What is a computer?
Probably,one of the most prominent tool in use in our times are the computers.I wouldn't have a clear definition on as what is a computer,as different people may give different definition on the same.My friend and I happened visit a cousin of mine.Amazingly,their house is full of computers.You might not realize it in the first instance. The microwave at the right corner constitute of a microprocessor within,a digital clock on the wall constitute of a microprocessor,leave alone the television set and the DVD player.A computer therefore is an electrical device that accepts data as input,processes the same data,stores it a gives out information.A computer cannot work on itself,it has to involve a user as well as instructions telling it what to do.What is a microprocessor? Well this is the brain of a computer.this is where all the processing of data occurs.DataProcessing is whereby data is manipulated in the microprocessor.As such,data is compared,rearranged,added,sort: all this constitute of data processing.
Generally,data is the input of a computer. This data is what undergoes processing to give information,therefore you see data is the unprocessed part of information.
Now lets look at the components of a computer:
A computer is a set of unit working together to accomplish certain goals. It constitute several components in order to accomplish the desired output.This components are:
2. SOFTWARE:
This are programmes in a computer. They are instructions telling the computer what to do.A computer unlike human beings have to be told what to do. This programmes are called softwares and gives the computer directions on how to do its work. It tells the computer what operation to perform on the input data,that is,they tell the computer wheather to sort data,add data,compare etc. As such,they also give the cheonological order to be followed in processing.
Computer softwares are divided in various categories,we have:
They are further divided into two,ie:
1.General purpose application programmes/off-shelf programmes: This are those programmes that come in already design.They are not user specifi but are designed to solve a wide range of user problems. They usually come in discs.They may also be downloaded from the Internet at a fee.They are programmes such as windows word.excel etc.
2.Application specific programmes / in-house: Are programmes that are designed to solve a specific problem with an organization or an individual. If,for example,an organization what's a database system to maintain it's organizations data,it may call for programmers to design the same for them. The programmers will design the database system with specific tolls to fit only the organization's needs.
-system software: This are programmes designed to work with your hardware.Hardware is the tangible parts of the computer. They include the minitor,mouse,kryboard etc.They help the user to interact with the hard ware components of the computer. Any action that the user performs on the computer like typing are interpreted to the computer system by the system programmes.
The system software are further subdivided into two:
1.Operating system: This act as the computers manager. It is the part of a software that manages all the computers operations which include memory management,communication,process management,maintaining Log of all computers hardware and software.This are programmes like windows eg 95,98,xp,windows 7; unix,linux etc. We will look at the operating system later in details.
2.System utility; This are progarmmes that enhance the operating systems capability. They include antivirus programmes,debbuger,copy utility and so on.
Probably,one of the most prominent tool in use in our times are the computers.I wouldn't have a clear definition on as what is a computer,as different people may give different definition on the same.My friend and I happened visit a cousin of mine.Amazingly,their house is full of computers.You might not realize it in the first instance. The microwave at the right corner constitute of a microprocessor within,a digital clock on the wall constitute of a microprocessor,leave alone the television set and the DVD player.A computer therefore is an electrical device that accepts data as input,processes the same data,stores it a gives out information.A computer cannot work on itself,it has to involve a user as well as instructions telling it what to do.What is a microprocessor? Well this is the brain of a computer.this is where all the processing of data occurs.DataProcessing is whereby data is manipulated in the microprocessor.As such,data is compared,rearranged,added,sort: all this constitute of data processing.
Generally,data is the input of a computer. This data is what undergoes processing to give information,therefore you see data is the unprocessed part of information.
Now lets look at the components of a computer:
A computer is a set of unit working together to accomplish certain goals. It constitute several components in order to accomplish the desired output.This components are:
- user/operator
- software
- hardware
- processor
- USER/OPERATOR:
2. SOFTWARE:
This are programmes in a computer. They are instructions telling the computer what to do.A computer unlike human beings have to be told what to do. This programmes are called softwares and gives the computer directions on how to do its work. It tells the computer what operation to perform on the input data,that is,they tell the computer wheather to sort data,add data,compare etc. As such,they also give the cheonological order to be followed in processing.
Computer softwares are divided in various categories,we have:
- Application programmes
- system softwares
- programming languages.
They are further divided into two,ie:
1.General purpose application programmes/off-shelf programmes: This are those programmes that come in already design.They are not user specifi but are designed to solve a wide range of user problems. They usually come in discs.They may also be downloaded from the Internet at a fee.They are programmes such as windows word.excel etc.
2.Application specific programmes / in-house: Are programmes that are designed to solve a specific problem with an organization or an individual. If,for example,an organization what's a database system to maintain it's organizations data,it may call for programmers to design the same for them. The programmers will design the database system with specific tolls to fit only the organization's needs.
-system software: This are programmes designed to work with your hardware.Hardware is the tangible parts of the computer. They include the minitor,mouse,kryboard etc.They help the user to interact with the hard ware components of the computer. Any action that the user performs on the computer like typing are interpreted to the computer system by the system programmes.
The system software are further subdivided into two:
1.Operating system: This act as the computers manager. It is the part of a software that manages all the computers operations which include memory management,communication,process management,maintaining Log of all computers hardware and software.This are programmes like windows eg 95,98,xp,windows 7; unix,linux etc. We will look at the operating system later in details.
2.System utility; This are progarmmes that enhance the operating systems capability. They include antivirus programmes,debbuger,copy utility and so on.