COSC-1105 Lecture 3

1. Looking inside the Computer System

 Hardware
 Software
 Data
 User
Hardware
The mechanical devices that make up the computer are called hardware. Hardware is any part of the
computer you can touch. A computer’s hardware consists of interconnected electronic devices that you
can use to control the computer’s operation, input, and output. (The generic term device refers to any
piece of hardware.)
Software
Software is a set of instructions that makes the computer perform tasks. In other words, software tells the
computer what to do. (The term program refers to any piece of software.) Some programs exist primarily
for the computer's use to help or perform tasks and manage its own resources. Other types of programs
exist for the user, enabling him or her to perform tasks such as creating documents. Thousands of
different software programs are available for use on personal computers.
Data
Data consist of individual facts or pieces of information that by themselves may not make much sense to a
person. A computer’s primary job is to process these tiny pieces of data in various ways, converting them
into useful information. For example, if you saw the average highway mileages of six different cars, all
the different pieces of data might not mean much to you. However; if someone created a chart from the
data that visually compared and ranked the vehicles’ mileages, you could probably make sense of it at a
glance. This is one example of data being processed into useful information.
User
People are the computer operators, also known as users. It can be argued that some computer systems are
complete without a person’s involvement; however, no computer is totally autonomous (independent).
Even if a computer can do its job without a person sitting in front of it, people still design, build, program,
and repair computer systems.
2. The Information Processing Cycle
Using all its parts together, a computer converts data into information by performing various actions on
the data. For example, a computer might perform a mathematical operation on two numbers, then display
the result. Or the computer might perform a logical operation such as comparing two numbers, then
display that result. These operations are part of a process called the information processing cycle, which is
a set of steps the computer follows to receive data, process the data according to instructions from a
program, display the resulting information to the user, and store the results.
The information processing cycle has four parts, and each part involves one or more specific components
of the computer.
Input: During this part of the cycle, the computer accepts data from some source, such as the user or a
program, for processing.
Processing: During this part of the cycle, the computer’s processing components perform actions on the
data, based on instructions from the user or a program.
Output: Here, the computer may be required to display the results of its processing. For example, the
results may appear as text, numbers, or a graphic on the computer’s screen or as sounds from its speaker.
The computer also can send output to a printer or transfer the output to another computer through a
network or the Internet. Output is an optional step in the information processing cycle but may be ordered
by the user or program.
Storage: In this step, the computer permanently stores the results of its processing on a disk, tape, or
some other kind of storage medium. As with output, storage is optional and may not always be required
by the user or program.
3. Essential Computer Hardware
A computer’s hardware devices fall into one of four categories.

 Processor
 Memory
 Input and output
 Storage
Processing Devices
The procedure that transforms raw data into useful information is called processing. To perform this
transformation, the computer uses two components: the processor and memory. The processor is like the
brain of the computer; it organizes and carries out instructions that come from either the user or the
software. In a personal computer; the processor usually consists of one or more specialized chips, called
microprocessors, which are slivers of silicon or other material etched (print, mark) with many tiny
electronic circuits. To process data or complete an instruction from a user or a program, the computer
passes electricity through the circuits.
The microprocessor is plugged into the computer’s motherboard. The motherboard is a rigid rectangular
card containing the circuitry that connects the processor to the other hardware. The motherboard is an
example of a circuit The microprocessor board. In most personal computers, many internal devices such
as video cards, sound cards, disk controllers, and other devices—are housed (hold, store) on their own
smaller circuit boards, which attach to the motherboard. In many newer computers, these devices are built
directly into the motherboard. Some newer microprocessors are large and complex enough to require their
own dedicated circuit boards, which plug into a special slot in the motherboard. You can think of the
motherboard as the master circuit board in a computer. A personal computer’s processor is usually a
single chip or a set of chips contained on a circuit board. In some powerful computers, the processor
consists of many chips and the circuit boards on which they are mounted. In either case, the term
(Central Processing Unit (CPU) refers to a computer’s processor.
Memory Devices
In a computer, memory is one or more sets of chips that store data and/or program instructions, either
temporarily or permanently. Memory is a critical processing component in any computer. Personal
computers use several different types of memory, but the two most important are called Random Access
Memory (RAM) and Read-Only Memory (ROM). These two types of memory work in very different
ways and perform distinct functions.
Random Access Memory
The most common type of memory is called random access memory (RAM). As a result, the term
memory is typically used to mean RAM. RAM is like an electronic scratch pad inside the computer.
RAM holds data and program instructions while the CPU works with them. When a program is launched,
it is loaded into and run from memory. As the program needs data, it is loaded into memory for fast
access. As new data is entered into the computer, it is also stored in memory—but only temporarily. Data
is both written to and read from this memory. (Because of this, RAM is also sometimes called read/write
memory.) Like many computer components, RAM is made up of a set of chips mounted on a small circuit
board. RAM is volatile, meaning that it loses its contents when the computer is shut off or if there is a
power failure. Therefore, RAM needs a constant supply of power to hold its data. For this reason, you
should save your data files to a storage device frequently, to avoid losing them in a power failure. RAM
has a tremendous impact on the speed and power of a computer. Generally, the more RAM a computer
has, the mote it can do and the faster it can perform certain tasks. The most common measurement unit
for describing a computer’s memory is the byte—the amount of memory it takes to store a single
character such as a letter of the alphabet or a numeral. When referring to a computer's memory, the
numbers are often so large that it is helpful to use terms such as kilobyte (KB), megabyte (MB), gigabyte
(GB), and terabyte (TB) to describe the values.
Read-Only Memory
Unlike RAM, read-only memory (ROM) permanently stores its data, even when the computer is shut off.
ROM is called non-volatile memory because it never loses its contents. ROM holds instructions that the
computer needs to operate. Whenever the computer's power is turned on, it checks ROM for directions
that help it start up, and for information about its hardware devices.
Input and Output Devices
A personal computer would be useless if you could not interact with it because the machine could not
receive instructions or deliver the results of its work. Input devices accept data and instructions from the
user or from another computer system (such as a computer on the Internet). Output devices return
processed data to the user or to another computer system. The most common input device is the keyboard,
which accepts letters, numbers, and commands from the user. Another important type of input device is
the mouse, which lets you select options from on-screen menus. You use a mouse by moving it across a
flat surface and pressing its buttons. A variety of other input devices work with personal computers, too:

 The trackball and touchpad are variations of the mouse and enable you to draw or point on the
screen.
 The joystick is a swiveling lever mounted on a stationary base that is well suited for playing
video games.
 A scanner can copy a printed page of text or a graphic into the computer's memory, freeing you
from creating the data from scratch.
 A digital camera can record still images, which you can view and edit on the computer.
 A microphone enables you to input your voice or music as data.
The function of an output device is to present processed data to the user. The most common output
devices are the monitor and the printer The computer sends output to the monitor (the display screen)
when the user needs only to see the output. It sends output to the printer when the user requests a paper
copy—also called a hard copy—of a document. Just as computers can accept sound as input, (hey can use
stereo speakers or headphones as output devices to produce sound.
Some types of hardware can act as both input and output devices. A touch screen, for example, is a type
of monitor that displays text or icons you can touch. When you touch the screen, special sensors detect the
touch and the computer calculates the point on the screen where you placed your finger. Depending on the
location of the touch, the computer determines what information to display or what action to take next.
Communications devices are the most common types of devices that can perform both input and output.
These devices connect one computer 10 another—a process known as networking. The most common
kinds of communications devices are modems, which enable computers to communicate through
telephone lines or cable television systems, and network interface cards (NICs), which let users connect a
group of computers to share data and devices.