Computer

is a device that can be instructed to carry out an arbitrary set

of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Their ability of computers to follow a sequence
of operations, called a program, make computers very flexible and useful. Such computers are
used as control systems for a very wide variety ofindustrial and consumer devices. This includes
simple special purpose devices like microwave ovens andremote controls, factory devices such as
industrial robots and computer assisted design, but also in general purpose devices like personal
computers and mobile devices such as smartphones. The Internet is run on computers and it
connects millions of other computers.

Characteristics of computer
1. Speed: - As you know computer can work very fast. It takes only few seconds for calculations
that we take hours to complete. You will be surprised to know that computer can perform
millions (1,000,000) of instructions and even more per second.

Therefore, we determine the speed of computer in terms of microsecond (10-6 part of a second)
or nanosecond (10 to the power -9 part of a second). From this you can imagine how fast your
computer performs work.

2. Accuracy: - The degree of accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is
performed with the same accuracy. The accuracy level is 7 determined on the basis of design of
computer. The errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data.

3. Diligence: - A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It can
work for hours without creating any error. If millions of calculations are to be performed, a
computer will perform every calculation with the same accuracy. Due to this capability it
overpowers human being in routine type of work.

4. Versatility: - It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work. You may
use your computer to prepare payroll slips. Next moment you may use it for inventory
management or to prepare electric bills.

5. Power of Remembering: - Computer has the power of storing any amount

ofinformation or data. Any information can be stored and recalled as long as you require it, for
any numbers of years. It depends entirely upon you how much data you want to store in a
computer and when to lose or retrieve these data.

6. No IQ: - Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction from
the user. It performs the instructions at tremendous speed and with accuracy. It is you to decide
what you want to do and in what sequence. So a computer cannot take its own decision as you
can.

7. No Feeling: - It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and experience. Thus it
does not get tired even after long hours of work. It does not distinguish between users.
8. Storage: - The Computer has an in-built memory where it can store a large amount of data.
You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as floppies, which can be kept outside
your computer and can be carried to other computers.

Evolution of computer
1801: In France, Joseph Marie Jacquard invents a loom that uses punched wooden cards to
automatically weave fabric designs. Early computers would use similar punch cards.

1822: English mathematician Charles Babbage conceives of a steam-driven calculating machine

that would be able to compute tables of numbers. The project, funded by the English
government, is a failure. More than a century later, however, the world’s first computer was
actually built.

1890: Herman Hollerith designs a punch card system to calculate the 1880 census,
accomplishing the task in just three years and saving the government $5 million. He establishes
a company that would ultimately become IBM.

1936: Alan Turing presents the notion of a universal machine, later called the Turing machine,
capable of computing anything that is computable. The central concept of the modern computer
was based on his ideas.

1937: J.V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University, attempts
to build the first computer without gears, cams, belts or shafts.

1941: Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, design a computer that can solve 29
equations simultaneously. This marks the first time a computer is able to store information on
its main memory.

1943-1944: Two University of Pennsylvania professors, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert,
build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). Considered the grandfather
of digital computers, it fills a 20-foot by 40-foot room and has 18,000 vacuum tubes.

1946: Mauchly and Presper leave the University of Pennsylvania and receive funding from the
Census Bureau to build the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer for business and
government applications.

1947: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent the
transistor. They discovered how to make an electric switch with solid materials and no need for
a vacuum.

1953: Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes known as
COBOL. Thomas Johnson Watson Jr., son of IBM CEO Thomas Johnson Watson Sr., conceives
the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep tabs on Korea during the war.

1954: The FORTRAN programming language is born.

1958: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the integrated circuit, known as the computer chip.
Kilby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his work.

1964: Douglas Engelbart shows a prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a
graphical user interface (GUI). This marks the evolution of the computer from a specialized
machine for scientists and mathematicians to technology that is more accessible to the general
public.

1969: A group of developers at Bell Labs produce UNIX, an operating system that addressed
compatibility issues. Written in the C programming language, UNIX was portable across
multiple platforms and became the operating system of choice among mainframes at large
companies and government entities. Due to the slow nature of the system, it never quite gained
traction among home PC users.

1970: The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel 1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM)
chip.

1971: Alan Shugart leads a team of IBM engineers who invent the “floppy disk,” allowing data to
be shared among computers.

