Introduction to Computer

Chapter 0: Brief Introduction

Hiuk Jae Shim (沈爀在)

Nanjing Univ. of Information Science & Technology

 Course Syllabus
◼ Instructor: Hiuk Jae Shim (심혁재, 沈爀在)
(waitnual@nuist.edu.cn, office: 信息科技 building 1604)

◼ Class Hour: Monday class (15:55-17:35, 文德N412) (CST)

Tuesday class (15:55-17:35, 文德S206) (AI, EIE, IET)

◼ Grading Policy
Attendance 5% Homework 10 %
LAB 5%
Midterm Exam 30 % Final Exam 50 %

◼ Late submission: 10% per day penalty

◼ Copy of homework: 0 point for every same copy

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 Textbooks & References
◼ Lecture class: Glenn Brookshear and Dennis Brylow, Computer
Science: An Overview, 12th Edition, Pearson, 2015

◼ References
◼ Ron White, Timothy Edward Downs, How Computers Work: The
Evolution of Technology, 10th Edition, Que Publishing, 2014
◼ Wladston Ferreira Filho, Computer Science Distilled: Learn the Art of
Solving Computational Problems, Code Energy LLC, 2017
◼ Online lecture : Introduction to Computer Science
(https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-
cs50x#!)

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 Topics to cover
◼ Lecture class (week 4 to 14) ※can be changed
◼ Ch 1 Data Storage

◼ Ch 2 Data Manipulation

◼ Ch 3 Operating Systems

◼ Ch 4 Networking and the Internet

◼ Ch 5 Algorithms

◼ Ch 8 Data Abstractions (?)

◼ Lab class (week 15 to 18)

◼ Introduction to Python

◼ Branch and loop

◼ List and tuple

◼ Set and dictionary

◼ Function

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 What is Computer?
◼ A computer* is a digital electronic machine that can be
programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or
logical operations automatically.
◼ Modern computers can perform generic sets of

operations known as programs. These programs

enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks.

◼ In short, A “computer” is a machine for manipulating data

according to a list of instructions known as a program

◼ Computer science
◼ A discipline that seeks to build a scientific foundation

for computer design and information processing using

computers
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer 5
Types of Computer

https://www.informationq.com/what-is-computer-types-of-computer/ 6
 Key Components of Computer
◼ Central Processing Unit (CPU)
◼ Volatile Memory (RAM)
◼ Non-volatile Storage (Hard disks, Flash)

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 Computing Systems
◼ A computer alone does not do anything!

◼ To complete some useful tasks, we need a “Computing

System”

◼ A computing system is a precisely coordinated operation

of hardware, software, and input data that produces
proper output data

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 Terminology
◼ Algorithm
◼ A set of steps that defines how a task is performed

◼ Program
◼ A representation of an algorithm

◼ Programming
◼ The process of developing a program

◼ Software
◼ A collection of programs and algorithms

◼ Hardware
◼ Equipment / Machinery

◼ CPU + memory + storage + I/O devices

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Algorithm for a magic trick

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 History of Algorithms
◼ The study of algorithms was originally a subject in
mathematics

◼ Early examples of algorithms

◼ Long division algorithm
◼ Euclidean Algorithm
◼ The word algorithm is derived from the name of the 9th-century
Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
(Latinized as Algoritmi)

◼ Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem

◼ “In any reasonable mathematical system there will always be true
statements that cannot be proved.”
◼ Some problems cannot be solved by algorithms

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The Euclidean algorithm (300 BC)

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 History of Computing
◼ Early computing devices

◼ Abacus: positions of beads

represent numbers
Difference Engine

◼ Gear-based machines (1600s-1800s)

◼ Positions of gears represent numbers
◼ Pascal’s adding machine (1642)
◼ Leibniz’s calculator (1671)
◼ Babbage’s Difference Engine (1832) and Analytical Engine (1833)
◼ The Analytical Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form
of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first
design for a general-purpose computer

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 Programmable vs. Hardwired
◼ Early computers based on gears are not “easily”
programmable – the hardware must be modified in order to
perform a different task
◼ The concept of “programmable” computers was also invented in
1800’s (i.e. Analytical Engine)
◼ “Programmable computers” also refer to as general purpose
computers

◼ Today, hardwired (non-programmable) computing systems are

as popular as programmable computing systems

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 Early Data Storage
◼ Early data storage: punched cards
◼ First used in Jacquard’s loom (1801) to store patterns for weaving
cloth
◼ Also used to store programs in Babbage’s Analytical Engine
◼ Ada Byron, who wrote a “program” for this machine, was recognized as
the first programmer in the world
◼ In 1887, Herman Hollerith invented punched cards to store
programs for computers, which were popular through the 1970’s
and are still used today for data input

◼ Gear positions

punched card

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 Early Computers
◼ Based on mechanical relays
◼ 1940: Stibitz at Bell Laboratories
◼ 1944: Mark I: Howard Aiken and IBM at Harvard

◼ Based on vacuum tubes

◼ 1937-1941: Atanasoff-Berry at Iowa State
◼ 1940s: Colossus: secret German code-breaker
◼ Regarded as the world's first programmable, electronic, digital
computer (Alan Turing’s contribution, his machine was Bombe)
◼ 1940s: ENIAC: Mauchly & Eckert at U. of Penn.
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The ENIAC computer

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 Microprocessors & Microcomputers
◼ The first microprocessor is Intel 4004 (1971)
◼ The first computer based on microprocessor is Intel SIM4-01

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 Personal Computers
◼ First used by hobbyists in 1975
◼ Altair 8800*

◼ IBM introduced the PC in 1981

◼ Accepted by business
◼ Became the standard hardware design for most desktop computers
◼ Most PCs use software from Microsoft

*http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Personal/Altair.html 20
 Into the Millennium
◼ Internet revolutionized communications
◼ World Wide Web
◼ Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft)

◼ Miniaturization of computing machines

◼ Embedded (GPS, in automobile engines)
◼ Smartphones

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 Reading Assignment:
Chapter 1

End of chapter 0

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