Introduction to Computer System
Unit – I
Class XI Informatics Practices
Computer is an electronic device, which takes input from its user, process it according to the
instructions given and produce a result called output.
Input: instructions or data give to the computer.
Process: execution of the instruction given to the computer is called Process. Process is always as
per the instructions give to the computer. If the instructions given to the computer is wrong the
result will also be wrong. This is sometimes referred to as GIGO (Garbage in Garbage Out)
Output : Result of a processing is called output, generally displayed on Monitor or the screen of
the computer.
Now let us see the interconnection between these unit
CPU
Control Unit
(CU)
Arithmetic & Logical Unit
Input Devices (ALU) Output Devices
Primary Memory
Secondary
Memory
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Input Devices: Devices that help user to give input to a computer are called Input Devices.
e.g.
Keyboard: Basic Input Device for key entry
Mouse : pointing device, input through four basic operation, Click, Double Click, Right
Click, Drag.
BCR (Bar Code Reader) : group of dark lines of varying thickness, generally used to
obtain details of products in superstore
OMR (Optical Mark Reader ): Input through dark spots on paper, generally used for
conducting tests based on multiple choice pattern.
OCR (Optical Character Reader ): mechanism to read printed text or convert printed text
into editable form.
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Reader): used in processing of cheques in Bank
Joystick : used in playing Games
Mic or microphone : to provide sound input
Scanner: to convert a hard copy (printed matter) to soft copy.
Camera: to obtain photographs or video.
Output Devices : Devices, which display the result of processing are known as Output Devices.
Examples
Monitor : also known as VDU or visual display unit. This is the basic output unit of
computer. 99% output is shown on Monitor only. There are various types of Monitors:-
o CRT or Cathode Ray Tube Monitor
o LED or Light Emitting Diode Monitor
o TFT or Thin Film Transistor
Printers: Printers are used to obtain a hard of the output.
Plotters : Plotters are heavy duty printers that are used to print Vector Graphics.
Projector : Projectors are used to display the output on a screen.
Speakers : to produce sound output.
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Evaluation of Computing Devices :
S.No Generation Duration Computing Features Computers
Devices
1 First 1946-1959 Vacuum 1. Computer System Very ENIAC,
Generation tube Large and Bulky UNIVAC
2. Consumed huge power
3. Generate huge amount of
Heat and Sound
2. Second 1959-1965 Transistor 1. Size reduced but still UNIVAC 1108
Generation based generated a lot of heat and
sound.
2. Stared supporting Machine
and assembly language.
3. Still not user friendly
3. Third 1964-1972 Integrated 1. Size reduced, now computer IBM-360
Generation Circuit could be accommodated on a series
based table.
2. Still AC was required to
maintain computer
temperature
3. Lesser Maintenance.
4. Concept of External Storage
introduced
4. Fourth 1972-1990 VLSI 1. VLSI technology used IBM x86 series
Generation technology 2. Affordable
3. Mass Production of
Computer Started
4. High Level language for
programming become
popular
5. Fifth 1990-till date ULSI (Ultra 1. Advance concepts like
Generation Large Scale Robotics, Neural network,
Integration) Game Playing etc.
2. Introduction to AI
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Part – II
MEMORY
A memory is just like a human brain. It stores all the information inside the computer.
Generally students remember things in two ways:-
1. They remember things in their brain. (main memory, relatively temporary)
2. They remember things by noting them in their notebooks, notepads etc. (external
memory, permanent but needs to be referred before use)
In the similar way computer memory is classified as :
Primary Memory: it is the main memory of the computer. CPU of the computer directly
interact with this memory. It is generally temporary in nature, i.e the data stored in it is removed
as soon as the power supply is switched off.
Examples of Primary Memory : -
RAM : Random Access Memory
ROM : Read Only Memory
Cache Memory: it is a high speed memory to reduced the idle time of CPU. The speed of
CPU is very fast as compared to RAM, this results in a lot of CPU time wastage. To
reduce this wastage of CPU time a high speed memory is installed between CPU and
RAM known as Cache Memory.
Secondary Memory: it is the auxiliary memory of computer. It stores the data permanently.
