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Introduction to Computer System :

➢ A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to accept data (input), process it
and generate result (output).
➢ A computer along with additional hardware and software together is called a computer system.
➢ A computer system primarily comprises a central processing unit (CPU), memory,
input/output devices and storage devices.
➢ A computer system comes in various forms and sizes. It can vary from a high-end server to
personal desktop, laptop, tablet computer, or a smartphone.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) :

➢ It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out the actual processing and usually
referred as the brain of the computer.
➢ It is commonly called processor
➢ Physically, a CPU can be placed on one or more microchips called integrated circuits (IC). The
ICs comprise semiconductor materials.
➢ The CPU is given instructions and data through programs.

Control Unit (CU):

• Controls and coordinates the operations of the entire computer system.
• Fetches instructions from the primary memory.

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• Decodes the instructions and interprets their meaning.

• Directs the flow of data between the CPU, memory, and input/output devices.
• Ensures that all operations are performed in the correct sequence.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU):
• Performs arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division.
• Performs logical operations such as comparison and decision-making.
• Processes numerical and logical data received from the CPU.
• Sends the calculated results back to the primary memory for storage or further
processing.
• Helps in executing mathematical and logical instructions efficiently.

Primary Memory (Main Memory):

• Stores data and instructions currently being processed by the CPU.

• Provides fast access to data required during program execution.
• Temporarily stores intermediate processing results.
• Transfers data quickly between the CPU and other components.
• It is a volatile memory because the stored data is lost when the power is turned
off.
Examples: RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), Cache
Memory.
• Note: RAM is volatile, whereas ROM is non-volatile.

Secondary Storage Devices:

• Stores data and programs permanently.

• Retains data even when the computer is switched off.
• Provides large storage capacity for files and applications.
• Allows users to retrieve stored data whenever required.
• It is a non-volatile memory because the stored data is not lost even when the power
is turned off.
Examples: Hard Disk (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD), Pen Drive (USB Flash Drive),
CD/DVD, Memory Card.

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Input Device

• Accepts data and instructions from the user.

• Converts the input into a machine-readable form.
• Sends the input data to the CPU for processing.
• Acts as a communication medium between the user and the computer.
Examples: Keyboard, Mouse, Scanner, Microphone, Webcam.

Output Device
• Receives processed data from the CPU.
• Converts machine-readable information into human-readable form.
• Displays or produces the final output for the user.
• Presents information in the form of text, images, audio, or video.
Examples: Monitor, Printer, Speaker, Projector, Plotter.

Evolution of computer:
1. 500 BC: Abacus (Computing is attributed to the invention of ABACUS almost 3000 years
ago. It was a mechanical device capable of doing simple arithmetic calculations only.)
2. 1642: Pascaline (Blaize Pascal invented a mechanical calculator known as Pascal calculator
or Pascaline to do addition and subtraction of two numbers directly and multiplication and
division through repeated addition and subtraction.)
3. 1834: Analytic Engine (Charles Babbage invented analytical engine, a mechanical computing
device for inputting, processing, storing and displaying the output, which is considered to form
the basis of modern computers.)
4. 1890: Tabulating Machine (Herman Hollerith designed a tabulating machine for summarising
the data stored on the punched card. It is considered to be the step towards programming.)
5. 1937: Turing Machine (The Turing machine concept was a general purpose programmable
machine that was capable of solving any problem by executing the program stored on the
punched cards.)
6. 1945: EDVAC/ENIAC (John Von Neumann introduced the concept of stored program
computer which was capable of storing data as well as program in the memory. The EDVAC
and then the ENIAC computers were developed based on this concept.)

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7. 1947: transistor (Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors developed at Bell Labs, using
semiconductor materials.)
8. 1970: Integrated Circuit (an Integrated Circuit (IC) is a silicon chip which contains entire
electronic circuit on a very small area. The size of computer drastically reduced because of
ICs.)

Computer Memory:
➢ Units of Memory
• A computer system uses binary numbers to store and process data.
• The binary digits 0 and 1, which are the basic units of memory, are called bits.
• A 4-bit word is called a Nibble. 1001, 1010, 0010, etc.
• 8-bit word is called a byte, for example, 01000110, 01111100, 10000001, etc.

➢ Types of Memory
Computer have 3 types of memory
• Primary Memory
• Secondary Memory
• Cache Memory

Primary Memory:
i) Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before processing.
ii) The CPU interacts directly with the primary memory to perform read or write operation.
iii) It is of two types viz.
(1) Random Access Memory (RAM)
(2) Read Only Memory (ROM).

