Chapter 1

Introduction to Computers
what is a ‘COMPUTER’?
A computer is a machine that
manipulates data according to a
set of instructions called a
computer program.
 A formal definition
 Includes designing and building hardware and
software systems for a wide range of purposes
 processing, structuring, and managing various kinds of
information;
doing scientific studies using computers
making computer systems behave intelligently
 creating and using communications and
entertainment media
finding and gathering information relevant to any
particular purpose, and so on.
The list is virtually endless, and the possibilities are vast.
 Revision
• A Computer
Is an electronic device
Is digital (works with 1’s and 0’s)
Executes instructions in a program
Capable of doing complex computations within
short periods of time
• Personal Computer (PC)
A computer with capabilities that make it useful
for individuals
Hardware and Software

Software

Hardware
Common Types of Software

 System Software
 operating system (OS)
Examples??
 Application Software
 productivity software
 special-purpose programs
Examples??
 The Physical Components
• Input devices

• Processing

• Output devices

• Storage devices

• Communications devices
 Input Devices

• Keyboard
• Mouse, Touch pad, Joystick
• Touch screen
• Digital Camera, Digital Video
• Microphone, Sound card
• Scanner
• Barcode Reader
 Output Devices
• Monitor, Video Adapter Card

• Printer, Laser or Inkjet

• Loudspeakers, Audio Output

• Tactile Feedback, Braille

 Primary Storage – Hard disk
• Used for long
term storage
• Size in
Gigabytes
• Magnetic
technology
• Fast access (??)
 Secondary Storage - CD/DVD
• *-R - recordable
burn once
• *-RW - rewritable
erase and burn
again
• 650 MB for a CD
• 4.7 GB for a DVD
• 8.5 GB for Dual Layer
DVDs
• In-expensive
 CPU
• A device containing millions of electronic parts
The brain of the computer
Does all the fundamental computation
Controls all other components
• Performs computations by executing
instructions in sequence at discrete time
intervals
• Many types are available. Examples??
Flash memory – USB stick

Flash memory is a non-volatile computer

memory that can be electrically erased and
reprogrammed.

Easy to use and fairly inexpensive.

 Memory - RAM
• Closely connected to the CPU
• Stores part of operating system
• Stores part of the application programs
• Stores your files as you work on them
• It is a random access memory (??)
• It is a volatile memory (??)
 Nostalgic Storage - Floppy Disks
write protection tab
plastic casing liner
disk
sector hole
spindle hole

read/write opening
sliding metal shutter
 Common PC Port Types

• Serial - bits flow in a single line

• Parallel - several bits flow at once
• SCSI - can connect up to 8 devices, fast
data transfer
• USB - can connect many devices, has
hot swapping capability
• FireWire - like USB, higher speed & more $
• IrDA - infrared, line of sight
Number representation in computers
 Numeric data consists of numbers that can be used
in arithmetic operations.
 Digital devices represent numeric data using the
binary number system, also called base 2.
 The binary number system only has two digits: 0
and 1.
 Bits and Bytes
 All of the data stored and transmitted by digital devices is
encoded as bits.
 Terminology related to bits and bytes is extensively used to
describe storage capacity and network access speed.
 The word bit, an abbreviation for binary digit, can be further
abbreviated as a lowercase b.

A group of eight bits is called a byte and is usually abbreviated

as an uppercase B
Cont.’…
Cont.’…
• We use bits for data rates, such as Internet connection
speeds, and movie download speeds.
• Uses bytes for file sizes and storage capacities.

• 104 KB: Kilobyte (KB or Kbyte) is often used when

referring to the size of small computer files.
Fixed and Floating point numbers
 Computers must represent everything with 1’s and 0’s,
including the sign of a number and fixed/floating point number
 Binary/Decimal Point
 The position of the binary/decimal point is needed to represent fractions,
integers, or mixed integer-fraction number

 Two ways of specifying the position of the binary point in a

register
Cont.’…
1) Fixed Point : the binary point is always fixed in one position
A binary point in the extreme left of the register(Fraction : 0.xxxxx)
A binary point in the extreme right of the register(Integer : xxxxx.0)
The binary point is not actually present, but the number stored in the register is
treated as a fraction or as an integer
2) Floating Point: The second register is used to designate the position
of the binary point in the first register
Integer Representation +14 -14
Signed-magnitude representation
0 0001110 1 0001110
Signed-1’s complement representation
Signed-2’s complement representation 0 0001110 1 1110001
0 0001110 1 1110010
 Floating-Point Representation
 In digital computers, floating-point number consist of three parts

1) a fractional part called a significand (which is a fancy word

for a mantissa).
2) sign bit
3) an exponent part (representing the exponent on a power of 2)

 Scientific notation : m x re (+0.6132789 x 10+4)

m : mantissa, r : radix, e : exponent

Example : m x 2e = +(.1001110)2 x 2+4

 Normalization is a floating-point representation where the leftmost bit of the
significand will always be a 1.
Most significant digit of mantissa is nonzero
Cont.’…
1 bit 5 bits 8 bits

Sign bit Exponent Significand

Simple Model Floating-Point Representation