Computers in Management 5

Unit-1: Introduction to Information System

Notes
Structure
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Information System
1.2 Need of Information
1.3 Role of Information System in Business
1.4 Category of Information Systems
1.5 Information System Resources
1.6 Scope of Information System
1.7 Summary
1.8 Answers to Check your Progress
1.9 For the Reading

1.0 Introduction
Information is the requirement of every organization. In fact, large organisations
have started having information systems whose work is to gather the necessary data
and process those data into meaningful information.

Computer and Information Systems occupy a special place in business. They

facilitate efficient operations such as in airline reservation offices, hospital records
departments, accounting and payroll functions, electronic banking, and countless other
applications.

1.1 Information System

System is a buzzword today. A system is a set of interrelated elements that operate
together to achieve an objective. The general model of a system has input, process and
output. A system can have many inputs and many outputs.

The most talked about system is the information system. It receives inputs of
data or collects the information and instructions, processes the data according to the
instructions and outputs the result which itself is some information.

If all input comes together, the simple information system with these three
components is sufficient. But it rarely happens. Different type of inputs comes at
different times. So the existing inputs need to be stored. When the entire whole data
has arrived, it could be processed to obtain the output.

An information system can comprise of both humans and machines. Information

system use the various tools to collect the data. These tools can be humans, as
well as machines. Then these data are processed into information. The data can be
processed using some manual or electronic method. Then the information obtained
after processing of data is the output of that information system.

An information system is to an organisation, what a nervous system is to the

body. They do not operate independently, but exist in the organisation to support
the organisational processes at different levels. Since they support the function of
organisation, they are also referred to as support systems. Timely information is
required at every level of any organisation to take important decisions. Iinformation
systems in any organisation, are available at different levels, such as:

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Notes • Transaction Processing System

• Office Automation System

• Management Processing System

• Decision Support System

1.2 Need of Information

Information is an item whose relevance may vary from one person to person. The
information which is of too much relevance for a person may be of no importance for
some other person.

Characteristics of Information
Because of to much importance of information in the improvement of their working
and in decision making for the achievements of their goals, organisations are willing
to expend large sums of money to acquire information. For this purpose, organisations
can either have their in-house processing system or employ the services of vendors
providing such services.

There are many factors, which contribute to the value of information. These may be
any or all of the following:

Timeliness
Timeliness is an important quality which every information must possess. Whenever
any information is required, it should be available as early as possible. Any information
available after the time when it was required has gone, is of no use.

Availability
Sometimes it happens the information which a person gets is new and is not
available previously. As such that becomes very important for the managers as it would
help them in formulating the policies and decide the actions which will make the lead in
the business race.

Accuracy
Accuracy is the next trait which any information must process. False inaccurate
information may result in losses. More accurate is the information, more is its cost. So a
prefect tradeoff between accuracy and its cost needs to be maintained.

Presentation
The way information is present effects the values of information. If the information
has been presented in a meaningful manner to the user, it becomes more clear,
impressive and valuable.

1.3 Role of Information System in Business

There are three fundamental reasons for all business applications of information
technology. They are found in the three vital roles that information systems can perform
for a business enterprise.

• Support of its business processes and operations.

• Support of decision making by its employees and managers.

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• Support of its strategies for competitive advantage. Notes

Support Business Process: As consumers, we regularly come across information
systems that support the business processes and operations at the many retail stores
where you shop. For example, most retail stores now use computer-based information
systems to help them record customer purchases, keep track of inventory, pay
employees.

Support Decision Making: Information systems also help store managers and
other business professionals make better decisions. For example, decisions on what
lines of merchandise need to be added or discontinued, or what kind of investment
they require, are typically made after an analysis of inputs provided by computer-based
information systems.

Support Competitive Advantage: Gaining a strategic advantage over the

competitors requires an innovative application of information technologies. For
example, store management might make a decision to install touch-screen kiosks in
all their stores, with links to their e-commerce website for online shopping. This might
attract new customers and build customer loyalty.

1.4 Category of Information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems are important examples of operations support
systems that record and process data resulting from business transactions. They
process transactions in two basic ways. In batch processing, transactions data are
accumulated over a period of time and processed periodically. In real-time (or online)
processing, data are processed immediately after a transaction occurs.