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Random Access Memory (RAM):

• RAM is volatile, i.e., as long as the power is supplied to the computer, it retains the
data in it. But as soon as the power supply is turned off, all the contents of RAM
are wiped out.
• It is used to store data temporarily while the computer is working.
• RAM is usually referred to as main memory
• it is faster than the secondary memory or storage devices.
Read Only Memory (ROM):
• ROM is non-volatile, which means its contents are not lost even when the power is
turned off.
• It is used as a small
• faster and permanent storage for the contents which are rarely changed.

Secondary Memory:
• A computer system needs auxiliary or secondary memory to permanently store the data
or instructions for future use.
• The secondary memory is non-volatile and has larger storage capacity than primary
memory.
• It is slower and cheaper than the main memory.
• it cannot be accessed directly by the CPU.
• Contents of secondary storage need to be first brought into the main memory for the
CPU to access.
• Examples of secondary memory devices include Hard Disk Drive (HDD), CD/DVD,
Memory Card,
• Note: there are secondary storage devices like SSD which support very fast data transfer
speed as compared to earlier HDDs.

Cache Memory:
• To speed up the operations of the CPU, a very high-speed memory is placed between
the CPU and the primary memory known as cache.

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• It stores the copies of the data from frequently accessed primary memory locations,
• reducing the average time required to access data from primary memory.
• When the CPU needs some data, it first examines the cache. In case the requirement is
met, it is read from the cache, otherwise the primary memory is accessed.

Data Transfer between Memory and CPU:

1) Data are transferred between different components of a computer system using physical wires
called bus.
2) bus is used for data transfer between a USB port and hard disk or between a hard disk and main
memory.
3) Bus is of three types:
a) Data Bus: to transfer data between different components,
b) Address Bus: to transfer addresses between CPU and main memory. The address of the
memory location that the CPU wants to read or write from is specified in the address bus,
c) Control Bus: to communicate control signals between different components of a computer.
4) CPU interacts directly with main memory, any data entered from input device or the data to be
accessed from hard disk needs to be placed in the main memory for further processing.
5) The data is then transferred between CPU and main memory using bus.
6) While executing the instructions, the CPU specifies the read or write control signal through the
control bus.
7) CPU may require to read data from main memory or write data to main memory, a data bus is
bidirectional.

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8) control bus and address bus are unidirectional.

9) To write data into memory, the CPU places the data on the data bus, which is then written to the
specific address provided through the address bus.
10) In case of read operation, the CPU specifies the address, and the data is placed on the data bus by
a dedicated hardware, called memory controller.
11) The memory controller manages the flow of data into and out of the computer's main
memory.

Microprocessors:
• A processor (CPU) which is implemented on a single microchip is called microprocessor.
almost all the CPUs are microprocessors.
• Microprocessor is a small-sized electronic component
• Inside it carries out various tasks involved in data processing as well as arithmetic and logical
operations.
• A microprocessor is built over an integrated circuit comprising millions of small components
like resistors, transistors and diodes.
• Microprocessors have evolved over time in terms of their increased processing capability,
decreasing physical size and reduced cost.
• Currently available microprocessors are capable of processing millions of instructions per
millisecond.

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Microprocessor Specifications:
Microprocessors are classified on the basis of different features which include chip type, word
size, memory size, clock speed,

Word Size
➢ Word size is the maximum number of bits that a microprocessor can process at a time.
➢ Earlier, a word was of 8 bits, as it was the maximum limit at that time.
➢ At present, the minimum word size is 16 bits and maximum word size is 64 bits.
Memory Size:
➢ It’s depending upon the word size, the size of RAM varies.
➢ Initially, RAM was very small (4MB) due to 4/8 bits word size.
➢ As word size increased to 64 bits, it has become feasible to use RAM of size upto 16
Exabytes (EB).
Clock Speed:
➢ Computers have an internal clock that generates pulses (signals) at regular intervals of time
➢ Clock speed simply means the number of pulses generated per second by the clock inside
a computer.
➢ The clock speed indicates the speed at which the computer can execute instructions.
➢ it was measured in Hertz (Hz) and Kilohertz (kHz). But with advancement in technology
and chip density, it is now measured in Gigahertz (GHz),
Core:
➢ Core is a basic computation unit of the CPU

Microcontrollers:

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➢ The microcontroller is a small computing device which has a CPU,

➢ Keyboard, mouse, washing machine, digital camera, pendrive, remote controller, microwave
are few examples of microcontrollers.
➢ As these are designed for specific tasks only, hence their size as well as cost is reduced.
➢ Because of the very small size of the microcontroller, it is embedded in another device or
system to perform a specific functionality.
➢ For example, the microcontroller in a fully automatic washing machine is used to control the
washing cycle without any human intervention.

