CHAPTER Two

Introduction to Computer System

OROMIA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
 Computer System

System is a group of components, consisting of subsystems or

procedures that work in a coordination fashion to achieve some
objective.

A computer system is composed of components that are classified

either as Computer hardware or Computer software.
Computer Hardware
 Computer Hardware

Computer hardware is the physical part of the computer that you

see, you use to and the parts you can touch.

The hardware part of a computer system is composed of a number

of interacting physical parts based on the need of the information
flow.

Transform raw data into information

 Computer Hardware…..

We can divide computer hardware into four:-

 Input Device

 Output Device

 Storage Device

 Central Processing Unit (CPU)

 Input Devices
It is the unit used to enter data into the computer so that it can be processed.

It converts information from a form suitable to human beings to one

understandable by the computer.

Input devices accept user commands and send them to the computer for
processing.

Typical input devices are Keyboards, Mouse, Scanners, Microphones, Tracker

Ball, Joystick, Light Pen, Digital Camera, OMR (Optical Mark Reader), Video
Digitizer, Barcode reader, etc...

The most common input devices used by the computer are the keyboard and the
mouse.
Categories of Input Devices

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 Input Devices
Keyboards :-
 Most frequently used for notebooks and desktops to enter information and commands

allows the entry of textual information

Stylus – most frequently used input devices for PDAs and tablet PCs to enter information
and commands

Pointing Device – used to input commands

Mouse:-

 device used to click on icons and buttons

 allows the selection of a point on the screen by moving a screen cursor to the point
and pressing a mouse button.
Trackball – similar to a mechanical mouse, but with the ball on top

Touchpad – to move the cursor with your finger

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 Cont…

Game controller – used for gaming to control screen action

Joystick:-

 a pointing device that consists of a vertical handle mounted on a base

containing one or two buttons.

 The vertical handle of the joystick can be rotated around 360 degrees. As
the handle is rotated the cursor also moves on the screen.

 Joystick is often used for playing games.

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 Cont..
Scanners – used to convert information that exists in visible form into electronic
form

 Image scanner – capture image, photo, text, & artwork

 Bar code scanner – reads information as vertical bars

 Optical mark reader – detects the presence or absence of a mark

 Optical character reader – reads characters that appear on paper or sales tag

(used in POS systems)

 Biometric scanner – scans a human physical attribute, like a fingerprint or iris,

for security purposes

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 Cont..
Digital camera – captures still image or video as a series of 1s and 0s
 Digital still camera – digitally captures still images in varying

resolutions
 Digital video camera – captures video digitally

 Webcam – captures digital video for the Web

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 Cont..
Microphone:-
 uses to input sound to the computer system. The computer with a

voice recognition device (Microphone) follows the following steps to

recognize and act upon a spoken input data.
 The person speaks to the microphone.

 Convert into electrical signals (analog form).

 Digitize- the analog-to-digital converter is used to convert the analog

form of data into its digital form.

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 OUTPUT UNIT
Used to get data out of a computer so that it can be examined, analyzed or
distributed to others.

Convert the result of the only-machine understandable form to a form

understandable by human beings.

Devices accept results or data generated by the computer and present this
information to the user in a variety of different means (both audio and visual).
It display in human readable form in soft copy or hard copy.
Categories of Output Devices

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 Cont..
Monitors:-
 The most common output device is a monitor which is usually a Cathode

Ray Tube device which can display text and graphics. If hard-copy output is
required then some form of printer is used.

Monitors or Visual Display Units (VDUs): it displays information in soft copy.

It translates bits sent to it into shapes and colors you can see on the screen.

Visual Display Units :-

 display images and text which are made up of small blocks of colored light

called pixels.
 The resolution of the screen improves as the number of pixels is increased.

Most monitors have a 4:3 width to height ratio.