Management Information System (MIS) provided information in the form of reports

and displays to managers and many business professionals. For example, sales
managers may use their net-worked computers and web browsers to get instantaneous
displays about the sales results of their products and to access their corporate intranet
for daily sales analysis reports that evaluate sales made by each salesperson.

Decision Support System (DSS) give direct computer support to managers during
the decision-making process. A production manager may use a DSS to decide how
much product to manufacture based on the expected manufacturing cost the promotion
and the location and availability of the raw materials necessary to manufacture the
product.

1.5 Information System Resources

An information system consists of five major resources, as under:

• People Resources

• Hardware Resources

• Software Resources

• Data Resources and

• Network Resources

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Notes People Resources

Manpower is an essential resource for the successful operation of all information
systems. This resource includes end users and IS specialists.

Hardware Resources
The concept of hardware resources includes all physical devices and materials used
in information processing. Specifically, it includes not only machine, such as computers
and other equipment, but also all data media, that is, tangible objects on which data are
recorded from sheets of paper to magnetic or optical disks.

Software Resources
The Software Resources include all sets of information processing instructions. This
generic concept of software includes not only the set of operating instructions, called
programmes, which direct and control computer hardware, but also the set of important
information processing instructions, called procedures, that people need.

Data Resources
Data are more than the raw material of information system. The concept of data
resources has been broadened by managers and information systems professionals.
They realise that data are valuable organisational resources. Thus, the data should be
viewed as a resource that must be managed effectively to benefit all end users in an
organisation.

Network Resources
Telecommunications technologies and networks, like the Internet, intranets,
and extranets, are essential for the successful electronic business and commerce
operations of all types of organisations and their computer-based information systems.
The concept of network resources emphasises that communications technologies and
networks are fundamental resource components of all information systems.

1.6 Scope of Information System

There is no single information system in any organisation. Structurally, an
organisation’s information systems are a collection of business information systems for
facililating marketing, manufacturing, personnel management, purchasing, and other
business functions. Each of these basic business functions comprises transaction level
activities, routine decision making and occurrence of unique decision requirements,
and office/departmental support applications. Thus, it is seen that various business
functions in an organisation need information system support. Thus, proper maintence
of information systems is very essential for any organisation to be successful.

1.7 Summary
• A system is a group of related components working together to achieve a common
goal.

• Major application categories of information system include operation support

system, MIS and decision support system.

• A information system uses resources of people, hardware, software, data and

network.

• Information product produced by an information system can take variety of forms

including paper reports, multimedia documents, and audio responses

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Check your progress Notes

1. Communications media, network infrastructure are include in

a. Data Resource b. Network Resource

c. Software Resource d. None of these

2. A group of interrelated components with the clear boundary to attain common goal
is a:

a. System b. Data

c. Feedback d. Processing

Further Reading
1. Management information system, The McGraw –Hill Companies.

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Unit-2: Computer Fundamentals

Notes
Structure
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Computer Architecture
2.2 Classification of Computers
2.3 Memory Systems
2.4 Auxiliary Storages Devices
2.5 Input Devices
2.6 Output Devices
2.7 Concept of Software
2.8 Programming Languages
2.9 Summary
2.10 Answer to Check your Progress
2.11 Further Reading

2.0 Introduction
A computer is an electronic device made up of electronic circuits and wires etc.,
In the modern age, a computer is the most advance tool for solving a wide range of
practical problems. More precisely, “a computer is an electronic device which works
under the instructions of stored programmes, automatically accepting the supplied data
to analyse and process the data to produce the information called the result or output of
that processing”.

It manipulates the number of symbols, which it accepts as input, process this input
and reproduces this as output in a formatted manner. The word computer has been
derived from the word compute. When computers were developed, it was thought that
they would be fast calculating machines. But today, most of the work done is non-
numerical in nature like processing the records of students or employees or details of
passengers for railway reservation.

Thus, the data used and work done is of different types depending on the nature
of application. That is the reason computers are also called as data processors or data
processing systems as they accept, store process and retrieve data.

Any computer must have a place for holding the instructions (known as
programmes) and data on which the programme will operate. The place, which is used
for this purpose is called Memory and most often is referred to as the Main Memory.

