A computer is a programmable electronic
device that accepts data and performs
operations on that data.
• Input—entering data into the
computer.
• Processing—performing operations on
the data.
• Output—presenting the results.
• Storage—saving data, programs, or
output for future use.
• The computer as we know it is a fairly
recent invention.
• The history of computers is often
referred to as generations, from pre-
computers and early computers (before
1945) to fifth generation computers
(now and the future).
• Each new generation is characterized by
a major technological
developmentStarted using counting
stones and channel precursor of the
ABACUS, a counting instrument
invented by the Babylonians
• By 1971, Charles Babbage had designed
two computing machines:
• The DIFFERENCE ENGINE, which was to
solve polynomial equations by the
method of differences.
• The ANALYTICAL ENGINE, which was a
general purpose computing device.
• Nonetheless, their design gave the basis
of modern day computers
• an input device
• a processor
• a storage facility
• an output device
• First Generation type computers used
(slow , inefficient and expensive):
• Vacuum tubes
• Punched cards
• Machine languages
•
• 2nd Generation computers, using
Transistors, and Low Level Languages.
• 3rd Generation computers, using
Integrated Circuits, Compilers and High
Level Languages.
•
• Modern day computers 4th Generation
computers; using sophisticated
electronic gadgets and the MICROCHIP
invented by INTEL in 1971.
• 5th Generation computers will work
under artificial Intelligence.
•
• major manufacturers of modern day
computers:
• IBM, WANG, HEWLETT PACKARD, DCD,
NEC, EPHSON, CALCOMP, APPLE,
ZENITH, COMPAQ, BELINEA, DELL,
MAXDATA, OLIVETTI, APOLLO, DEC,
ASUS, SONY and VAX .
• USES OF COMPUTERS Banking,
• Education,
• Health,
• Commerce,
• Science,
• Agriculture,
• Transport,
• Communication and in other industries
• WHY COMPUTERS ARE POPULAR
Computers can do work very fast, thus
resulting in increase in productivity.
• Computers are more accurate in
performing repetitive work.
• Work performed with a computer can
be neat and beautifully presented.
• Information can be stored safely and in
a small space with a computer.
• Information can be retrieved more
easily with a computer.
• Computers are now less expensive
• BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE
COMPUTER
• Hardware: The physical parts of a
computer
• Internal hardware is located within the
main box (system unit) of the computer.
• External hardware is located outside
the system unit and plug into
connectors called ports located on the
exterior of the system unit.
• An input device is used to input data
into the computer.
• A processing device performs
calculations and comparisons necessary
for processing. The main processing
device is the central processing unit
(CPU).
• An output device presents the results to
the user.
• Storage devices (Primary and
secondary storage devices) are used to
save data, programs or output.
• Communication devices allow the user
to communicate with others and access
remote
• SOFTWARE; The programs or
instructions used to tell the computer
hardware what to do.
• System software allows a computer to
operate and run application software.
• Application software performs specific
tasks or applications.
• NB:
• Data = raw, unorganized facts.
• Can be in the form of text, graphics,
audio, or video.
• Information = data that has been
processed into a useful form.
• Types of Computers or Computer
Hierarchies
• The most basic differences between
computer systems are size and use.
• Mobile devices/Computing devices
refer to smaller and mobile computers.
E.g. Personal Digital Assistants (PDA);
Smartphones; Wearable Computers;
and Smart Card (e.g. personal ID card
or MyKad like credit card).
• Workstations/Microcomputer:
smallest computer, desktop or
personal computer, inexpensive.
• Workstations are powerful single user
computers and run intensive scientific
and engineering applications such as
engineering design, medical imaging,
scientific visualization and 3D
animation.
• Microcomputers are the most popular
single user computers
• Desktop Personal Computer (PC);
• Thin-client systems; and Laptop
• Notebook Computers.
• Tablet Computers
• Minicomputer: Moderate sized
computer. Used when a desktop
computer is not powerful enough to
do the job. One minicomputer can be
used by more than one person at a
time.
• Used to accomplish specific tasks such
as process control and for scientific
and engineering applications
Mainframe: Large computer, fast
processing speeds and can process
billions of data per second. Several
people can use one mainframe
computer at a time.
Used by large enterprises running
applications like university students’
information systems, corporate payroll
systems and airline reservation systems
Supercomputer: Computer built to
minimize distance between points for
very fast operation. It is used for
extremely complicated computations.
E.g. aerospace, automotive, military
and scientific applications, although its
use in commercial application (Fujitsu
FX1, Hitachi SR2201, etc.)
• SUPER COMPUTERS : Used for
applications that have extraordinary
demands for processing power.
• Offer very fast speeds and extreme
degrees of accuracy.
• Commonly created today by
connecting hundreds of
smaller computers
to form a
supercomputing
cluster.
• BASIC HARDWARE COMPONENTS OF A