1973: Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for
connecting multiple computers and other hardware.

1974-1977: A number of personal computers hit the market, including Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair,
IBM 5100, RadioShack’s TRS-80 —affectionately known as the “Trash 80” — and the
Commodore PET.

1975: The January issue of Popular Electronics magazine features the Altair 8080, described as
the "world's first minicomputer kit to rival commercial models." Two "computer geeks," Paul
Allen and Bill Gates, offer to write software for the Altair, using the new BASIC language. On
April 4, after the success of this first endeavor, the two childhood friends form their own
software company, Microsoft.

1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple Computers on April Fool’s Day and roll out the
Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board.

1977: Radio Shack's initial production run of the TRS-80 was just 3,000. It sold like crazy. For
the first time, non-geeks could write programs and make a computer do what they wished.

1978: Accountants rejoice at the introduction of VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet
program.

1981: The first IBM personal computer, code-named “Acorn,” is introduced. It uses Microsoft’s
MS-DOS operating system. It has an Intel chip, two floppy disks and an optional color monitor.
Sears & Roebuck and Computerland sell the machines, marking the first time a computer is
available through outside distributors. It also popularizes the term PC.
1983: Apple’s Lisa is the first personal computer with a GUI. It also features a drop-down menu
and icons. It flops but eventually evolves into the Macintosh. The Gavilan SC is the first portable
computer with the familiar flip form factor and the first to be marketed as a “laptop.”

1985: Microsoft announces Windows, its response to Apple’s GUI. Commodore unveils the
Amiga 1000, which features advanced audio and video capabilities.

1985: The first dot-com domain name is registered on March 15, years before the World Wide
Web would mark the formal beginning of Internet history. The Symbolics Computer Company, a
small Massachusetts computer manufacturer, registers Symbolics.com. More than two years
later, only 100 dot-coms had been registered.

1986: Compaq brings the Deskpro 386 to market. Its 32-bit architecture provides as speed
comparable to mainframes.

1990: Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, the high-energy physics laboratory in Geneva,
develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML), giving rise to the World Wide Web.

1993: The Pentium microprocessor advances the use of graphics and music on PCs.

1994: PCs become gaming machines as "Command & Conquer," "Alone in the Dark 2," "Theme
Park," "Magic Carpet," "Descent" and "Little Big Adventure" are among the games to hit the
market.

1996: Sergey Brin and Larry Page develop the Google search engine at Stanford University.

1997: Microsoft invests $150 million in Apple, which was struggling at the time, ending Apple’s
court case against Microsoft in which it alleged that Microsoft copied the “look and feel” of its
operating system.

1999: The term Wi-Fi becomes part of the computing language and users begin connecting to
the Internet without wires.

2001: Apple unveils the Mac OS X operating system, which provides protected memory
architecture and pre-emptive multi-tasking, among other benefits. Not to be outdone, Microsoft
rolls out Windows XP, which has a significantly redesigned GUI.

2003: The first 64-bit processor, AMD’s Athlon 64, becomes available to the consumer market.

2004: Mozilla’s Firefox 1.0 challenges Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the dominant Web
browsers. Facebook, a social networking site, launches.

2005: YouTube, a video sharing service, is founded. Google acquires Android, a Linux-based
mobile phone operating system.

2006: Apple introduces the MacBook Pro, its first Intel-based, dual-core mobile computer, as
well as an Intel-based iMac. Nintendo’s Wii game console hits the market.

2007: The iPhone brings many computer functions to the smartphone.

2009: Microsoft launches Windows 7, which offers the ability to pin applications to the taskbar
and advances in touch and handwriting recognition, among other features.

2010: Apple unveils the iPad, changing the way consumers view media and jumpstarting the
dormant tablet computer segment.

2011: Google releases the Chromebook, a laptop that runs the Google Chrome OS.

2012: Facebook gains 1 billion users on October 4.

2015: Apple releases the Apple Watch. Microsoft releases Windows 10.

Generation of computers and its characteristics

First Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes
The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory,
and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in
addition to using a great deal of electricity, the first computers generated a lot of heat, which was
often the cause of malfunctions.
First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language
understood by computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a
time, and it could take days or weeks to set-up a new problem. Input was based on punched
cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors

Transistors replace vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers.
The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late
1950s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become
smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation
predecessors.
Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage,
it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on
punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic,
or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level
programming languageswere also being developed at this time, such as early versions
of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in
their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.

Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated Circuits

The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of
computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors,
which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers
through keyboardsand monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the
device to run many differentapplications at one time with a central program that monitored the
memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were
smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

Fourth Generation (1971-Present) Microprocessors

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an
entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971,
located all the components of the computer—from the central processing unit and memory to
input/output controls—on a single chip.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the
Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many
areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors.
As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form
networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers
also saw the development ofGUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.

Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond) Artificial Intelligence

Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in
development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used
today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial
intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular andnanotechnology will radically
change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to
develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-
organization.

Basic operation performed by all types of computer

1. Input unit:

Input unit links the external environment with the computer system. Data and
instruction must be entered to the computer before performing any competition. Data or
instructions can be entered through input devices

Input unit transferred this data into binary coded in short input unit performs the
following function:

 It accepts data or instructions from external world.

 It converts these instructions and data in computer acceptable form.
 It supplies the converted instruction & data to the computer for further processing.
2. Output unit:

The job of output unit it is just the viewers of that any input unit it provides information reasons
of computation to the output of the world. Output unit links the computer with the external
world. A computer prepares results in binary code. Output unit converts these results into
human acceptable forms. Inshort perform the following functions.

 It accepts the result produced by the computer.

 It converts these coded results to human acceptable form.
 It supplies the converted to the outside world.

3. Storage unit:

Before actual processing start, data & instructions entered to the computer must be stored
inside the computer. Similarly, results produced by the computer are required to be stored
before being passed to the output unit. The intermedial result produced by the computer must
also be stored for further processing. Inshort the function of storage unit:

 It stores all the data to be process.

 It stores intermedial results.
 It stores final result are realize an output device.

4. ALU:

ALU is the place where actual execution of the instructions takes places during the processing
operations. All calculations & comparisons are made in the ALU. The data and instructions
stored in the primary storage are transphered as where required. Intermedial results are also
transphered back to the ALU for the final processing. After completion of processing the final
results are send to storage units from ALU.

5. Control unit:

ALU dose not know what should be done with the data likewise, output unit dose not know
when the result should be displayed. By selecting, interning and seeing to the execution of the
program the CU is able to maintain order and direct the operations of the entire system CU
doesn’t perform any actual processing on data yet it is known as a central nervous system for the
comforts of the computer.

Input devices
1. Keyboard

Keyboard is the most common input device of a Computer System. The keyboard resembles a
typewriter. Modern Keyboards have more than just the letter and numeric keys. They have
multimedia keys for volume control, Play / Pause videos etc. Every single key on a keyboard is
assigned a binary numbers to it which transmits that binary pattern to the computer.

2. Mouse
Mouse is another commonly used input device of a computer system. The mouse is a pointing
device that moves the cursor on the screen. You can place the cursor on icons and by clicking
you can launch a program. A typical Mouse has two buttons, the left and right clicking buttons
and a wheel in the center for scrollingA user can perform many operations through a Mouse, like
selecting or arranging different program icons on the desktop. Copy / Paste text in a word
document, scroll webpages, and of course a mouse can come in handy while playing computer
games.

3. Scanner

Scanner is the third important input device of a computer system. A scanner converts printed
documents in to images. Some types of scanners scan documents and produce the results in
black & white images. The scanner operates in the same manner as a Photocopier. A colored
scanner works somewhat in a complicated manner as compared to a simple scanner.

4. Digital Camera

Digital Cameras are used to capture images. Those images are then transferred to a computer
when the Camera is connected to the computer. Mostly the Digital Camera images are in JPEG
format.

5. Gamepad

A computer can serve many purposes. Besides work, a user can also play games on a Computer.
You can use a keyboard and mouse for gaming but a specialized Hardware device, i-e a
Gamepad can also be used. A gamepad is used for controlling games, with few buttons that
controls the movements of character in a Computer Game.

Output Devices
1. Monitor

Monitor is the most important output device of a computer system. The monitor is the
display screen of a computer. Cathode Rays Tube (CRT) and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) are
the two types of Monitors.