Many times it happens that data and programmes are large enough not to fit in the
main memory. So, some place is required so that they could be kept safe. That safe
place is known as secondary memory, or secondary storage device (many times it is
referred to as Auxiliary Memory also), which is connected to the computers. Common
examples of these are floppy disks, hard disk, magnetic tapes, CD-ROMs, pen-drives,
etc.

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Programme Notes
& DATA Input Storage Output Results
Unit Unit Unit

Control
Unit
Central
Processing
Unit
Arithmetic
Logic Unit

Figure 1: Computer Block Diagram

2.1 Computer Architecture

The internal architectural design of computers differs from one system to another.
However, the basic organisation remains same for all computer systems.

A block diagram of the basic computer is shown in figure-1. In this figure, the bold
lines are used to indicate the flow of instruction and data, and the dotted lines represent
the control exercised by the control unit. The figure displays the five major functional
units of a digital computer.

Input Unit
The input unit links the external environment with the computer system. It accepts
the list of instructions and data from the outside world, converts these instructions and
data into computer acceptable form and feeds the converted instructions and data into
the computer storage for further processing.

Output
The job of the output unit is the reverse of that of the input unit. It provides the
information and results of computation to the outside world. Thus, it also acts as an
interface between the computer and the external system.

Storage Unit
The storage unit, or the primary/main storage unit, of a computer system provides
space for storing data and instructions for processing. It also provides space for storing
intermediate results of processing and stores final results of processing before these
results are provided to the output devices.

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

It is the place where the actual execution of instructions takes place during the
processing operation. All type of calculations and comparisons are performed in the ALU.

Control Unit
The control unit of a computer system manages and coordinates the entire computer
system. It maintains order and directs the operation of the entire system. It interprets
any instruction it receives from the memory and issues signals that cause other units of
the system to execute the instructions.

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Notes Central Processing Unit

The control unit and arithmetic logic unit of a computer system are jointly known as
the Central Processing Unit (CPU). The CPU is the brain of any computer system. All
major calculations and comparisons are made inside the CPU, which is responsible for
activating and controlling the operations of other units of the computer system.

2.2 Classification of Computers

There are many criteria according to which computers can be classified into
different classes. These are

1. Features and Capabilities

2. Application for which the computers can be used

3. Cost and other facilities available.

4. Processing manner.

Broadly, on the basis of their making principles, the computers can be classified into
following three classes.

a) Digital Computers

b) Analog Computers

c) Hybrid Computers

Digital Computers
Digital computers carry out operations on discrete data values (which involves
counting) and operates in a word of binary Ones and Zeros. These are the most widely
used computers in the world, since the arithmetic operations are performed very
quickly. The digital computers perform calculations on large amounts of data in very
short duration of time

Analog Computers
As against digital computers, analog computers carry out operations on data which
can vary continuously and measurable. In these computers any physical process
is converted to mathematical equations. These equations are then converted to
analogous electrical signals. Accuracy of analog computer is not very good. These
computers are powerful tools to solve differential equations.

Hybrid Computers
The digital computers are more accurate than analog computers. Actually,
the accuracy of the results by the analog computers depends upon the accuracy
of measurement of the physical quantities. But, one should not think that analog
computers are inferior to digital computers. Actually each computer is superior for its
own field of application.

Now, combining the capabilities of both type of computers, we have a new type to
computers, called as Hybrid Computers for meeting the needs cessity of new growing
fields of applications such as aircraft guidance and navigation.

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2.3 Memory Systems Notes

By memory system we mean some storage device for managing and its storage
devices.

Even computer system must have a memory to store and retrieve the instructions
and data. A computer system can have different tyres of memories to store the
information which are required for operation. The information stored on a computer is
classified into two categories- instructions and data.

A memory system is a simple system but it exhibits a wide range of technology and
types. It has fast, as well as slow, memories. Different technologies are employed to
manufacture these memories. The fast memory is expensive because of the costly
technology used to develop. Also, fast memories require a continuous power supply.
Thee slow memories are cheap and they are slow because of high access time. By
access time, we mean the time taken by the CPU to access a location in the memory.
The high access time results in slower operation in the CPU.

A memory system can be considered to consist of three main groups of memories.

These are:

• Internal Processor Memories

• Primary Memory

• Secondary Memory

All these memories have different physicals and operational characteristics in terms
of cost, organisation, technology and performance. Besides these three memories, one
more memory is also being used. This is Cache Memory which is somewhere between
internal processor memories and Primary Memory.

