Basics of Computer
INTRODUCTION
In this lesson we present an
overview of the basic design of a
computer system: how the different
parts of a computer system
are organized and various
operations performed to perform a
specific task. You would have
observed that instructions have to
be fed into the computer in a
systematic order to perform a
specific task. Computer components
are divided into two major
categories, namely, hardware and
software. In this lesson we will
discuss about hardware, i.e., the
machine itself and its connected
devices such as monitor, keyboard,
mouse etc., as well as
software that makes use of
hardware for performing various
functions.
OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson
you would be able to:
l explain basic organization of
computer system
l explain different types of input
and output devices
l define Software and its
classification
l distinguish between system
software and application
software
l describe computer language and
its classification
Data Entry
Operations
WHAT
IS A COMPUTER?
Computer is a device that
transforms data into meaningful
information. Data can be anything
like marks obtained by you in
various subjects. It can also be
name, age, sex, weight, height,
etc. of all the students in a
class.
Computer can also be defined in
terms of functions it can
perform. A computer can i) accept
data, ii) store data, iii) process
data as desired, and iv) retrieve
the stored data as and when
required and v) print the result
in desired format.
The major characteristics of a
computer are high speed, accuracy,
diligence, versatility and
storage.
Computer Organisation
The block diagram of computer is
shown in Fig. 1.1.
Fig. 1.1 Block diagram of Computer
Organisation
The computer performs basically
five major operations of
functions irrespective of their
size and make. These are 1) it
accepts data or instruction by way
of input, 2) it stores data, 3) it
can process data as required by
the user, 4) it gives results in
the form of output, and 5) it
controls all operations inside a
computer. We discuss below each of
these operations.
Input: this is the process of entering data
and programs
into the computer system.
Input unit Output unit
Memory Unit
Control Unit
Arithmetic
Logic Unit
Basics of
Computer :
Control Unit (CU): The process of
input, output, processing
and storage is performed under the
supervision of a unit
called 'Control Unit'. It decides
when to start receiving data,
when to stop it, where to store
data, etc. It takes care of step
-by-step processing of all
operations in side the computer.
Memory Unit: Computer is used to store data
and
instructions.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): The
major operations
performed by the ALU are addition,
subtraction,
multiplication, division, logic
and comparison.
Output: This is the process of producing
results from the
data for getting useful
information.
The ALU and the CU of a computer
system are jointly known as
the central processing unit (CPU).
You may call CPU as the brain
of any computer system.
operations is called:
(i) ALU (ii) editing (iii)
storage (iv) Output
(b) The ALU and CU jointly are
known as
(i) RAM (ii) ROM (iii) CPU (iv)
None of above
(c) The process of producing
results from the data for
getting useful information is
called:
(i) output (ii) input (iii)
processing (iv) storage.
No comments:
Post a Comment