2. Printers

A Printer takes print commands from a computer and print out text / images on a paper.
Different types of printers are available for various purposes. A printer for office use must be
heavy duty and fast while for photographs it must produce high quality prints. Dot-Matrix, Ink-
Jet, Laser-Jet are the different types of printers. Print quality of Laser-Jet printer is excellent as
compared to Ink-Jet or other types of printers, but they are relatively more expensive than the
others. Most laser printers produce black & whiter prints while some can produce color prints as
well. The color laser printers are way too expensive then black & white laser printers.

3. Speakers

Speaker is an important part of a computer system. Some systems have a built-in speaker,
though they are small in size. Speaker is an essential part of a computer because they can notify
about various system notifications through various sounds. Big speakers, woofers & sub-woofers
are used for enhance sound quality or creating a mini home theater.

Storage unit and its function

1. HARD DISK STORAGE
Spinning hard disk (HD) drives are today the most common means of high capacity
computer storage, with most desktop and laptop computers still relying on a spinning hard disk
to store their operating system, applications programs and at least some user data. Traditional,
spinning hard disk drives consist of one or more disk "platters" stacked one above the other, and
coated in a magnetic media that is written to and read by the drive heads. As discussed in
the hardwaresection, hard disk drives can transfer data directly to other computer hardware via
a range of three interface types (SATA, IDE/UDMA, or SCSI) and come in a range of speeds
from 4200 to 15000 revolutions per minute (RPM).

2. RAID
On servers and high-end PC workstations (such as those used for high-end video editing), at
least two hard disks are often linked together using a technology called RAID. This stands for
"redundant array of independent disks" (or sometimes "redundant array of inexpensive drives"),
and stores the data in each user volume on multiple physical drives.

3. EXTERNAL HARD DISKS / DIRECT ATTACHED STORAGE (DAS)

Except where two internal hard disks are considered essential on the basis of performance
(and possibly convenience), a second hard disk is today most advisably connected as an external
unit, or what is sometimes now known as a "DAS" or direct attached storage drive. DAS external
hard disks connect via a USB, firewire or an E-SATA interface (see the hardware section),
with USBbeing the most common. The highest quality external hard drives routinely include at
least two of these interfaces as standard, hence maximising their flexibility for moving data
between different computers. As explained in the networking section, today some external hard
disks can also be purchased as NAS (network attached storage) devices that can easily be shared
between users across a network.

4. OPTICAL DISK STORAGE

Almost all optical storage involves the use of a 5" disk from which data is read by a laser.
Optical media can be read only (such as commercial software, music or movie disks), write-one,
or rewritable, and currently exists in one of three basic formats. These are compact disk (CD),
digital versatile disk (DVD)and Blu-Ray disk (BD). A fourth format called High-Definition DVD
(HD DVD) is now dead-in-the-water.

5. SOLID STATE DRIVES

Solid state storage devices store computer data on non-volatile "flash" memory chips rather
than by changing the surface properties of a magnetic or optical spinning disk. With no moving
partssolid state drives (SSDs) -- are also very much the future for almost all forms of
computer storage.
 6. FLASH MEMORY CARDS
The above discussion of hard-disk replacement SSDs noted, at present for most people most
solid state storage devices come in two basic forms: flash memory cards and USB memory
sticks.

7. SD CARDS
SD cards are as noted above the most popular flash memory cards now on the market, and
come in so many variants that they do require some explanation. For a start, SD cards come in
three physical sizes. These comprise standard-size SD cards (first developed in 1999),
smaller mini SD cards (introduced on some mobile phones in 2003), and the even
smaller micro SD cards. The latter were invented in 2005 and are becoming increasingly
popular on smartphones and tablets. While the larger cards cannot fit in smaller card slots,
adapters are available to enable micro and mini cards to be accessed by any device that accepts a
standard-size card.

8. USB MEMORY STICKS

USB memory sticks (or USB memory keys, USB memory drives, or whatever you choose to
call them!) are basically a combination of a flash memory card and a flash memory card reader
in one handy and tiny package. Over the past five years, USB memory sticks have also become
the dominant means of removable, re-writable portable data storage, and look set to remain so
for some time. Not least this is because of their size, ever-increasing capacity (which currently
ranges from about 512MB to 256GB), and perhaps most importantly their inherent durability.

