Lesson 1:

Computer Fundamentals
 Objectives
• Trace the evolution of computers
• Generations and classification of computers
• Explain the basic units of a computer system
• Explain the hardware and software of a personal computer
• Load an operating system (OS) in a personal computer
Contents
• 1. Introduction- What is a computer?
• 2. Evolution of Computers - A Brief History
• 3. Generations of Computers
• 4. Classification of Computers
• 5. Anatomy of a Computer
• 6. Memory Revisited
• 7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• 8. Operational Overview of a CPU
• 9. Summary
• 10. Exercises
Introduction- What is a computer?

• A computer is a machine that can be instructed to carry out sequences of

arithmetic or logical operations automatically via computer programming
[1]

• 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer
2. Evolution of Computers - A Brief History

• Computing in the mechanical era

• Invented in 500 BC in Babylon (abacus)
• Used extensively without any improvement until1642 when
Blaise Pascal designed a calculator

• In 1823, Charles Babbage

Invented Analytical Engine, was given through punched
cards.
• This engine stored 1,000, 20-digit decimal numbers
and a modifable program, which could vary the operation of
the machine so that it could execute different computing
jobs
2. Evolution of Computers - A Brief History (cont)
• Computing in the electrical era
In 1800, A mechanical machine, driven by single electric
motor, was developed in 1889 by Herman Hollerith to
count, sort, and collate data stored on punched cards
• Alan Turing is credited with developing the frst electronic Colossus
computer in 1943 (Colossus ), a fxed-program computer

• In 1946, It was called the ENIAC, Electronic

Numerical Integrator and Calculator. It used 17,000
vacuum tubes, over 500 miles of wires, weighed 30 tons,
and performed around 100,000 operations per second ENIAC
2. Evolution of Computers - A Brief History (cont)
• In 1958, IBM, International Computers Limited (ICL),
Digital quipment Corporation (DEC), and others brought
out general-purpose computers using transistors that
were faster, smaller in size, weighed less, needed less
power, and were more reliable
• in 1971, Intel Corporation announced the development
of the single-chip microprocessor 4004, a very large-
scale integrated circuit Ramac Ibm Computer 1958

• Desktop computers were available from 1975

First commericial Computer

2. Evolution of Computers - A Brief History (cont)
• Portable computers such as the laptop and palmtop
are available, which can execute programs, store
data, and output information at speeds higher than
that possible with all the earlier computers
• In 1957, IBM developed fortran language. Then
in the years that followed came programming
languages such as algol, cobol, basic, pascal, c/c++,
ada, and java

https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1971/ Psion Series 5mx

 3. Generations of Computers

• With advancement in the generation, the

performance of computers improved not
only due to the implementation of better
hardware technology but also superior
operating systems and other software
utilities
4. Classification of Computers
• Supercomputer
Supercomputer is the most expensive and fastest type of
computer that performs at or near the currently highest
operational rate for computers
• Mainframe
A mainframe computer supports a vast number of users to
work simultaneously and remotely. Apart from providing Cray supercomputer
multi-user facility, it can process large amounts of data at
very high speeds and support many input, output and
auxiliary storage devices

IBM 370 and IBM 3090

4. Classification of Computers
• Minicomputers
• A minicomputer is powerful enough to be used by multiple users
(between 10 to 100) but is smaller in size and memory capacity and
cheaper than mainframes

• Microcomputers
The microcomputer has been intended to meet the personal
computing needs of an individual
+ Desktop computer Amicro computer suffcient to ft on a desk.
+ Laptop computer A portable microcomputer with an integrated screen
and keyboard.
+ Palmtop computer/Digital diary/Notebook/PDAs A handsized
microcomputer having no keyboard. The screen serves both as an input
and output device.
4. Classification of Computers
• A computer can accept input, process or store
data, and produce output according to a set
of instructions which are fed into it

• A computer system can be divided into two

components which are responsible for
providing the mechanisms to input and
output data, to manipulate and process data,
and to electronically control the various
input, output, and their storage
5. Anatomy of a Computer
5.1 Hardware
Input and output devices
Central processing unit (CPU)
Memory unit and storage devices
Interface unit
Input devices
Keyboard: Character keys, Function keys, Control
keys, Navigation keys, Toggle keys, and Miscellaneous
keys
Mouse
Scanner
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Output devices
Output devices mirror the input data, or show the output
results of the operations on the input data or print the data
Monitor: CRT (Cathode-ray tube) and LCD (liquid crystal display)
monitors are the two common types which are widely used