Data and Its Types:

1) data can be input to a computer in the text form consisting of English alphabets A–Z, a–z, numerals
0 – 9, and special symbols like @, #, etc.
2) Data can be input in other languages too or it can be read from the files.
3) The input data may be from different sources, hence it may be in different formats.
4) For example, an image is a collection of Red, Green, Blue (RGB) pixels, a video is made up of
frames, and a fee receipt is made of numeric and non-numeric characters
5) Primarily, there are three types of data.
a) Structured Data
b) Unstructured Data
c) Semi-structured Data
Structured Data:

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• Data which follows a strict record structure and is easy to comprehend is called structured
data.
• data with pre-specified tabular format may be stored in a data file to access in the future.
• It is clear that such data is organised in row/column format and is easily understandable.
• Structured data may be sorted in ascending or descending order.
• examples of structured data include sales transactions, online railway ticket bookings, ATM
transactions, etc.

Unstructured Data:

• Data which are not organised in a pre-defined record format is called unstructured data.
• Examples include audio and video files, graphics, text documents, social media posts,
satellite images, etc.

Semi-Structured Data:
o Data which have no well-defined structure but maintains internal tags or markings
to separate data elements are called semi-structured data.
o Examples include email document, HTML page, comma separated values (csv file),
etc

Data Capturing, Storage and Retrieval.:

➢ Data Capturing
o It involves the process of gathering data from different sources in the digital form.
o This capturing may vary from simple instruments like keyboard, barcode readers used
at shopping outlets, comments or posts over social media, remote sensors on an earth
orbiting satellite, etc.

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➢ Data Storage
o It is the process of storing the captured data for processing later.
o computers with larger and faster storage called data servers are deployed to store vast
amount of data.
o Such dedicated computers help in processing data efficiently. However, the cost (both
hardware and software) of setting up a data server as well as its maintenance is high,
especially for small organisations and startups.
➢ Data Retrieval
o It involves fetching data from the storage devices, for its processing as per the user
requirement.
o As databases grow, the challenges involved in search and retrieval of the data in
acceptable time, also increase.
o Minimising data access time is crucial for faster data processing.

Data Deletion and Recovery:

What is Data Deletion?
Data deletion means removing data from a storage device. In most cases, only the file's address is
marked as free, while the actual data remains until it is overwritten.

Causes of Data Loss

Data can be lost due to hardware failure, system crashes, accidental deletion by users, or attacks by
hackers and malware.

What is Data Recovery?

Data recovery is the process of restoring deleted, lost, or corrupted data from storage devices. It is
possible only if the deleted data has not been overwritten by new data.

Security Concerns

• Unauthorized deletion: Someone or malware may delete important data. This can be
prevented using passwords, access control, and file encryption.

• Unauthorized recovery: Deleted data can be recovered by others if storage devices are
discarded without proper deletion, which may expose confidential information.

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How to Protect Data

Before disposing of old or damaged storage devices, use secure data deletion or data shredding tools
to permanently erase data and prevent recovery.

Software:
Software is a collection of programs and instructions that tell the computer hardware what to do. It
cannot be touched physically and works together with hardware to perform tasks.

Functions:

• Software gives instructions to the computer hardware.

• It acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
• It helps perform different tasks like typing documents, playing videos, and browsing the
internet.
• Without software, computer hardware cannot function.
• Examples: Windows, Ubuntu, MS Word, VLC Media Player, GIMP.

Need of Software:

• Makes the computer hardware useful and operational.

• Helps different hardware components communicate with each other.
• Acts as a bridge between the user and the computer hardware.
• Controls and manages the working of the computer.
• Allows users to perform various tasks easily.

Types of Software

Software is classified into three types:

1. System Software

2. Programming Tools

3. Application Software

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System Software:

➢ System software is software that manages and controls the computer hardware and provides a
platform for other software to work.
➢ A system software knows how to operate and use different hardware components of a
computer. It provides services directly to the end user, or to some other software.
➢ Examples of system software include
o operating systems
o system utilities
o device drivers.