All secondary memory other than Hard disk are portable in nature i.e they can carry data from
one computer to other. Data from a secondary store device must be first transferred to RAM
before it can be use by the computer system
Some examples of Secondary Memory :
Hard Disk
Pen Drive
CD/DVD/Blue Ray Disk
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Floppy Disk
Magnetic Disk etc.
Unit of memory:
The smallest unit of memory is bit (Binary Digit) a Bit is either a 0 or 1
Combination of 8 bits (i.e. a chain of 0s or 1s ) in any order is called a Byte.
8 bits = 1 Byte
1024 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte (KB)
1024 Kilobyte = 1 Megabyte (MB)
1024 Megabyte = 1 Gigabyte (GB)
1024 Gigabyte = 1 Terabyte (TB)
1024 Terabyte = 1 Petabyte(PB)
1024 Petabyte = 1 Exabyte (EB)
1024 Exabyte = 1 Zettabyte(ZB)
Concept of Deletion: File deletion is a way of removing a file from a computer's file system.
Examples of reasons for deleting files are:
Freeing the disk space
Removing duplicate or unnecessary data to avoid confusion
Making sensitive information unavailable to others
Removing an operating system or blanking a hard drive
Problem with accidental removal : The common problem with deleting files is accidental
removal of information that later proves to be important.
Methods to overcome accidental deletion :
back up files regularly
Recover files from Recycle bin
In MS-DOS, one can use the undelete command.
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Undeletion : Undeletion is a feature for restoring computer files which have been removed
from a file system by file deletion. Deleted data can be recovered on many file systems, but not
all file systems provide an undeletion feature. Recovering data without an undeletion facility is
usually called data recovery, rather than undeletion. Although undeletion can help prevent users
from accidentally losing data, it can also pose a computer security risk, since users may not be
aware that deleted files remain accessible.
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Part – III
SOFTWARE CONCEPT
Computer components can be classified in the following manner :
COMPUTER
Hardware Software
Hardware are the physical components of the computer system. They are tangible in nature (i.e.
one can touch the hardware components)
Software are the Logical components of the computer system. They are intangible in nature (i.e.
one cannot touch software ) but we cannot use a computer system without a computer system.
Software helps in maintaining the computer system and performing the various tasks with the
computer system.
Classification of Software
SOFTWARE
System Software Application
Software
Operating System
Customized Pre-Written
Software
Language
Processor
Generic Specific-
Purpose
Packages Utilities
Developer Tools
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System software: are category of software specially designed to run the computer system and
application software. They are like an interface between the computer system and its user.
They are further classified as :
a. Operating system: is a group of software, which governs the overall execution of
computer system. Without operating system computer is a dump machine.
b. Language processor: Language processor are set of software, which help in converting
a program or code to machine understandable/ executable code. Generally programs are
written in human understandable form, which cannot be executed by the computer
directly. For the purpose we require a language processor, which convert code written in
human understandable form to machine understandable/ executable from.
Application Program : application Program are se of software, which are designed for the end-
user. These software help the user in performing one or more tasks with the help of computer.
Application program can be a pre-written program ready available in market or n internet or can
be made as per the specific needs of the user or an organization.
Custom software is specifically for the a user, a company or any organization as per the
specific needs or , according to the company's way of doing business.
Pre-written software is readily available in the market or on the internet.
o Generic software is software that can perform many different tasks. It is not
limited to one particular application. For example Microsoft word, it not only
provide its user the facility to type in text but also provide features like graphics,
mail merge, web-page creation etc.
Examples :packages like:
Word-processing Applications (Ms-word)
Spread Sheets Applications (Ms-Excel, Calc)
Presentation Software (Ms-PowerPoint)
Database Applications (MS-Access, MySql, Oracle etc.)
Desktop publishing (DTP) Applications (Corerldraw, PageMaker)
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o Special purpose application software is a type of software created to execute
one specific task. For example, a camera application on your phone will only
allow you to take and share pictures
Utility software is software designed to help to analyze, configure,
optimize or maintain a computer. It is used to support the computer
infrastructure - in contrast to application software, which is aimed at
directly performing tasks that benefit ordinary users.
A computer program that is used by the software developers for creating,
editing, maintaining, supporting and debugging other applications,
frameworks and programs – is termed as a Software Development Tool
eg. Python, C, C++, Java etc.
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