDL
(4GL)

LESSON FIVE

BASIC PROGRAMMING

BASIC is an acronym for Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instructions Code. It a programming

language.

RULES FOR BASIC PROGRAMMING

1. The first character for your data name must be alphabet (A-Z)
2. Each statements must begin with a line number
3. There must not be a full stop after each line of statement
4. Each program must be terminated by END or STOP statement
5. Each line must contain only one BASIC program statement
6. All expression must be written in capital letters.

OPERATORS IN BASIC

Operators are symbols used in carrying out operation in any program. There are three types of
operators in BASIC. These are:

(i) Arithmetic Operator: These are symbols used in carrying out arithmetic operations. The
program execution follows the rule of BEDMAS (Bracket, Exponentiation, Division,
Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction).

Arithmetic operator Meaning example

+ (plus sign) Addition 43+33+12
- (Minus sign) Subtraction/negation 43-67
* (asterisk) Multiplication 4*6*7
/ (forward slash) Division 6/5
% (percent sign) Percent 8%
^ (caret sign) Exponentiation 8^2
(ii) Relational operators: These operators can operate on at least two operands in order to
achieve a true value.
Comparison operator Meaning Example
= (equal sign) Equal to C4 = B2
> (greater than sign) Greater than C1> D3
<(Less than sign Less than C1<D3
>= (greater than or equal to sign) greater than or equal to C1>=D3
<= (less than or equal to sign) less than or equal to C1<=D3
<>(not equal to sign) Not equal to C1<>B2

(iii) Logical operators: These operators perform tests on multiple relation. Example are ‘AND’,
‘OR’.

KEYWORDS/RESERVE WORD

The keywords or the reserved words are the tools that we use in writing BASIC programs. They
are instructions that are carried out by the program translators i.e, the compiler and the
interpreter. The Reserved words include: PRINT, READ, CLS, REM, DATA, GOTO, FOR…NEXT,
IF…ELSE, LIST, LOAD/OPEN, END, STOP

KEY BASIC STATEMENTS

1. Remark statement: This is a remark. It does not affect the program in terms of
instruction or command line.
REM statement: It is used in explaining what the program is all about.
Example
10 REM “Calculate area of rectangle”

2. Assignment statement: This keyword is used in assigning values to variable, e.g. READ,
DATA, LET, INPUT.
(a) READ statement: This is a statement used in giving values to variables. Usually RAED
statement has DATAA statement with it.
Example:
10 READ A, B, C
20 DATA 20, 10, 40
(b) DATA statement: This statement is used in attaching strings of fixed characters and
numeric data in BASIC.
Example
10 READ A, B, C, D
20 DATA 6, 7, 15, 10
30 PRINT SUM=A+B+C+D

Result will be 38
(c) LET statement: This statement is used in attaching strings of fixed characters and
numeric data in BASIC.
Example
5 LET A=50
 10 LET B=10
15 LET C=A+B

Here, C=60

(d) INPUT statement: This statement is used in assigning values to variables.

Example
10 INPUT L
20 INPUT B
30 LET SUM =L*B
3. Program Terminator statement
(a) STOP statement: This is used to terminate a program
(b) END statement: This is used to terminate a program
4. Output statement: This keyword is reserved to display output from the computer e.g.
Print
PRINT statement is used to transmit or display output data from the computer.
Example:
10 PRINT A, B, C
20 PRINT “x”=; “Y”=Y
5. Other keyword statements
(a) CLS: This statement is used to clear the screen.
(b) GOTO statement: This is used for branching from one line to another. It can be
conditional or unconditional.

SIMPLE BASIC PROGRAMS

(i) Write a program to calculate area of rectangle

5 CLS
10 REM “program to calculate area of rectangle”
20 INPUT Length
30 INPUT Breadth
40 LET Area= Length * Breadth
50 PRINT Area
60 END

(ii) Write a program to calculate simple interest

10 CLS
20 REM “program to calculate simple interest”
30 INPUT R, R, T
40 LET SI=(R*R*T)/100
50 PRINT SI
60 END
(iii) Write a program to calculate are of a circle
10 CLS
15 REM “program to calculate are of a circle”
40 LET Area= 3.142*r^2
50 PRINT Area
60 END