DATA INFORMATION &

COMUTER SOFTWERE
Introduction to Computer (ITC) Course
Instructor: Zohaib Ahmed
(Bachelors in Computer Science)
What is the
difference
between
data and
information
 Data Information

Data refers to raw Information refers

facts that has no to processed data
specific meaning that has a
purpose and
meaning
Data or raw data The information is
is not enough to sufficient to plan
make decision and decide
WHICH ONE IS THE COMPUTER?

4
Computer

Modern Airplane Washing Machine Workstation

 IS A ROCK A COMPUTER?
 Does not act or
process
 Takes no input &

produces no output

 Computers must be able to

handle input and output
 Is a washing machine a
computer?
 Input: dirty

clothes
 Output:
clean clothes
 Does not
handle
 Computers input and information
.
output is information
IS A TELEVISION SET A
COMPUTER?
 Input: information from cables
or radio waves
 Output: information as sound
and picture
 Does not process information

 Computers process information by

computing new results and 7
answering queries
 IS A MODERN AIRPLANE A
COMPUTER?
 Input: information from radio
waves
 Output: manipulations to
the airplane
 Can only handle specific
information necessary for flight
control
Computers are general purpose
because they can perform many 8

different tasks
 IS AN ORDINARY CALCULATOR A
COMPUTER?
 Input: numbers and

mathematical operations
 Output: answer

 Handles any numeric task

 Cannot remember which

buttons are pressed

 Computers are programmable

so they can remember
 Definition of a
Computer:
 a general purpose,
 programmable,
 information processor
 with input and output

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 TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Computers typically fall into two categories:

• General Purpose Computers

General-purpose computers are designed to solve a large variety of problems. That is they can be given
different programs to solve different types of problems. General-purpose computers can process business
data as readily as they process complex mathematical formulas. General-purpose computers can store
large amount of data and the programs necessary to process them. Because general-purpose computers
are so versatile, most businesses today use them. Most digital computers are general computers, and it is
mainly such computers that are used in business and commercial data processing.
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 TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• Special purpose computers
• Special purpose computers are designed to solve a specific problems; the computer program for
solving the problem is built right into the computer. Special purpose computers have many
features of general-purpose computers but are designed to handle specific problems and are not
applied to other computerized activities. For example, special purpose computers may be designed
to process only numeric data or to completely control automated manufacturing processes.
Moat analogue computers are special purpose computers.

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 ELEMENTS OF COMPUTING
• These are some basic elements of computing.
• ALGORITHM: An algorithm is a list of rules to follow in order to solve a problem.
• DATA STRUCTURE: A data structure is a specialized format for organizing and storing data.
General data structure types include the array, the file, the record, the table, the tree, and so on. Any
data structure is designed to organize data to suit a specific purpose so that it can be accessed and
worked with in appropriate ways. In computer programming, a data structure may be selected or
designed to store data for the purpose of working on it with various algorithms.
• IMPLEMENTATION: To implement an algorithm means to code it in a programming language so
that it can run on a computer.
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COMPUTER SOFTWARE

“A set of instructions given

to the computer to solve
user problems and to
control different operations
of the computer.”
 COMPUTER SOFTWARE
What is a software?
 The instructions needed to direct
the computer to complete specific
tasks.

- Software can be categorized broadly into two types :-

THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE
ON THE DISKS ARE
SOFTWARE
 COMPUTER SOFTWARE
• The Computer software is classified into
three main categories:

• Application software
• System software
• Utility software
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Application Software consists of programs
that tell a computer how to produce
information. Some of the more commonly
used packages are:

• Word processing
• Electronic spreadsheet
• Database
• Presentation graphics
 WORD PROCESSING
• Word Processing software is used to create and
print documents. A key advantage of word
processing software is that users easily can
make changes in documents.
ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEETS
• Electronic spreadsheet software allows the user to
add, subtract, and perform user-defined
calculations on rows and columns of numbers.
These numbers can be changed and the
spreadsheet quickly recalculates the new results.
 DATABASE SOFTWARE
• Allows the user to enter, retrieve, and update
data in an organized and efficient manner,
with flexible inquiry and reporting capabilities.
 PRESENTATION GRAPHIC
SOFTWARE
• Allows the user to create documents called slides to be used
in making the presentations.
 APPLICATIONS

• MS Internet
Explorer
• (Your internet
Browser)
 TYPES OF BROWSERS
 Mozilla Firefox
 Internet Explorer
 Opera Flock
 Safari
 Konqueror
 Flock

Firefox is gaining
Popularity over IE
 SYSTEM SOFTWARE:
System Software includes the Operating System and
all the utilities that enable the computer to function.

System software is a term referring to any computer

software which manages and controls the hardware so
that application software can perform a task.

Example:
Operating Systems, Compiler, Disk Drivers etc.
 OPERATING SYSTEM
Definition of OS :-
A set of programs that control and
supervise a computer system’s hardware

Purposes of OS :-
• To manage the hardware for efficient
utilization of computer resources

• To interface between a user/an

application program with the hardware
 OPERATING SYSTEM
• OS is made up of 2 programs;

Service
Program

Control
Program
 OPERATING SYSTEM
1. Control program - three main functions

Resource allocate processor time, primary

allocation storage, input and output devices

Job to monitor, schedule and control

management programs for its efficient
processing

Data -managing access to data for input

management of information to printers,
disks/displays
- all hardware components
activities are controlled by the
 OPERATING SYSTEM
2. Service programs
- provides services to the user/programmer
- services include language-translator programs and
utility programs
- language-translator program converts instructions from
English-like language to machine-language to be executed by
the
computer
- utility program performs loading, saving, copying, keeping
track of files stored on a disk, preparing a formatted disk
OPERATING SYSTEM

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 TYPES OF OS
 Microsoft Windows (98,
2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8)
 Mac OS (X)
 Linux OS (Hundreds of
even thousands of
distros ex: Red Hat,
Ubuntu, Mandrake etc.
Visit
http://distrowatch.com/
for listing of Linux OS)
 Unix OS etc.
 OPERATING SYSTEMS
• MS-DOS
• Windows 95,98,Me
• Windows NT,
2000,XP,7,8

• Red -hat Linux,

Ubuntu, Centos,
Fedora, Mint
 SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Device Driver
• A program that controls a particular type of device
that is attached to your computer.

• There are device drivers for printers, scanner,

modem, displays, CD-ROM and so on.

• A device driver essentially converts the more general

input/output instructions of the operating system to
messages that the device type can understand.
 UTILITY SOFTWARE
• Also known as service routine, utility software
helps to analyze, configure, optimize and
maintain the computer.

• Examples:
• Disk Defragmenters
• Systems Utilities
• Antivirus Scanners
• Disk Cleanser
THANK YOU