9. NETWORK AND ONLINE STORAGE

Many computer users may never have to back-up their data to a removable media or
external hard drive (and indeed may be discouraged or banned from doing so) because their
files will be stored and backed-up on their company's network servers. Even in the home (and as
discussed in the networking section), back-up to a server is also now an option for many. Far
more fundamentally, all of those switching in whole or part to cloud computing are now storing
at least some of their data out on the Internet. And even those not using online applications and
processing power now have the option of backing up moderate amounts of data online, and
often for free!

Types of storage used in computer system

1. External Hard Drive

These are hard drives similar to the type that is installed within a desktop computer or
laptop computer. The difference being that they can be plugged in to the computer or removed
and kept separate from the main computer. They typically come in two sizes :

Desktop External Hard drive : Uses a 3.5 inch hard drive similar to that used in desktop
computers.
Portable External Hard drive : Uses a 2.5 inch hard drive similar to that used in laptops.
 2. Solid State Drive (SSD)

Solid State Drives look and function similar to traditional mechanical/ magnetic hard drives
but the similarities stop there. Internally, they are completely different. They have no moving
parts or rotating platers. They rely solely on semiconductors and electronics for data storage
making it a more reliable and robust than traditional magnetic. No moving parts also means
that they use less power than traditional hard drives and are much faster too.

3. Network Attached Storage (NAS)

NAS are simply one or more regular IDE or SATA hard drives plugged in an array storage
enclosure and connected to a network Router or Hub through a Ethernet port. Some of these
NAS enclosures have ventilating fans to protect the hard drives from overheating.

4. USB Thumb Drive Or Flash Drive

These are similar to Solid State Drives except that it is much smaller in size and capacity.
They have no moving parts making them quite robust. They are extremely portable and can fit
on a keychain. They are Ideal for backing up a small amount of data that need to be brought
with you on the go.

5. Optical Drive (CD/ DVD)

CD’s and DVD’s are ideal for storing a list of songs, movies, media or software for
distribution or for giving to a friend due to the very low cost per disk. They do not make good
storage options for backups due to their shorter lifespan, small storage space and slower read
and write speeds.

6. Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is storage space on commercial data center accessible from any computer with
Internet access. It is usually provided by a service provider. A limited storage space may be
provided free with more space available for a subscription fee. Examples of service providers
are Amazon S3, Google Drive, Sky Drive etc.

Basic organization of Computer System

Hardware:
The physical devices that make op the computer are called hardware. Hardware is any
part of the computer you can touch. The tern device refers to any piece of hardware.
Hardware has many parts and the critical components fall into one of four categories.
 Processor
 Memory
 Input and Output device
 Storage
The Processor:
The procedure that transforms raw data into information is called processor. The
processor is like the brain of the computer; it organizes and carries out instructions that come
from either the user or the software. In a personal computer, the processor usually consists of
one or more microprocessors (sometimes called chips). The motherboard is a rigid rectangular
card containing the circuitry that connects the processor to the other hardware. The term central
processing unit (CPU) refers to a computer’s processor.

Memory:
Memory is like an electronic scratch pad inside the computer. When you launch a
program, it is loaded into and run from memory. Data used by the program is also loaded into
memory for fast access. As new data is entered into the computer, it is also stored in memory-
but only temporarily. The most common type of memory is called random access memory, or
RAM. As a result, the term memory is commonly used to mean to RAM. Data is both written to
and read from this memory. For this reason RAM is also sometimes called read / write memory.
One of the most important factors affecting the speed and power of computer is the amount of
RAM it has. Generally, the more RAM a computer has, the more it can do and the faster it can
perform certain tasks. Computers use other types of memory, too. Examples are read-only
memory (ROM), which permanently stores instructions that the computer needs to operate;
flash memory, like the kind used in digital cameras to store images; and cache memory, which
helps the CPU retrieve data and instructions more quickly.

Input and Output Devices:

Input Devices:
The most common input device is the keyboard which accepts letters, numbers and
commands from the user. Another important type of input device is the mouse, which let you
select options from on-screen menus. Other popular input devices are trackballs, touchpads,
joysticks, scanners, digital cameras and microphones.