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 Important Considerations - Monitor
Viewable image size (VIS) – the size of the image on a monitor

Resolution of a screen – the number of pixels it has

Pixels (picture elements) – the dots that make up the image

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 Cont..
Two types of Monitor

LCD:-
 Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor – sends electricity through

crystallized liquid between layers of glass or plastic

 thin, lightweight monitors that take up much less space than CRTs

CRT :-
 monitors that look like traditional TV sets

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 Printers
Are devices used to print out information that is in the computer on to paper.
By printing you create what is known as a 'hard copy'.

Types
 Inkjet printer – makes images by forcing ink through nozzles

 Laser printer – forms images using the same electrostatic process that

photocopiers use
 Multifunction printer – scan, copy, and fax, as well as print

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 Plotter
A Plotter is:-
 A printer that produces hard copy output.

 Plotters produce high quality color graphics output by using pens for

creating images.
 Plotters help to draw maps from stored data.

 Plotters are ideal for Engineering, Drafting and many other applications that

require graphics.
 Output device is used for translating information from a computer into

pictorial form on paper.

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 Speaker
Speaker:-
 is an output device that allows you to hear voice, music, and other sounds

from your computer.

 It is used in computer system to produce sound or voice output.

 The sound is input from external world into computer system via

microphone and is output

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CPU – Central Processing Unit
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Most costly and main component of computer system.

It termed as brain of computer.

Consists of the Control Unit & the Arithmetic Logic Unit and
Registers;

The three parts work together to electronically control the function

of the computer.

The different parts are interconnected by a cable like device called

BUS, which is used to facilitate communications between the
parts.
 Purpose of CPU:
Fetch instruction:-
 CPU read instruction from memory

Interpret instruction:-
 instruction must be decoded to determine what action is required

Fetch data:-
 execution of an instruction may require reading of data from memory or an I/O module.

Process data:-
 the execution of an instruction may require performing some arithmetic or logical

operation on data.
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Write data:-
 The result of an execution may require writing data to memory or an

I/O module.

In order to able to do these the CPU needs:

 to temporarily store some data in register, accumulator, and memory

 to remember the location of the last instruction

 to store instruction and data temporarily while execution in other

words, the CPU needs a small internal memory called registers.

 CPU ARCHITECTURE

The CPU consists of a:-

 Control unit,

 Arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and

 Registers.
 The Control Unit

It performs all the control functions of the computer.

It retrieves the instruction from memory.

Translates those instructions into computer functions and sends signals to

other computer hardware units to carry out those functions.

It is also responsible for determining the next instruction to be executed by the

computer.

In general it serves as the computer traffic cope.

 The Arithmetic Logical Unit (ALU)
It is referred as the computers "number crunchier".

It performs the arithmetic calculations: addition, subtraction, multiplication

and division and comparisons and it is used to keep track of and execute
instruction.

When an instruction loaded from main memory, it is placed first in the register
to wait instructions from the control unit.

Data are also stored in registers prior to execution in the ALU.

 Registers
Are high speed storage area used to temporarily hold small units of program
instructions and data immediately before, during and after execution by the
CPU.

As instruction are integrated and executed by the CPU, there is a moment of

integration between the various units of the computer systems.

To handle these process properly and to facilitate the speed of information

transfer, CPU uses special memory unit called registers.

Registers are used to hold information on temporary basis.

 STORAGE UNIT

Two types of Storage:

Primary Storage

Secondary Storage
 Primary Memory
Primary storage (memory) holds the immediate instructions that are to be
performed by the CPU.

IT is therefore very important that the primary storage can be accessed quickly
so that the CPU is not waiting for the next set of instructions.

Types:-

 RAM

 ROM
 Cont..
RAM:-
 Considered as main memory.

 The working area used for loading, displaying and manipulating

applications and data temporarily for the users. Random access memory is
also called user memory.
 These days, most personal computers have slots for adding and replacing

memory sticks.
 RAM is also volatile - losing the stored information in an event of power

loss, and quite expensive.

 Cont…
Read-only memory (ROM)
 As the name refers, information can be only read from the ROM.

