This lecture introduces the basic components that make up these computer systems. The two major parts of computer system are hardware and software. Hardware is the collective name given to all the devices that make up Computer system. Software is the term used for the actual programs that allow the hardware to do a useful job. Software is made up of a series of instructions that tell the computer what to do.

Lecture Objectives

• Define the term computer and its basic operations. 
• Define and classify types of computers (micro. mint, mainframe, supercomputer and mobile computing). 
• Differentiate between hardware, software and firmware. 
• Describe application software and system software. 
• Define the terns licensed software, open source software, shareware and freeware 
• Define various input, output devices and understand their working principles.

Key Points

• A computer is a device which takes instructions and data in the form of input, performs computations according to the given instructions and provides output as a result. All machine, components or devices that mediate in the processing of a computer system are called computer devices. Minicomputer, Mainframe and supercomputer. 
• Computers are classified into Microcomputer, Microcomputers are the smallest and the least expensive computers, whereas, Supercomputers are the largest, the most expensive and powerful computers 
• The physical components of a computer such as monitor, keyboard and hard disk are known as hardware. 
• System software is a collection of programs to make the use of computer easy, efficient and effective 
• Application software is a set of programs designed to perform a particular task 
• Firmware is an intermediate form between hardware and software which consists of software embedded in electronic devices during their manufacture 
• Input devices are used to communicate with the computer They accept data and instructions from the user and convert them into machine readable form before storing in the computer memory 
• Output devices consist of peripheral devices that transfer information from the main memory to the outside world in human readable form 
• Hardcopy is the output generated on paper by an output device such as printer or plotter 
• Softcopy is data or information stored on a storage device or displayed on a monitor

Referenced Material