Output Device:
The most common Output devices are the monitor and the printer. Just as computers
can accepts sound as input, they can use stereo speakers or headphones as output devices to
produce a sound.

Storage:
The purpose of storage is to hold data permanently.
There are three major distinctions between storage and memory-
The CD-ROM drive is another common type of storage device. Compact disks (CDs) are s type
of optical storage device, identical to audio CDs. Until recently, a standard CD could store 74
minutes of audio or 650 MB of data. A newer breed of CDs can hold 80 minutes of audio or
700-MB of data. They type used in computers is called Compact Disk-Read- Only Memory (CD-
ROM). If you purchase aCD-Recordable (CD_R) drive, you have the option of creating your
own CDs. A CD-R drive can write data to and read data from a compact disk. To create your
own compact disks, you must use special CD-R disks, which can be written on only once,
or CD-Rewritable(CD-RW) disks, which can be written to multiple times, like a floppy disk.
Another increasingly popular data storage technology is the Digital Video Disk (DVD), which is
revolutionizing home entertainment. Using sophisticated compression technologies, a
single DVD can store an entire full-length movie. DVDs can hold a minimum of 4.7 GB of data
and as much as 17 GB.

Software: Software is a set of instructions that makes the computer perform tasks. The term
program refers to any piece of software. In another word, the ingredient that enables a computer
to perform a special task is software, which consists of electronic instructions.

Most Software falls into two major categories:

· System Software
· Application Software

System Software are of two types:

o Operating System
o Network Operating System

Operating System: It tells the computer how to use its own components.
Network Operating System: It allows computers to communicate and share data across a
Network.
Application Software: It tells the computer how to accomplish specific tasks, such as word
processing or drawing, for user.

Users
People are the computer operators, also known as users.

Data
Data consists of individual facts or bits of information which by themselves may not
make much sense to person.

Input Unit:
The following functions are performed by an Input unit:
- It accepts (reads) the instructions and data from the outside world.
- It converts these instructions and data in computer acceptable form.
- It supplies the converted instructions and data to the computer system for further
processing.

Output Unit:
The following functions are performed by an Output unit:
- It accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in coded form and hence,
cannot be easily understood by us.
- It converts these coded results to human acceptable (readable) form.
 - It supplies the converted results to the Outside world.

Storage Unit:
The specific functions of the storage unit are to hold (store)
- The data and instructions required for processing (received from input devices).
- Intermediate results of processing.
- Final results of processing, before these results are released to an output device.

Primary Storage: The primary storage, also known as main memory, is used to hold pieces of
program instructions and data, intermediate results of processing, and recently produced results
of processing, of the Jobs, which the computer system is currently working on. The primary
memory can hold information only whole the computer system is on. As soon as the computer
system is switched off or reset, the information held in the primary storage disappears.

Secondary Storage: The Secondary Storage, also known as auxiliary storage, is used to take
care of the limitations of the primary storage. That is, it is used to supplement the limited
storage capacity and the volatile characteristic of primary memory. This is because secondary
storage is much cheaper than primary storage, and it can retain information ever when the
computer system is switched off or reset. The secondary storage is normally used to hold the
program instructions, data, and information of those Jobs, on which the computer system is not
working on currently, but needs to hold them for processing later.

Arithmetic Logic Unit:

The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) of a computer system is the place, where the actual
execution of the instructions takes place during the processing operation. To be more precise,
calculations are performed, and all comparisons (decisions) are made in the ALU. Almost
allALUs are designed to performed the four basic arithmetic operations (add subtract, multiply
and divide), and logic operations or comparisons, such as less than, equal to, and greater than.

Control Unit:
How does the input device know that it is time for it to feed data into the storage unit?
How does the ALU know what should be done with the data once they are received? Moreover,
how is it that only the final results are sent to the output device, and not the intermediate
results? All this is possible due to the control unit of the computer system. Although, it does not
perform any actual processing on the data, the control unit acts as a central nervous system, for
the other components of the computer system. It manages and co-ordinates the entire computer
system. It obtains instructions from the program stored in main memory, interprets the
instructions and issues signals, which cause other units of the system to execute them.

Central Processing Unit:

The control unit and arithmetic logic unit of a computer system are jointly known as the
Central Processing Unit (CPU).