 The information is burnt into the ROM at the manufacturing stage.

Programs stored in ROM can only be read, they cannot be changed.

 The ROM is nonvolatile memory; i.e. it retains the stored information

even if the power is switched off.

 Used to store programs and data that are used frequently and

permanently.
 Secondary Storage Device

Secondary storage is:-

 used to store data that is not in active use.

 usually slower than primary storage, or internal memory, but also almost

always has higher storage capacity and is non-volatile.

 Not directly accessible to the central processing unit of a computer,

requiring the use of computer's input/output channels.

Types of Secondary storage

 Magnetic disks
 Optical Storage Media
 Flash Memory Cards
Categories of Storage Devices

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 Magnetic Storage Media

Hard disk
 a digitally encoded nonvolatile storage device which stores data on

rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces.

 Capacity of HD is measured in Giga Bytes (GB) and they come in

varies sizes: 1TB,2TB,500GB and above.

Floppy disk:-
 Removable storage medium that holds 1.44 MB

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 Optical Storage Media
Optical storage media – plastic discs on which information is stored,
deleted, and changed using laser technology

Two types
CDs

DVDs

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 CDs
CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory):-
 Information cannot be changed

The user can only read from the disks.

CD-R (compact disc – recordable) – write one time only up to 700 MB.

CD-RW (compact disc – rewritable) – save, change, and delete files

repeatedly. It is also Known as CD-Erasable (CD-E).

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 DVDs

DVD-ROM – high capacity; information cannot be changed

DVD-R or DVD+R (DVD – recordable) – high capacity; write one time only

DVD-RW or DVD+R (depending on manufacturer) – save, change, delete

repeatedly.

Note:-
DVD can store more data than a CD, its one of the reason is that CD contain

data on only a single side while in DVDs it present on both of the sides.

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 Flash Memory Devices and Cards
Flash memory device – very small storage device that plugs into USB
port

Flash memory card – high capacity storage laminated inside a small

piece of plastic

which are used for general storage and transfer of data between
computers.

Flash memory is highly portable and it can store much data but it is
expensive.

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 Storage Capacity Measurement
Bit (Binary Digit):-
 A single bit is a one or a zero, a true or a false, a "flag" which is "on" or "off".

 The bit is the smallest unit of storage used in computing.

Byte:
 A byte is a contiguous sequence of a fixed number of bits.

 Byte = 8 bits = 1 character

KB (Kilo byte): A kilo byte is 2 10 bytes = 210 x 8 bits

MB (Mega byte): A mega byte is 2 20 bytes = 220 x 8 bits  1 million bytes

GB (Giga byte): A gigabyte is 2 30 bytes = 230 x 8 bits 1 billion bytes

TB (Terabyte): A terabyte is 240 bytes =240 x 8 bits 1 trillion bytes

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 Computer Software

The computer hardware is an electronic device which has the potential of

performing the task of solving a problem. However one has to give precise

instructions to the hardware in order to solve problem.

The finite set of instructions (steps) that the computer follow to perform a

given job is called a program.

 Cont…
Any program to be executed first it should reside / loaded/ in the memory.

Software:-
is a collection of programs and routines that support the operations of

performing a task using a computer.

Software also includes documentations, rules and operational procedures.

Software makes the interface between the user and the electronic
components of the computer.

Classification of Computer Software:

System software and Application software
 System software
Constitutes those programs which facilitates the work of the computer
hardware.

It organizes and manages the machine’s resources, handles the input/output

devices.

It controls the hardware by performing functions that users shouldn’t have to

or are unable to handle.

System programs make complex hardware more user friendly.

 System software

It acts as intermediate between the user and the hardware.

It enables the computer understand programming languages i.e. it

serves as means of communication between user and a computer.