PERSONAL COMPUTER.
• 3 basic components of computer
hardware: processors, memory, I/O
technologies
• Input Devices
• Devices used to send data,
information or instructions into the
computer.
• Output Devices
• Devices or equipment that display the
processed data
• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• The CPU performs all the instructions
given to the computer (processes the
data).
• Storage Unit /Memory (RAM, ROM,
Cache, Hard disk and flash Drives)
• The storage unit stores data.
• The CPU and the Storage unit are
contained in a rectangular shaped box
called the system unit.
TWO TYPES OF MICROPROCESSOR
CHIPS: CISC Chip: Microprocessors that
are commonly used are the Complex
Instruction Set Computing (CISC) chip.
This technology has been popularised
by Intel, and has become the basis of
its microprocessors. This chip design
has been used very widely, and many
programmes have been written
specifically for this type.
 RISC Chip: This type of computer chip
uses the approach of Reduced
Instruction Set Computing (RISC),
which involves less instruction. Its
design is simpler and cheaper than the
CISC chip. This chip is used mostly
inside high-powered microcomputers.
MEMORY
Primary and Secondary storage devices
• Two types of primary storage: RAM
(Random Access Memory) and ROM
(Read Only Memory).Two types of
semiconductor RAM are: Dynamic RAM
(DRAM); and Static RAM (SRAM). This
Located inside the computer, stores
data and instruction
• Examples of ROM
• PROM (Programmable ROM);
• EPROM (Erasable and Programmable
ROM); and
• EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and
Programmable ROM).
• Primary storage stores three types of
information:
1. Data to be processed by the CPU;
2. Instructions for the CPU; and
3. Operating System.
Secondary storage
Three different types of secondary
storage:
magnetic media,
optical media and
flash memory.
It is also a method of storing non-
volatile data, information, and
instructions outside the computer.
TYPES OF OUTPUT DEVICES Printers:
Two types
1. Non-Impact Printers (printing element
does not touch the paper)
• Ink-Jet Printer: The ink-jet printer
calculating the location of each dot
and "shoots" the ink. colour printouts
possible
• Laser: It’s noted for producing a page
of text at a time by laser beam scan
onto a photoactive plate building up
an image of the printed page. The
plate is dusted with toner that sticks to
the exposed areas. Paper is then
placed in contact with the plate,
transferring the image to the paper. A
final heat bonding seals the toner to
the paper: very high quality colour
printouts are possible. 2. Impact
Printers
• Dot matrix & Daisy wheel. Their
difference is in the quality of output.
Dot matrix printers form characters
from individual dots whereas a daisy
wheel printer imprints fully-formed
characters, much like a typewriter. The
dot matrix is the more versatile of the
two. Both printers impact the paper
through a ribbon to transfer ink to the
paper by the hitting element. Dot
matrix use 9 to 24 individual pins. Both
are one colour printers.
• Plotter
• Modem
• Speaker
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
SYSTEM Central Processing Unit (CPU);
(i) Control Unit, and
(ii) Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU).
(b) Primary Storage or Main Memory is
located inside the SU.
types:
RAM: E.g. Dynamic RAM (DRAM); and
Static RAM (SRAM))
ROM: E.g. PROM (Programmable
ROM), EPROM (Erasable and
Programmable ROM), and EEPROM
(Electrically Erasable and
Programmable ROM).
cache memory: It is a high-speed
memory that is used to temporarily
store blocks of data taken from RAM
or ROM. Cache memory is a place
closer to the CPU, and thus it is faster
than RAM or ROM.
(c) Secondary Storage: Located outside
the SU;
Types:
magnetic media
Optical media
flash memory
(d) Input and Output Peripherals.
NB:
The main role of a computer hardware
is to do computation. The computation
is done by executing a set of instruction
(which is normally called a computer
program) stored in the primary storage
of the computer system.
During the process of computation, the
instruction will be taken by the CPU
from the primary storage one by one.
INTERFACING OF INPUT AND OUTPUT
DEVICES.
• Interfacing connotes setting up of
communication parameters as well as
the cable connection. Cables from the
input or output devices can be
connected to the system unit through a
serial port or a parallel port at the back
of the system unit.
• Serial port: one bit at a time
• Parallel port: 8 bits or a byte
• Normally, Parallel ports are made up of
25 pins while serial port is 9 pins.
• The hardware devices connected to the
system unit box are referred to as
computer peripheral.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE.
• Computer software is any written
instruction that instructs the computer
to perform a specific task.
• System software: This is the type of
software that acts as intermediaries
between the hardware and the
application software. System software
includes operating systems, Language
translators, utility programs and
performance monitors.
• For instance, Operating system
supervises the overall operation of a
computer system. The main function of
an operating system is to provide a
virtual machine that is easier to use and
hide all the complexity of the
underlying computer hardware.
• This virtual machine environment is:
• Providing an interface between the user
and the computer hardware; thus, when
a user uses a computer system, he is not
really interacting with the computer
hardware, but rather he is interacting
with the operating system.
• Oss Manage all the computer resources
such as CPU, primary storage,
secondary storage and Input-Output
Peripherals.
• E. g. of OSs:
• MS-DOS,
• Windows,
• UNIX/Linux (UNIX is a dominant
operating system on high-end
workstations and servers, LINUX is
mostly for PCs),
• XENIX
• Apple Macintosh
FUNCTIONS OF OPERATING SYSTEMS
– Booting the computer and
configuring devices.
– Interfacing with users.
– Managing and monitoring
resources and jobs.
– File management.
– Security.
• Processing Techniques for Increased
Efficiency
Multitasking—the ability of an
operating system to work with more
than one program (task) at a time.
Multithreading—the ability to process
multiple threads within a program at
one time.
Time-sharing—technique for multiple
programs to share processing on a
rotating basis.
Multiprocessing—the ability to use
multiple CPUs to process multiple jobs.
Parallel processing—the ability to use
multiple CPUs to process a single job
faster.
Co-processing—utilizing special
processors for specialized chores (e.g.
math coprocessor).
Two ways to Interact with an Operating
System:
1. Command Line Interface (CLI): In CLI
user interface, commands are given by
typing the text.
2. Graphical User Interface (GUI): In GUI
user interface, commands are given by
pointing at icons or menus provided by
the system.
The main function of a compiler is to
convert programs written in high-level
languages into the machine language.
Machine language is a language that is
understood by the CPU. It is based on
binary codes.
SYSTEM UTILITIES
• Main role: Support the operation,
management and users of a computer
system. Examples:
– Disk checker: it scans for errors
in a disk in order to check the
integrity of the disk.
 – System performance monitor: it
monitors the performance of
processes in the computer
system, for instance, processing
time and memory space utilised
by a process.
Anti-virus software: The main role of
anti-virus is to identify, neutralise and
eliminate virus.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
• Application software provides the tools
to perform particular tasks on a PC,
such as writing a letter, processing
orders, playing games, composing an e-
mail, and so forth or
• .
Examples
• Word processors e.g., Word Perfect,
AmiPro, Word Star, MS Word etc.
• Spreadsheet e.g. LOTUS 123, Aseasy,
MS Excel etc
• Database e.g. Dbase III Plus, Dbase IV,
MS Access etc.
• Graphic e.g. Corel Draw, Canvass, MS
PowerPoint, MS Publisher etc
• Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) e.g.
AutoCAD etc
• Specialized software e.g. Surpac,
Datmine etc
• computer aided design software,
students’ information system, payroll
system and games software
Note: The process of writing a
computer software is called
programming.
The person who is responsible for
developing computer software is called
software engineer or developer or
computer programmer.
Computer network—a collection of
computers and other hardware
connected together to share data,
hardware, software, programs, and
facilitate electronic communication.
5 Components of data communication
systems
• Message: The piece of information to
be communicated.
• Sender: The device that sends the
message.
• Receiver: The device that receives the
message.
• Medium: The transmission medium is
the physical path by which a message
travels from a sender to a receiver.
• Protocol: A set of rules that represents
an agreement between the
communicating devices.
• A message is a piece of information to
be transmitted from the sender to the
destination. E.g. files, e-mail messages
and web pages. $$$$ examples of
sender and receiver.
• Message can be transmitted in the form
of documents, pictures, videos or
audios.
• This message is represented and stored
in the form of binary data, which
3. Distributed data processing and
cannot be transmitted directly through
client/server systems
a medium.

• Rather, they need to be converted into

specific signals, depending on the type
of medium, for example, for
transmitting data through a co-axial
cable, we need to convert the data into
electrical signals.
• OSI REFERENCE MODEL
• The set of rules and procedures
governing data transmission from one
layer to another is called the protocol.
• The International Standard Organisation
(ISO) has defined an Open System
Interconnection (OSI) model.
• This model has seven layers, each
having its own well-defined functions
and protocols.
4. Enhanced communications:
Telecommunication networks provide
the ability to communicate through
Email, Bulletin Boards, Blogs, Instant
Messaging, Wikis, and
Videoconferencing
5. Marketing outreach: Businesses may
share data with consumers to advertise
or sell their products through a
corporate web integrations.
NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATION
APPLICATIONS
Wireless phones
Cellular phones
Satellite phones

Paging and messaging

Global positioning systems (GPSs)

Satellite radio

• Online conferencing (online meetings)

– Videoconferencing

– Web conferencing
REASONS FOR NETWORKING.
– Collaborative computing
Sharing of technology resources. E.g.
Printers • Telecommuting

• Telemedicine

2. Sharing of data such as text, pictures,

and video