Intro To

Computing
Muhammad Usman
What is Computer?
Computer…..
A computer is an electronic device that
accepts raw data, processes it according
to a set of instructions and required to
produce the desired result.
What does a Computer Do?
 The operation of every computer can be divided
into four basic functions.

 Input: Information you put into the computer by

way of keyboard, mouse etc.
 Processing :Also known as the "Brain" of the
computer. Processes the information you put in
into human readable form.
Cont……
 Output: The information you put into the
computer is seen on the monitor screen and can
be printers out on paper and is readable.
 Storage : Either the computers memory, CD's,
DVD's, Floppy Disc's, USB Flash Drives, etc.
INTRODUTON OF COMPUTER
 C COMMANLY
 O OPERATED
 M MACHINE
 P PURPOSELY
U USED FOR
 T TRAINING
 E EDUCATION &
 R RESEARCH
History Of Computers
•Before the 1500s, in Europe, calculations were made
with an abacus
Invented around 500BC, available in many
cultures (China, Mesopotamia, Japan, Greece,
Rome, etc.)

•In 1642, Blaise Pascal (French mathematician,

physicist, philosopher) invented a mechanical
calculator called the Pascaline

•In 1671, Gottfried von Leibniz (German

mathematician, philosopher) extended the Pascaline to
do multiplications, divisions, square roots: the Stepped
Reckoner

None of these machines had memory, and they

required human intervention at each step
• In 1822 Charles Babbage (English
mathematician, philosopher), sometimes called
the “father of computing” built the Difference
Engine

• Machine designed to automate the computation

(tabulation) of polynomial functions (which
are known to be good approximations of many
useful functions)
– Based on the “method of finite difference”
– Implements some storage

• In 1833 Babbage designed the Analytical

Engine, but he died before he could build it
– It was built after his death, powered by
steam
 HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
YEAR NAME OF NATIONALITY DEVICE /
INVENTOR MACHINE
1. ABACUS CHINESE ABACUS
50
00
B.
C
2. BLAISE FRENCH MECHANICAL,
16 PASCAL CALCULATING &
42 MACHINE.
3. CHARLES ENGLISH MECHANICAL,
18 BABBAGE MATHEMATICIA DIGITAL
30 N COMPUTER,
(U.S.) ANALYITICAL
ENGINE.
Components of Computer
 Hardware Components
 Software Components
Hardware Components
 The term hardware refers to the physical
components of your computer such as the
system unit, mouse, keyboard, monitor etc.
Simply We Can say
o Input Devices
o Output Devices
o Storage Devices
o RAM
o ROM
Software Components
 The software is the instructions that
makes the computer work. Software is
held either on your computers hard disk,
CD-ROM, DVD or on a diskette (floppy
disk) and is loaded (i.e. copied) from the
disk into the computers RAM (Random
Access Memory), as and when required.
Input Devices "How to tell it
what to do“
A keyboard and mouse are the standard
way to interact with the computer. Other
devices include scanner, Tracker Ball,
Touch Pads, Joystick.
Output Devices "How it shows
you what it is doing"
 Themonitor (the screen) is how the
computer sends information back to
you. Other Devices includes Printers,
LCD Screens, Plotters, Speakers.
Storage Devices "How it saves
data and programs“
 Harddisk drives are an internal, higher
capacity drive which also stores the
operating system which runs when you
power on the computer.
RAM
 RAM stands for Random Access Memory.
 It is the part of main memory where data and
program instructions are held while being
manipulated or executed [44].
 It is also known as Read and Write Memory.
 It is a volatile (temporary) memory of computer
system and stores the data as long as the
computer is on.
 Once the computer is turned off, the contents
(data) of the RAM are washed out. RAM is divided
into two categories
RAM Categories
 DRAM
DRAM stands for Dynamic Random Access
Memory. It is combination of cells that store data
as charge on capacitors. It is simpler and smaller
but storage capacity is high and hence used for
large memory requirements.
 SRAM

SRAM stands for Static Random Access Memory. In

SRAM, binary values are stored using traditional
flip-flops logic-gate configuration. It is faster then
DRAM but its storage capacity is less.
ROM
 ROM stands for Read Only Memory. As
the name implies, the contents of ROM
can only be read. Data cannot be
written into read-only memory. ROM
may contain the information on how to
start the computer and even
instructions to the entire operating
system
 It is a permanent memory of computer
and user cannot change it contents
Processing Unit(CPU
Hardware Component)
 The processing unit is the most
important and powerful part of
computer system. It is the heart of
computer system. All calculations and
other operations are performed in this
unit
Functions of Processing Unit
 Accepts data or instructions from input unit and
stores them in memory.
 Stores intermediate and final result of processing.
 Interprets (translate) or manipulate the instruction
and send commands to relevant units.
 Does all arithmetic operations on the data i.e.
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division etc.
 Does all logical and decision-making operations on
data, i.e. comparison of data.
 Sends the result to the output devices when
required.
Central Processing Unit -CPU
 Consist of
 CU (control Unit)
 ALU (Arithmetic & logic Unit)
 Registers
Control Unit
 It is the most important part of the CPU. It controls
and coordinates the activities of all other units. It
performs this function by issuing necessary
commands to various components of the computer.
 The control unit fetches an instruction from the
main memory by sending an address to main
memory, decode this instruction and then execute it.
Thus we can say that CU’s function is to fetch,
decode and then finally execute the instructions,
which are in main memory.
OR
 The control unit interprets any instructions it
receives from memory and directs the sequence of
events necessary to execute each instruction. The
control unit also establishes the timing of these
events.
Arithmetic and logic unit
 All the arithmetical and logical activities
are performed in the ALU. It is the place
where all calculations are performed and all
decisions are made. The data is temporarily
transferred to ALU for processing and
results are sent back to memory.
 The ALU perform all the arithmetic
operations such as Addition, Subtraction,
Multiplication or Division and Logic
operations such as the operations in which
first comparison is made and then decision
is taken
Registers
 Theprocessor contains special storage
locations called registers. These are
temporary storage devices and all the
data is temporarily stored in them
before and after processing.
How Computer Memory
Measured?
 Bit
All computers work on a binary Numbering system, i.e. they process
data in one's or zero's. This 1 or 0 level of storage is called a bit.
o Byte

A byte consist of 8 bits.

o Kilobyte

A Kilobyte(KB) consists of 1024 bytes

o Megabyte

A Megabyte (MB) consists of 1024 Kilobytes

o Gigabyte

A Gigabyte (GB) consists of 1024 Megabytes

o Terabyte

A Terabyte Consist of 1024 Gigabytes

How Does a Computer Know
what to do?
 It must be given a detailed list of
instructions, called a compute program or
software, that tells it exactly what to do.
 Before processing a specific job, the
computer program corresponding to that job
must be stored in memory.
 Once the program is stored in memory the
compute can start the operation by
executing the program instructions one after
the other.