Internal Processor Memories

This memory consists of high speed registers which are placed in processor itself.
These are used as temporary locations when the ALU performs the actual processing.
Being a part of processor, this is the fastest memory and is too frequently used.

Cache Memory
Cache Memory is also a very fast memory and has become a necessary part of
modern computers. It is faster than the main memory and is placed between internal
memory and main memory. The information related to the data being processed into the
registers is stored in it so that as and when the unformation is required by the ALU, it
could be immediately loaded into the registers. Cache memory is too costly and is thus
less frequently as compared to main memory and secondary memory.

Primary Memory
Primary, which is known as main, memory is now being used more frequently.
It is very fast but not as fast as registers and Cache memory. The main memory is
addressed directly by the processor.

Secondary Memory
This is also known as auxiliary memory, or backup storage. This is the slowest
memorys in the hierarchy. So they are very cheap and are used in bulk usually in
terms in Giga Bytes. These are normally used for storing the big programs and huge
software. Besides, this they can store all kind of data such as audio-video file, graphics,

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Notes animations and every thing expressible in the form of binary digits. In case of main
memory overflow, secondary storage can be used as the extended memory.

2.4 Auxiliary Storages Devices

Floppy Disk
In a floppy disk, data is entered through a keyboard and stored in a circular
magnetic disk, called floppy, in the form of magnetic spots (instead of punched holes as
in cards).

The floppy is a flexible plastic disk, coated with an oxide material. Information is
entered either through a computer, or key-to-floppy. The floppy is divided into a number
of concentric circles. These concentric circles are called tracks. The information
is stored in the form of magnetic spots along those circles. These tracks are further
divided into sectors. The floppy is housed in a plastic cover, which is never removed.
This is to protect the disk from dust. This cover is known as jacket.

The floppy has a hole in the centre. The floppy drive has a circular plastic spindle.
When the floppy is inserted in floppy drive and the drive is locked, the spinal enters
the hole and the floppy gets fitted into the floppy drive. A floppy rotates at the speed of
200-300 revolutions per second. It has a long slot through which the information is read
and written into the floppy.

Label

Plastic hole ring

Drive spindle
hole Index
hole

Head slot

Alignment notches

Figure 2 : Floppy Disk

Advantages
Floppies have many advantages over other devices. These are,

a) Low cost.

b) Size is compact.

c) The floppies are portable. These can even be mailed.

Magnetic Disk
A magnetic disk is a rigid plastic disk coated with an oxide for easy magnetisation.
The working principle is similar to the functioning of gramophone records. There the

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sound waves are converted to the electromagnetic signals and stored on the record Notes
surface and while playing, the reverse process occurs, i.e. the electromagnetic signals
are converted back to sound waves. In a magnetic disk, the data is stored in the form of
magnetic spots.

A magnetic disk is in fact a pack of may plastic disks, which are placed together
one over each other to form a hard disk. One magnetic disk pack, i.e., a hard disk may
consist of 5 or more disks which can be used from both the sides. All these disks are
covered by a metallic shield to form one hard disk.

Tracks

Read write head

Sector

Figure 3 : Magnetic Disc

Magnetic Tapes
A magnetic tape is an another backup storage device. It is plastic tape similar to a
tape recorder cassette. A magnetic tape is 0.5 inches wide and 2400 feet long. This
tape is coated with an oxide for easy magnetisation. The tape is wound on a spool.
All the items, including read/write head, are mounted on a tape unit. This tape passes
through two vacuum columns.

In between two columns, read write head is fixed, so the tape passes through read/
write head and wounds up on pick-up tape reel.

Like magnetic disks, the magnetic tapes also have tracks. These tracks are linear
and parallel to each other along the length of the tape. This means for 2400 feet of tape
each tack is 2400 feet long. There are either 9 or 7 tracks in a tape. If a tape has seven
racks, that 6-bit BCD with one parity bit is used. If a tape has 9 tracks, 8-bit EBCDIC
code with one parity bit is used.

Compact Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)

CD-ROM means Compact Disk-Read only memory and is also known as an optical
disk. Usually it consists of a single removable plastic or metal disk coated on one side
with tellurium. It are protected by a 1 mm layer of transparent plastic. In this storage
device, the information is stored in compact form. The data is stored in the form of
minute pits which are burned into the tellurium coating with a laser beam. These pits,
which are too tiny in size (about one micron), are not visible to the naked eyes.