LCD
CRT
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Printer
The printer is a device that prints any data, report,
document, picture, diagrams, etc

laser printer
Wide-carriage dot matrix printer
dot matrix printer
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Central processing unit (CPU)
Central Processing Unit or CPU
can be thought of as the brain of the
computer. It also fetches data from memory
and
input/output devices and sends data back.
Registers
These are high-speed storage devices. In most
CPUs, some registers are reserved for special
purposes.
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) It is the part of the CPU
that performs arithmetic operations, such as addition
and subtraction as well as logical operations, such as
comparing two numbers to see if they are the equal or
greater or less.
•
Control unit (CU) The control unit coordinates the
processing by controlling the transfer of data and dual-core processor
instructions between main memory and the registers
in the CPU

quad core processor

5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Memory unit
A storage area is needed in a computer to store instructions
and data, either temporarily or permanently, so that
subsequent retrieval of the instructions and data can be
possible on demand. Data are stored in memory as binary
digits, called
bits.
Primary memory
Primary memory is the area where data
and programs are stored while the program is
being executed along with the data.
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Secondary memory
• Secondary memory provides large,
non-volatile, and inexpensive storage
for programs and data
• also known as auxiliary memory,
stores a huge number of data bytes at
a lesser cost than primary memory
devices
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Memory operations There are some operations common
to both primary and secondary memory devices. These are
as follows.
Read During this operation, data is retrieved from memory.
Write In this operation, data is stored in the memory
• Unit of memory
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Memory hierarchy
From top to bottom, the speed decreases
while the capacity increases and the prices
become much lower

The devices in a computer system other than

the CPU and main memory are called
peripherals. Popular peripheral devices
include printers, digital cameras, scanners,
joysticks, and speakers
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Interface unit

Data bus The bus used to carry

actual data.
Address bus memory or
Input/output device Addresses
travel via the address bus.
Control bus This bus carries
control information between
the CPU and other devices
within the computer
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Motherboard
All the components in the computer system are mounted and
connected together by an electronic circuit board called motherboard
or main board
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• System unit
The System Unit holds all the system
components in it
cabinets are of two types.
(i) AT cabinets (or mini-tower)
(ii) ATX cabinets

AT cabinets are smaller and cheaper than ATX cabinets

and are popularly called mini-tower cabinets
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• 5.2 software
Software provides the instructions that tell the hardware
exactly what is to be performed and in what order
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• System software
System software is designed to facilitate and coordinate
the use of the computer by making hardware operational

• The most important system software is the operating system

which is a set of programs designed to control the input and
output operations of the computer, provide communication
interface to the user, and manage the resources of the
computer system, such as memory, processor, input/output
devices etc. and schedule their operations with minimum
manual intervention
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Hardware devices, other than the CPU and main memory,
have to be registered with the operating system by providing a
software, known as device driver, for communication between
the device and other parts of the computer
5. Anatomy of a Computer
• Application software
Application software is designed to
perform specific usages of the users.
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,
Microsoft Power Point, Microsoft Access,
Page Maker, Coral Draw,
Photoshop, Tally, AutoCAD, Acrobat,
WinAmp, Micro Media Flash, iLeap, Xing
MP3 Player etc. are some of the examples
of application software
6. Memory Revisited
• 6.1 Primary memory
• Random Access Memory (RAM).
Here “random access” means that any storage
location can be accessed (both read and write)
directly. This memory is faster, cheaper, and provides
more storage space in lesser physical area