Operating System:

• An Operating System is the main system software that controls the overall functioning
of a computer.
• The operating system manages other application programs and provides access and
security to the users of the system.
• Some of the popular operating systems are Windows, Linux, Macintosh, Ubuntu,
Fedora, Android, iOS, etc.

System Utilities:

• Software used for maintenance and configuration of the computer system is called
system utility.
• Some system utilities are shipped with the operating system for example disk
defragmentation tool, formatting utility, system restore utility, etc.
• Another set of utilities are those which are required to improve the performance of the
system, for example, anti-virus software, disk cleaner tool, disk compression software,

Device drivers:

• the purpose of a device driver is to ensure proper functioning of a particular device.

• The responsibility for overall control, operation and management of a particular device
at the hardware level is delegated to its device driver.
• The responsibility for overall control, operation and management of a particular device
at the hardware level is delegated to its device driver.

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• It provides required services by hiding the details of operations performed at the

hardware level of the device.
• Just like a language translator, a device driver acts as a mediator between the operating
system and the attached device.

Programming Tools:

• Programming tools are software used to create, edit, test, and debug computer
programs.
• Programming tools help programmers write and edit source code easily.
• They convert source code into machine language using translators.
• They help detect and correct errors in the program.
• They make the process of program development faster and easier.
• Examples include Python IDLE, Eclipse, NetBeans, and Atom.

➢ Classification of Programming Languages:

A programming language is a language used to write instructions that a
computer can understand and execute.
High-Level Language:
• High-level languages are machine-independent and can run on
different computers.
• They use English-like keywords, making programs easy to read and
write.
• They reduce the complexity of programming.
• They require a translator to convert the program into machine
language.
• Examples include Python, Java, and C++.
Low-Level language:
• Low-level languages are machine-dependent and work only on a
specific processor.
• They allow direct communication with the computer hardware.
• They execute programs faster than high-level languages.
• They are difficult for programmers to write and understand.
• Examples include Machine Language and Assembly Language.

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➢ Language Translators
Language translators are software that convert programs written in assembly
or high-level languages into machine language.
Assembler:
• An assembler converts assembly language into machine language.
• It generates machine code that the computer can execute.
• It works only with a specific processor architecture.
• It helps in developing low-level system programs.
• The machine code produced by an assembler is not portable.
Compiler:
• A compiler translates the entire program into machine language in one
step.
• It generates an executable machine code file.
• It checks the program for syntax errors before execution.
• Once compiled, the program can run without the compiler.
• Compiled programs execute faster than interpreted programs.
Interpreter
• An interpreter translates one line of the program at a time.
• It executes each line immediately after translation.
• It stops execution when it encounters an error.
• It helps programmers identify and correct errors easily.
• The interpreter is required every time the program is executed.

➢ Program Development Tools

An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is software that provides all

the tools required for writing, compiling, running, and debugging programs

• An IDE provides a text editor for writing source code.

• It allows programmers to compile and run programs easily.
• It includes a debugger to detect and fix errors in the program.
• It combines multiple programming tools in one software.
• Examples include Python IDLE, Eclipse, NetBeans, Lazarus, and
Atom.

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Application Software:
• different users need the computer system for different purposes depending upon their
requirements.
• specific software that works on top of the system software is termed as application software.
They are two categories
1. General Purpose Software
2. Customized software
General Purpose Software:
o The application software developed for generic applications, to cater to a bigger
audience in general are called general purpose software
o ready-made application software can be used by end users as per their requirements.
o Example:
• spreadsheet tool Calc of LibreOffice can be used by any computer user
to do calculation
• Adobe Photoshop

• Mozilla web browser

Customized Software:
o These are custom or tailor-made application software
o These are developed to meet the requirements of a specific organization or an individual
o Developed as per the requirements
o Examples:
• Accounting Software
• Websites
• School management software

Proprietary or Free and Open-Source Software:

➢ A software can be freeware or open source or proprietary software depending upon the terms
and conditions of the person or group who has developed and released that software.