The important categories of system software are:

a) Operating system

b) Language software

c) Utility software
 Operating system
It coordinates the activity between the user and the computer. An operating
system has three major functions.
1.Controlling operations (Control program)
Coordinates the activity of the computer system.
Decides where programs (or data) stored in the memory.
Handles communications among the computer components, applications
software and the user.
Controls the saving and retrieving of files to and from disks in the disk drive.

Control tasks without involvement (awareness) of user.

 Operating system…

2. Input/output Management
The I/O manager coordinates the computers communication
with outside world, flow of data to the display screen and other
output devices (printers/ plotters) and from the key board or
other input devices.
Handles the flow of data to and from the disk drives (file
management).
Handles the process of preparing a disk for use, the copying,
renaming, erasing task of a file.
 Operating system…
3. Command Processing ( command Interpreter)
It interprets the commands entered using the keyboard.
If you write an internal command, it carries out the function of that
command.
if it is external command or other executable file, it searches for the
corresponding file in the default or the user specified disk, loads the file into
memory and transfers control to that program.
Once this program is terminated, control returns to command.com and the
program for that command or file is discarded from memory.
 Language Software

Such software are used by programmers to develop

application software’s and translate programs to machine
code.

Language software is:-

 a generic name consisting of various programs that serve as editors &

translators to develop programs in a number of programming

languages includes:-
 Translators, general purpose routines and utilities & high level languages
 Language Software
Translator:- is a program that converts one or more languages to
another language.
Three types of translators are assemblers, Compilers & interpreters.

 Assemblers:- is a program that translates assembly languages into machine

code.
 Compiler:-is a program that translates a high level language into machine
code. (Pascal, Fortran Cobol)
 Language Software
Interpreter:-
 is a program that translates each instruction of high level language &

executes the instruction before translating the next instruction.

 The general-purpose routine and utilities include programs which are used

to handle file processing, editing and debugging.

 High level language software's are software which have their own

compilers to detect syntax errors of the users program code.

 Example Cobol, Fortran, Pascal. Etc.
 Utility software
Utility Programs are generally used to support, enhance or expand existing
programs in a computer system.

Examples of utility programs are :-

• Backup – to duplicate the data or information for safety.

• Data Recovery – to restore data that is physically damaged or corrupted.

• Virus Protection – Antivirus software which will eliminate viruses from

affected files or protect files from being infected from viruses.

• Data Compression – used to compress huge files and save memory

storage.
 Application Software

It is a software that is designed to perform tasks for the specific area or areas.
But for use in more than one installation.

Software’s are usually called application packages as they may include a

number of programs along with operating instruction, documentation and so
forth.

Depending on their function or task they are categorized in to the following.

 Word processing

It is a computerized typewriter which permits the electronic creation,

editing, formatting, filing and printing text.

It Is the most common application of microcomputers.

Until recently, word processing could be done only dedicated word

processors. A dedicated word processor is a computer that denies its users
the opportunity to execute any other program.

Example: WordStar, WordPerfect, Microsoft word

 Spreadsheet Program
It is an electronic worksheet display on the VDU.

Until recently, financial analysis and other mathematical calculation were done
by entering numbers on pages of an accountants ruled ledger pad.

You can quickly create a model of a situation on a spreadsheet by entering

labels, numbers & formulas.

Using programs built-in function, you can perform complicated calculations

i.e., net percent value, internal rates of return, and monthly payments on a
loan.

Example: Microsoft Excel

 Database Management system

Allow you to store information on a computer, retrieve it when you need it and
update it when necessary.

You can do this with index cards, but database management programs do them
more quickly and easily.

Example: You can store large mailing list, inventory record or billing and
collect information in lists stored in files and manipulate this information, one
file at a time with database management program.
Graphics Program
 Summary

Hardware devices work together to perform input, processing, data storage,

and output.

There are two main categories of software: systems software and application
software.

An operating system (OS) is a set of computer programs that controls the

computer hardware to support users’ computing needs.

Application software may be proprietary or off-the-shelf.

There are five generations of programming languages, plus object-oriented

programming languages.
Thank you!!!