INTRODUCTION TO

COMPUTER SYSTEMS
(Computer Components, Software, Operating System, File
System, Programming Languages, Compilers)
COMPUTER
A computer is an electronic device that is capable of processing information
to produce a desired result. No matter how large or small they are, the
functionalities of a computer can be classified into three basic steps:

a) accepting input
b) Processing the input according to predefined rules (programs)
c) Producing output

There are several components that make up a computer, they can be broadly
divided into Software and Hardware components
COMPUTER
The computer can only carry out instructions given to it. It doesn't have any
intelligence, and it cannot think.

If you want to use the computer to solve a problem, you first have to
devise a method to solve the problem. That is not all; we have to break
up this method of solution into simple steps, and then we have to write
step-by-step instructions that the computer can carry out and arrive at
the solution
The set of instructions written for the computer to guide it through the
process of achieving a specific task is called a computer program(or
software)
Professional programs are often referred to as software. The computer
system itself is called the hardware
HARDWARE
Hardware refers to a collection of all physical components that constitute a
computer system, i.e. all components that can be touched. Examples include:
• Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Hard disk Drive, System Unit: motherboard,
chips, memory, etc.

PERIPHERAL
A device such as a disk drive, printer, modem or joystick, that is connected
to a computer and is controlled by a computer’s microprocessor
HARDWARE: Input Devices
A device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, that is used to enter information
into a computer; they translate data from a form that human understands to
computer-readable form. Examples include:

• Touch screen, touchpads,

• Scanner, microphone, pen input, trackballs,
• Cameras, barcode reader, gamepad,
• Electronic whiteboard, joystick, webcam etc.

Fun Fact: A standard keyboard has 104 keys and the most common is the
QWERTY keyboard.
HARDWARE: Output Devices
A device, such as a printer, video display or speaker, that presents data from
a computer to a user; so it presents the already processed data from
electronic/computer format to human-readable form. Examples include:
Monitor, plotters, projectors, computer output microfilm, LCD projection
panels, headphones, speech synthesizer etc.
HARDWARE: Input/Output(I/O) Devices
A piece of hardware that can be used both for providing data to a computer
and for receiving data from it depending on the current situation. Examples
include:

CD-R/RW, DVD, and Blu-ray drive, Digital camera, Fax machine, Floppy
diskette drive, Hard drives, Modem, NIC (network interface card), SD Card,
Sound card, Touch screen, USB flash drive
COMPUTER SYSTEM
The term "computer system" is used to refer to the complete system that
consists of all the necessary modules, or devices connected to the computer.

It is a combination of three main hardware components :

1. Input device
2. Output device
3. Central Processing Unit (CPU):
This is the computer. It controls the entire system’s operation by
carrying out instructions given in the operating system program. It also
carries out the instructions in the program when we execute a program.
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
The CPU of the computer consists of a processor and a memory. The
processor consists of control and arithmetic-logic units (ALU).

• The control unit fetches instructions from memory, decodes them,

and directs the system to execute the operations indicated by the
instructions.
• The ALU carries out operations that are arithmetical or logical in
nature by using special registers and circuits.
• The memory unit is also identified by the names internal memory,
primary memory, main memory, and random access memory (RAM).
It is used to store the instructions (programs) and data of the
programs being executed. In other words, the memory is for the
computer to temporarily store all its instructions that are to be
carried out at the time, and the data that are to be used at the time.
How a Program Works
CPU designed to perform simple operations on pieces of data
• Examples: reading data, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing numbers
• Understands instructions written in machine language and included
in its instruction set
• Each brand of CPU has its own instruction set
To carry out meaningful calculations, the CPU must perform many
operations
How a Program Works
• The program must be copied from secondary memory to RAM each time
the CPU executes it
• CPU executes the program in cycles:
• Fetch: read the next instruction from memory into the CPU
• Decode: CPU decodes fetched instructions to determine which
operation to perform
• Execute: perform the operation
How a Program Works
PRIMARY MEMORY: RAM
It is a type of memory that can be accessed directly by the processor, it is also
referred to as main memory or internal memory. It can be largely classified into
two types:

Random Access Memory (RAM): This memory for immediate use; on a

temporary basis for when it is needed to be accessed by the processor; it is also a
volatile type of memory as the data stored is erased after usage. It is called
random access because the processor randomly access the data stored on it with
its address, types of RAM include:
• Dynamic RAM: This needs constant refreshing (typically in milliseconds) to
retain its data
• Static RAM: This on the other hand does not erase its data as long as the
system is powered on, however the data is erased in the event of a shut
down.
PRIMARY MEMORY: ROM
Read-Only Memory: This is a permanent form of storage as it contains data that are
just read-only, i.e. data that cannot be edited. For example the programs for booting
the system.

There are four types of ROM

• Masked ROM
• Programmable ROM
• Erasable and Programmable ROM
• Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM
MEMORY
Other forms of memory include:
Volatile Memory:
Memory, such as RAM, loses its data when the power is shut off, another
example is the cache memory.