These disks are read only, i.e., the information stored in compact disk can only be
read by the computer. Unlike the floppy disks, computers cannot store any thing on
such disks. Information storage or wiring on compact disks is possible by laser beam
only. Normally, the diameter of a compact disk is 12cms. Approximately, 20000 pages
can be stored on a compact disk.

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Notes The difference between CD-ROM and other storage devices is that the working
principles of storage or devices on devices like magnetic disks, magnetic tape, floppy
disks is magnetism, but for CD-ROM, storage or writing is through optical rays. The
information written on the magnetic surfaces can be erased and new information written
at that place, but information once written on the CD-ROM cannot be erased.

2.5 Input Devices

Input devices are the means to input the various types of data and instructions into
the computer.

In today’s modern age, when information processing has become the backbone of
every business, the use of conventional input devices, such as paper tapes, cassettes,
cards, etc., does not match the speed of CPUs available today. So, they are no longer
considered as convenient and reliable means of data feeding.

Some of the input devices are:

• Keyboard

• Mouse

• Light pen

• Tablet

• Touch Panels

• Track-ball

Keyboard
The keyboard is the most common input device used for all kind of computers-
mainframe, minis and micros. Several kind of keyboards are available but they all
resemble each other with minor variations. A keyboard has three main portions:

Main Portion: This portion is similar to a type-writer keyboard.

Function keys: These keys are used to perform special functions in different
specific applications.

Numeric cum cursor keypad: This is used for faster data entry and moving the
cursor to different positions. Besides this, to perform tasks like insertion, deletion,
this keypad has special purpose keys. In some keyboards, the cursor control key and
control purpose keys are available as separate pads also.

Function key: Allows the user to enter commonly-used operations in a single

stroke. Cursor control keys are used to select the position of the cursor.

General purpose keyboards: These have 101 keys and can be used with almost
every general purpose computer. Now 105 key keyboards, designed especially for
Windows 9x or Windows 2000 environment, are also available. These are known as
WINDOWS-95 keyboards.

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Notes

Figure 4 : Keyboard

Mouse
Mouse is a small hand-held box with rollers on the bottom as shown in figure. This
mouse is rolled along a flat surface. As it is moved, the rollers record the amount and
direction of motion which is converted to the corresponding movement of the cursor
on the screen. The mouse can be picked up and placed at another position without
effecting the cursor movement on the screen. This device is used especially for graphic
applications and for cursor movement. When the cursor reaches the desired position,
the button on the top of mouse is pressed and that specific position is recorded. Buttons
on the top of mouse have predefined functions, according to the application with which
the key is being used.

Light pen
This is another device which is used for selecting the cursor position. These are
pencil shaped devices, which are used to select the screen positions by moving the
pen across the CRT screen. These pens are sensitive to short bursts of light emitted
from phosphorous coating at the instant an electron beam strikes a particular point.
An activated pen pointed at a spot on screen as electron beam lights up that spot,
generates an electrical pulse that tells the computer to record the coordinate position of
the electron beam. To activate the pen, a button, which is mounted either on the top of
pen or on side is used.

Joystick
Joy stick is special pointing input device. It is used to control the movement of some
item on the screen. A joy stick consists of a small vertical lever which is mounted on a
base that is used to steer the screen cursor around. The direction and the distance stick
moves from its central position corresponding to the cursor movement in that direction.
The stick is attached to a spring which brings the stick to its centre position, when it is
released. Potentiometers are used in joy-stick to measure the amount of movement.

2.6 Output Devices

Output devices are those which are used for obtaining different kind of outputs from
the computer. These devices cannot be used for any other purpose, except obtaining
outputs from them. These devices are

• Printer

• Plotter

• Visual display unit

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Notes Printer
Printer is the most commonly used output device to get the hard copy. Here, the
results are printed on the paper. So, we get the hard copy of the output from the printer.
For some printers, continuous sheets, called continuous stationary are used. This
stationary is manufactured in different sizes. Broadly, printers can be classified into two
categories:

• Impact Printer

• Non-impact Printer

Plotter
The results of computer calculations are often presented in graphical from using a
graph plotter. Also, graphical outputs like pictures etc., are taken on the plotter. Different
types of plotters are in use, but the most commonly used plotter is the pen plotter. Other
plotters are:

• laser beam

• ink-jet sprays

• electrostatic ones

Visual Display Unit

In computers, Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the primary output device. Each and
every computer is provided with a visual display unit. Its appearance is similar to that of
a portable television. Output obtained on a monitor is known as soft copy.