➢ software is freely available for use but source code may not be available. Such software is
called freeware.
Proprietary Free and Open Source

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Not providing software and source code freely It will provide source code and software freely
to the public to the public

Need to purchase the software for use No need to purchase the software for use

Can’t able to edit the source code Can able to edit the source code

Can’t able to add the new functionalities Can add the new functionalities for the better
use
Example: Microsoft windows, tally Example: Ubuntu, Python, Mozilla firefox

Operating System:
➢ An operating system (OS) can be considered to be a resource manager which manages all the
resources of a computer (i.e., its hardware including CPU, RAM, Disk, Network and other
input-output devices.)
➢ It’s acts as an interface between end user and hard-ware
➢ It also controls:
o various application software and device drivers,
o manages system security
o handles access by different users
➢ Examples are:
o Windows
o Linux
o Macintosh
o Android
There are two objectives of an operating system
➢ The primary objective is (Functions of operating system):
o provide services for building and running application programs.
o When an application program needs to be run, it is the operating system which loads
that program into memory and allocates it to the CPU for execution
o When multiple application programs need to be run, the operating system decides the
order of the execution.
➢ The second objective is (OS user interface):

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o an operating system is to provide an interface to the user through which the user can
interact with the computer.
o take commands or inputs from a user for the operating system to process.

OS User Interface:

Types of user Interface

of operating system

Command-Based Graphical-User Touch-Based

Interface Interface Interface

Voice-Based Gesture-Based
Interface Interface

Command-Based Interface:
o Command-based interface requires a user to enter the commands to perform different
tasks like creating, opening, editing or deleting a file (The user has to remember the
names of all such programs or specific commands which the operating system
supports.)
o The primary input device used by the user for command-based interface is the
keyboard.
o Command based interface is often less interactive and usually allows a user to run a
single program at a time
o Examples of operating systems with command-based interface include MS-DOS and
Unix
Graphical-User Interface:
o Graphical User Interface (GUI) lets users run programs or give instructions to the
computer in the form of icons, menus and other visual options.
o Icons usually represent files and programs stored on the computer and windows
represent running programs that the user has launched through the operating system.

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o The input devices used to interact with the GUI commonly include the mouse and the
keyboard.
o Examples of operating systems with GUI interfaces include Microsoft Windows,
Ubuntu, Fedora and Macintosh, among others.
Touch-Based Interface:
o Today smartphones, tablets and PCs allow users to interact with the system simply
using the touch input.
o Using the touchscreen, a user provides inputs to the operating system, which are
interpreted by the OS as commands like opening an app, closing an app, dialling a
number, scrolling across apps
o Examples of popular operating systems with touch-based interfaces are Android and
iOS. Windows 8.1 and 10 also support touch-based interfaces on touchscreen devices
Voice-Based Interface:
o For users who cannot use the input devices like the mouse, keyboard, and touchscreens,
modern operating systems provide other means of human-computer interaction.
o Users today can use voice-based commands to make a computer work in the desired
way.

o Some operating systems which provide voice-based control to users include iOS (Siri),
Android (Google Now or “OK Google”), Microsoft Windows 10 (Cortana) and so on
Gesture-Based Interface:
o Some smartphones based on Android and iOS as well as laptops let users interact with
the devices using gestures like waving, tilting, eye motion and shaking.

o This technology is evolving faster and it has promising potential for application in
gaming, medicine and other areas

Functions of Operating System:

Functions of
Operating System

Process Memory File Management Device

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Process Management:
o A program is intended to carry out various tasks. A task in execution is known as
process.
o We can activate a system monitor program that provides information about the
processes being executed on a computer.
o It is the responsibility of operating system to manage these processes and get multiple
tasks completed in minimum time.
o CPU allocate most important service of the operating system
o process management concerns the management of multiple processes, allocation of
required resources, and exchange of information among processes

Memory Management:
o The main task of memory management is to give (allocate) and take (free) memory
from running processes.
o there are multiple processes running at a time, there arises a need to dynamically (on-
the-go) allocate and free memory to the processes.
o Operating system should do it without affecting other processes that are already
residing in the memory and once the process is finished
o it is again the responsibility of the operating system to take the memory space back for
reutilisation
o memory management concerns with management of main memory so that maximum
memory is occupied or utilised by large number of processes while keeping track of
each and every location within the memory as free or occupied.

File Management:
o File management involves the creation, updation, deletion and protection of these files
in the secondary memory
o There must be a mechanism in place that will stop users from accessing files that belong
to some other user and have not been shared with them.
o Data and programs are stored as files in the secondary storage of a computer system.
o File management system manages secondary memory, while memory management
system handles the main memory of a computer system.

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Device Management:
o The operating system interacts with the device driver and the related software for a
particular device.
o The operating system must also provide the options for configuring a particular device,
so that it may be used by an end user or some other device.
o Just like files, devices also need security measures and their access to different devices
must be restricted by the operating system to the authorised users, software and other
hardware only.

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