• The only drawback of semiconductor memory is that it

is volatile, i.e., it loses its contents whenever power is
switched off. RAM holds the data and instructions
waiting to be processed by the processor
6. Memory Revisited
• Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is a type of RAM that employs
refresh circuits to retain its content in its logic circuits
• A more expensive and faster type of RAM, Static RAM
(SRAM), does not require such type of refreshing circuitry.
It uses between four to six transistors in a special ‘flipflop’ circuit that
holds a 1 or 0 while the computer system
is in operation
6. Memory Revisited
• There are several popular types of dynamic
RAM used in computers. They are SDRAM
(Synchronous Dynamic RAM), RDRAM
(Rambus Dynamic RAM) and DDR RAM(Double
Data Rate RAM)
6. Memory Revisited
• There are two levels of cache.
Level 1 (Primary) cache This type of cache
memory is
embedded into the processor itself. This cache is
very fast
and its size varies generally from 8 KB to 64 KB.
Level 2 (Secondary) cache Level 2 cache is
slightly slower
than L1 cache. It is usually 64 KB to 2 MB in size.
Level 2
cache is also sometimes called external cache
because it was
external to the processor chip when it frst
appeared.
6. Memory Revisited
• Read Only Memory (ROM)
It is another type of memory that retains data and
instructions stored in it even when the power
is turned off. ROM is used in personal computers for
storing start-up instructions provided by the
manufacturer for carrying out basic operations such as
bootstrapping in a PC, and is programmed for specifc
purposes during their fabrication
6. Memory Revisited
6. Memory Revisited
• 6.2 secondary memory
Disk drives
CD drives (CD-R, CD-RW, and DvD)
Tape drives
USB flash drives
• Hard disk, floppy disk, compact disk (CD), Digitalversatile
Disk (DvD) and magnetic tapes are the most common
secondary storage mediums. Hard disks provide much faster
performance and have larger capacity, but are normally
not removable; that is, a single hard disk is permanently
attached to a disk drive
6. Memory Revisited
• floppy disk
The floppy disk is a thin, round piece of plastic material,
coated with a magnetic medium
on which information is
magnetically recorded, just as
music is recorded on the surface
of plastic cassette tapes
6. Memory Revisited
• A hard disk is a permanent memory device mounted inside
the system unit. Physically,
a hard disk consists of one
or more metal (sometimes
aluminum) platters, coated
with a metal oxide that can
be magnetized
6. Memory Revisited
• A CD is a portable secondary storage medium. various
types of CDs are
available: CD-R and
CD-RW
• Most personal computers are equipped with a CD-Recordable
(CD-R) drive. A CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) disc can be reused
because the pits and flat surfaces of a normal CD are simulated
on a CDRW by coating the surface of the disc with a material
that, when heated to one temperature becomes amorphous
(and therefore non-reflective) and when heated to a different
temperature becomes crystalline (and therefore reflective)
7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• A computer system has many resources such as the
processor (CPU), main memory, I/O devices, and files.
The operating system acts as the manager of these
resources and allocates them to specific programs
and uses them as and when necessary for the tasks

• Process(or) management
The process abstraction is a fundamental mechanism
implemented by the operating system for management
of the execution of programs
7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• Memory management: Operating system is
responsible
for keeping track of which parts of the
memory are currently
being used and by whom
• Device management The operating system
allocates
the various devices to the processes and
initiates the I/O
operation
File management A fle is just a sequence of
bytes. Files
are storage areas for programs, source codes,
data, documents
7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• The kernel is that part of operating system that interacts
with the hardware directly. The kernel represents only a small
portion of the code of the entire OS but it is intensively used
and so remains in primary storage while other portions may
be transferred in and out of secondary storage as required
7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• Now most operating systems provide
users a
graphical user interface for their
interactions with the system.
Operating systems such as Microsoft
Windows, Solaris and
Linux allow the user to interact with the
operating system
through icons, menus, keyboard and
mouse movements
7. Introduction to Operating Systems
• 7.1 loading an operating system

In personal computer, the operating system is

usually stored on hard disk. Because size of the
operating system is large enough, it cannot be
placed entirely in RAM. The kernel, the core
part of the operating system, is loaded into
RAM at start-up and is always present in
memory. Other parts of the operating system
are loaded into RAM as and when required.
8. Operational Overview of a CPU
• Any processing executed by central processing unit is
directed by the instruction. The processing required for a
single instruction is called an instruction cycle. The four
steps which the CPU carries out for each machine language
instruction are fetch, decode, execute, and store
9. Summary
• Starting from the days of the abacus, the concept of developing a
computing machine has led to the development of the modern
electronic computing machine. There are fve generations of computers.
Today computers are available in various forms such as personal
computers, laptop, palmtop, and mainframes. The electronic computer,
of all sizes, perfected through years of development, has become a
powerful machine capable of being employed in a variety of
applications. A computer has a CPU, a fast-access primary memory
(RAM), a non-volatile high storage capacity secondary memory (HDD),
an easy-to-use keyboard, a video
9. Summary
• Color monitor console with a graphic pointer device such as mouse and a non-impact
printer. Thus, broadly, the basic computer system consists of a CPU, memory, and input
and output devices. Memory can be classifed into primary, secondary, and internal
processor memory. Cache memory is a part of the primary memory and normally
resides near the CPU. The rest of the primary memory consists of various types of
ROMs and RAMs.
• A PC consists of hardware and software. Software can be classified into system
software and application software. The most important system software is the
operating system that manages all resources of the computer system and acts as an
interface between hardware and software. When the personal computer is switched
on, a power on self test (POST) is executed and the operating system is loaded.
10. Exercises
Reference
• Chapter 1. COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS AND PROGRAMMING IN C