The VDU is connected to the input device keyboard. When keys of keyboards are
pressed, respective characters get displayed on the monitor. The code for character
is also generated and sent to the system to store into memory. The display terminals,
also known as alphanumeric terminals, display the characters and images from a
multi-dot array.

A VDU is sometimes termed as a display unit or a video display or simply, monitor.

The operation of most of the video monitors is based on standard cathode ray tube
design (CRT), but now several other technologies are also used for manufacturing and
operation of visual display unit.

Display Technologies
Currently, three main technologies are being employed for manufacturing of
monitors. These are:

1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

2. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

3. Projection Display

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

The main components of a CRT terminal are: the electron gun, the electron beam
controlled by an electromagnetic field and a phosphorous coated display screen.
Cathode Ray display is the most popularly used technology.

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Notes

Figure 5 : Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

This technology was first introduced in watches and clocks in 1970s. It is now being
applied to display terminals also. The CRT is replaced by liquid crystal to produce the
image. Using LCD, coloured pictures can also be obtained but they are of relatively
poor quality. Their power consumption is low than that of CRT terminals. Because of its
low energy requirement and compactness, Liquid crystal display technology has major
applications in manufacturing of screens and monitors for portable devises such as
digital watches, video games and Laptops.

Projection Displays
For large group presentations, large screens are used. So, displays of size larger
than the personal size screens are required. For that purpose, projection displays are
used. These systems are connected to the computer and whatever appears on the
computer terminal gets enlarged and is projected on a large screen.

2.7 Concept of Software

Software is collection of related programmes to achieve a common objective or a
common goal. Similarly, a programme is a set of instructions to achieve a certain
objective. For example, when we talk about a payroll software package, it may contain
several programmes such as pay slips, pay registers and statements.

System Software
System Software are generally written by system programmers who know the
architecture of the computer, its principles and have a deep knowledge of input output
devices. These software are generally developed by hardware manufacturers or
independent software companies.

Some of the example of system software are operating system and language
processor.

Operating System
This is the first system software which is loaded into the memory. When we start our
computer, the input remains in the memory, till the computer is switched off. The tasks
of the operating system are to interact with the user, for performing other task, to take
care of input/output devices attached to that particular computer, take care of memory
management, etc.

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Language Processors
Notes In the beginning, when computers came into existence, no software was available
for users. They had to write programmes in machine level language. Writing a
programme in machine level instructions was tedious and time-consuming. For every
instruction, there was a unique string of 0’ and 1’s and for different machines, these
instructions varied.

To overcome these problems some codes, known as Mnemonics codes were

developed. Now these codes represented a string of 0 and 1 in the form of words.

After some time standardisation of some languages began. Due to this

standardisation, the codes are similar for all the machines. This created the need for
translators – also known as Compilers and Interpreters.

Compilers compile full programmes and generate machine level instructions which
are written into new files, which generate the instructions needed for execution.

While using interpreter, line by line instructions are translated into machine instructions
and are executed immediately. Compiled programmes are faster then interpreted
programmes. For debugging purpose, interpreters are more useful than compilers.

Utilities
Utilities are generally written and supplied by software developers or hardware
manufacturers. These utilities are used by the users in their day-to-day operations.
Some of the commonly used utilities are text editors and linkers debuggers.

Application Software
A Programme written for a specific area or application is called an application
software. Such application software which can be utilised by different users is a general
purpose application software. Such software are called readymade application software
or simply packages.

Application software written for specific users is called a tailor-made application

software. These application software satisfy the need for a specific user only such
as payroll programme written for a university and inventory programme written for a
factory.

