Introduction To Programming: Deitel & Deitel: Chapter 1
The document introduces some key concepts about computers and programming. It defines what a computer is, describes Moore's Law about technological growth, and explains the basic hardware and software components of a computer. It also outlines the core elements of programming like sequence, decision, and repetition. Finally, it discusses the different levels of programming languages from machine language to high-level languages.
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Introduction To Programming: Deitel & Deitel: Chapter 1
The document introduces some key concepts about computers and programming. It defines what a computer is, describes Moore's Law about technological growth, and explains the basic hardware and software components of a computer. It also outlines the core elements of programming like sequence, decision, and repetition. Finally, it discusses the different levels of programming languages from machine language to high-level languages.
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Programming
Deitel & Deitel : Chapter 1
Computers • What is a computer? – “an electronic device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in the form of information or signals” Google definition – “A computer generally means a programmable machine.” http://www.webopedia.com/ – “A computer is an electronic device that manipulates information, or data. It has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data.” http://www.gcflearnfree.org/ Moore’s Law • Every year technological capacity cost about half of what it did a year ago. This is due to the rapid growth in technology especially in the Information Technology field. Memory devices become quicker and have more storage capacity, processor speeds increase as well as an increase in processor units per chip Hardware & Software • Computer Hardware – The tangible components that make up a computer is known as hardware e.g. screen, keyboard, mouse, USB ports, network card, hard drive, RAM etc • Computer Software – The intangible part of a computer, that is, the instructions that are executed “inside” it to control the various hardware components. Hardware Logical Units • Input Unit – This “receiving” unit obtains information from input devices such as keyboards, touch screens, mouse devices etc • Output Unit – This “shipping” unit outputs processed information on output devices such as screens, printers, audio, transmissions over networks etc Hardware Logical Units • Memory Unit – This “warehouse” unit stores information on a rapid-access but volatile primary memory (e.g. RAM) so that information is available for processing or output • Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) – This “manufacturing” unit performs calculations such as addition, subtraction, division, comparison etc Hardware Logical Units • Central Processing Unit – This “administrative” unit coordinates and supervises the operation of the other units such as when information should be read into memory and when it should send information from memory to an output device etc • Secondary Storage Unit – This “warehousing” unit is slow access, non-volatile and high capacity memory (e.g. hard drive) Computer Data Hierarchy • Bit – The smallest data item (0 or 1) • Byte – 8 bits together giving one byte (e.g. 10101010 or 11100100) • Character – Digits, letters and symbols (e.g. Z, f, 8, #) it consists of two bytes • Field – Group of characters or bytes (e.g. Zuma or 2015 or P@ssW0rd) • Record - Group of related fields (e.g. username and password) • File – Group of related records (e.g. mp3 file) • Database – Electronic collection of data (e.g. student database, campus courses database) Computer Programming • What is computer programming? • “Computer programming is done as essentially a set of written instructions that the computer follows.” http://www.wikihow.com/
• “The process of developing and implementing
various sets of instructions to enable a computer to do a certain task.” http://www.businessdictionary.com/ Programming Core • Sequence – There is a definite order in which commands must be executed on a computer to achieve a desired outcome. • Decision – Sometimes two values need to be compared to determine their relationship and which resulting processing steps to follow thereafter. • Repetition - Many times commands must be repeated a number of times which can be done with a program loop instead of repeating the commands multiple times. Programming Language Levels • Machine Language – Computer can directly understand this code but its very cumbersome for humans (essentially 0’s and 1’s). • Assembly Language – English-like abbreviations that represent elementary operations (e.g. MOVWF temp), but it must be translated to machine language by an assembler. • High-Level Language – Near everyday English like instructions to accomplish substantial tasks e.g. printf(“Welcome!”) , but they must be compiled to machine language by a compiler.