Non-Volatile Memory:
Memory, such as ROM, that does not lose data when power is removed from
it.
MEMORY
Secondary storage: can hold data for long periods of time
Programs normally stored here and loaded to the main memory when
needed

Types of secondary memory

• Disk drive: magnetically encodes data onto a spinning circular disk
• Solid state drive: faster than disk drive, no moving parts, stores data
in solid state memory
• Flash memory: portable, no physical disk
• Optical devices: data encoded optically
UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
The basic unit of measurement of computer data is called a binary digit or bit
BIT: The smallest unit of information handled by a computer. One bit is expressed
as 1s or a 0s, so all files and communication with the system are done using the
binary number system.

Bit Size
Byte byte 8 bits
Kilobyte KB 1024 bytes
Megabyte MB 1024 Kilobytes
Gigabyte GB 1024 Megabytes
Terabyte TB 1024 Gigabyte
COMPUTER SPEED MEASUREMENT
The speed of the Processing unit is measured in Hertz (Hz) with respect to the CPU cycle.

COMPUTER SPEED MEASUREMENT

1 Hz 1 cycle per second
1 Megahertz/1 MHz 1 million cycles per
second
1 Gigahertz/ 1GHz 1 billion cycles per
second
SOFTWARE
Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and
instructions, often broken into two major categories:

• system software that provides the basic non- task-specific functions of

the computer, and

• application software which is used by users to accomplish specific

tasks.
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
The system software is the manager software of the computer system; it controls
and manages all hardware components of the system. It is responsible for
controlling, integrating, and managing the individual hardware components of a
computer system so that other software and the users of the system see it as a
functional unit without having to be concerned with the low-level details such as
transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display.

Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some

fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file managers, display managers,
text editors, user authentication (login) and management tools, and networking
and device control software.
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Examples include:
• The most popular is the operating system with examples like Linux, Unix,
Microsoft Windows, MAC OS, MS-DOS, Ubuntu, Haiku, Android OS, Blackberry
OS, Debian, etc.

• Others include disk formatters, file managers, networking and device control
software, etc.
OPERATING SYSTEM
The operating system is a program (software) that controls the overall operation
of the computer. It must be provided to the computer before giving any other
program or data. It is due to the operating system program that the computer
displays a prompt, and responds to various commands we type using keyboard.
Without the operating system program, the computer would not understand what
your commands mean, and therefore would not function at all

The disk that contains the operating system program is usually called the system
disk or startup disk. The computer will then copy the operating system program
from the disk or hard disk into the memory. This process is called booting
up/boostrapping.
OPERATING SYSTEM
The operating system has three major functions

1. It coordinates and manipulates computer hardware, such as computer

memory, printers, disks, keyboard, mouse and monitor
2. It organizes files on a variety of storage media, such as floppy disk, hard
drive, compact disk, digital video disk, and tape
3. It manages hardware errors and the loss of data
Popular operating system includes window 98, Windows NT, MAC OS, and
UNIX
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Application software is used to accomplish specific tasks other than just running the
computer system.
Application software may consist of a single program, such as an image viewer; a
small collection of programs (often called a software package) that work closely
together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or text processing system;

• a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but independent

programs and packages that have a common user interface or shared data
format, such as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely integrated word
processor, spreadsheet, database, etc.;
• or a software system, such as a database management system, which is a
collection of fundamental programs that may provide some service to a variety
of other independent applications.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
They are built to perform specific tasks rather than controlling and running the system
like system software.

Other examples include:

• Web browsers like: Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Mozilla Firefox etc.
• Word Processors like: Microsoft office, Google docs, Libre office, AppleWorks etc
• Calculator software, GPS, Database software like MySQL, Whatsapp Web, etc.
MACHINE CODE (MACHINE LANGUAGE)
In machine languages, instructions are written as a sequence of 1s and 0s,
called bits, that a computer can understand directly.
While all executable programs are eventually read by the computer in
machine language, they are not all programmed in machine language.

It is extremely difficult to program directly in machine language because the

instructions are sequences of 1s and 0s.
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Any artificial language that can be used to define a sequence of instructions that
can ultimately be processed and executed by the computer.
Defining what is or is not a programming language can be tricky, but general usage
implies that the translation process from the source code expressed using the
programming language to the machine code that the computer needs to work with
be automated by means of another program such as a compiler.

Why not English?

Why can't we communicate with the computer in English or other natural
languages? No computer can be designed to understand natural languages, because
the natural languages have too many ambiguities.
COMPILER
Asking the computer to carry out the instructions given in a program is called "executing the
program" or "running" a program.
Only a program written in the machine language can be executed because the computer
understands only this language. Computer scientists have developed computer programs called
Compilers (one for each programming language) to translate programs written in any
programming language into one in machine language.

A computer program (or set of programs) that translates text written in a computer
language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language).

The original sequence is usually called the source code and the output is called object code.
The name “compiler” is primarily used for programs that translate source code from a high-
level programming language to a low-level language (e.g., machine language)
COMPILER
LOW-LEVEL LANGUAGE
A language that provides little or no abstraction from computer’s microprocessor.
The word ‘low’ does not imply that the language is inferior to high-level
programming languages but rather refers to the small or nonexistent amount of
abstraction between language and machine language ; because of this, low-level
languages are sometimes described as being close to the “hardware”.
HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGE
A programming language that, in comparison to low-level programming languages
may be more abstract and easier to use.
Statement in the High-level language generally use keywords similar to English
and translate into more than one machine-language instructions.
For example, Pascal, Visual Basic, C++ and Java.
Thank you for Listening