2.8 Programming Languages

The language of a computer or method of representing information in a computer
is a collection of electrical pulses. A computer recognises only the presence and
absence of a pulse and this leads to binary representation. For example, if 0 represents
the absence of a pulse and 1 its presence, a sequence of binary numbers has some
specific meaning for the computers. Broadly, there are only two classes of programming
languages. These are:

a. Low level languages

b. High level languages

Any language is called low level language or high level language, depending on how
close it is to the language understood and used by the computer (0s and 1s – low), or to
the language understood and used by people (English like language-high).

Machine Level Language (Low Level Language)

Machine level language, or low level language, is a programming language in
which we write the instructions by using only 0’s and 1’s. Machine level languages are
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machine dependent. The machine language instructions are represented as a string of
binary codes or digits. So instructions are given in sequence of 0’s and 1’s. The binary Notes
code of an instruction is known as machine code or machine language.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Machine Level Language

Advantages
1. Machine level language does not need the translators because the programme
is already in machine code.

2. Machine level language programmes are executed very fast as they do not
need any conversion.

Disadvantages
1. Due to use of strings of 0’s and 1’s, the machine level language is highly
error-prone.

2. It is very difficult to develop a programme using machine level language.

3. It is very difficult to debug the programme for errors.

4. Machine level language is very complex and developing a programme in this is

very time-consuming.

Assembly (or Symbolic) Level Language

To overcome the problems of the machine level language, the assembly level
language was developed. In this language, some codes were developed known as
Mnemonic codes. Now these codes represented string 0’ and 1’ in the form of words.
Such as ADD, SUB for adding and subtracting and moreover memory addresses
were represented in the form of variable names. This made programming easier than
machine level language. But still, these codes were for different machines, so assembly
level language was also machine dependent. Assembly level language is also known as
symbolic language.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assembly Level Language

Advantage
1. Due to the use of Mnemonics, assembly languages are easier. It is very easy to
write a programme in assembly language, as compared to machine language.

2. Debugging an assembly language programme is easier as compared to

machine language programme.

3. The execution of assembly language programmes is very fast.

4. By using of assembly, it is very easy to write a complex programme in assembly

language.

Disadvantages
1. Assembly language is also a machine dependent language, so assembly
language is not portable.

2. Assembly language is not executed directly on the computer. First, it is

translated into the machine language by using assembler and then executed.

3. Assembly language programmes are very long.

4. Although an assembly language programme executes fast, it is not as fast as

the machine language programme.
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High Level Language

Notes High level language is like the English sentence. This English sentences are easily
understood by users or programmers. That is why it is the most popular language.
Other languages are very difficult to understand by user or programmers.

This is a language in which instructions are given to a computer by using certain

English words and conventional mathematical notations. By using high level language,
a programmer saves a great deal of time and effort. However, the computer cannot
understand high level language directly, so there is need for conversion from high level
language to tits machine level language. In high level language, a programme can run
on various machines without changing anything in the programmes. These high level
languages have to be translated into machine level instructions before execution by
either the compiler or the interpreter.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages
(i) High level languages is easily understood by users or programmers.

(ii) It can be executed immediately.

(iii) Programme can be run on different machines with little or no change.

(iv) Errors can be easily removed (i.e., debugging).

(v) It requires less time to write a programme with other languages.

(vi) It is more readable.

Disadvantages
(i) It occupies extra memory space the programme, when compared.

(ii) It needs more time for execution.

2.9 Summary
• A computer is a electronic device which accepts data and instructions as input and
produces information as output.

• There are manly 5 units is a computer, namely - Input unit, out put unit, Memory,
Control Unit, and arithmetic and logic unit.

• Computers can be classified into three classes: Digital Computers, Analog

Computers and Hybrid Computers

• Three main groups of memories are: Internal processor Memory, Primary Memory
and Secondary Memory

• Input devices are the means to input the various type of data and instructions into
the computer, e.g., Key board, Mouse.

• Output devices are those which are use for obtaining different kinds of output for
the computer, e.g., Printer, Plotter.

• Software is a set of programmes to solve a particular problem.

• A low level language is a programming language in which we write the instructions

by using only 0’s and 1’s.
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Check your progress Notes

1. Memory which is placed between internal process memory & Primary Memory is

a. Cache Memory b. Internal Process Memory

c. Secondary Memory d. Magnetic core Memory

2. Text editors linkers debuggers are

a. Software b. Application Software

c. Utilities d. Interpreters

Further Reading
1. Foundations of information technology, Pragati Prakashan.

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