BASIC INFORMATICS

Learn Computer Science from Scratch. We are going to explain the knowledge
basics of computing in this basic computing manual.

You will be able to learn the basics of computer science.

abouthardware(components) andsoftware(programs). We will see how

a computer works, rather, a computer system and
some of its main parts. That said, we will try to keep everything very
easy to understand.

If you really want to learn computer science, at the end we include some
questions for you to answer and some online exercises to
you really check what you have learned during this course.
Let's get started.

First of all.... What is computer science?

Computer Science is the automatic processing of the

information through the computer.

Information is the data and the automatic processing of this data.

it is done through the computer systems that are called
commonly Computers or Computers. An example would be calculating the
sum of 5 + 6. The 5, the 6, and the + sign are the data, the processing
automatic of those data would be the result, that is 11.

COMPUTER

The components that make up a computer are classified into two

different categories:

Hardware: the physical part of the computer. Set of boards,

integrated circuits, chips, cables, printers, monitors, etc. (what
we can play

Software: these are the programs, that is, the instructions for
communicate with the computer and make its use possible (not it
we can touch). If you want to go deeper into the software, you
we recommend this link:What is Software?.

In summary, we could simply say that hardware is

all those parts of a computer that we can touch and the software
what we cannot touch (the instructions of a program do not
They can be touched, they can only be seen and executed.

The two parts are essential, making it impossible to

operation of a computer if one of them was missing.

Other elements that do not belong properly to the computer, but

which are also essential for their operation, are the
peripheral calls.

Peripherals are external elements to the computer itself, that's why

they are called peripherals (they are on the periphery of the computer). Some of
the most well-known peripherals are for example thekeyboardor the mouse for
enter information into the computer orthe printerto take out the
computer information in written paper. They are so essential today.
on a day that is already considered part of the computer itself. There are 3 types of
peripherals according to their use, input, output, and input/output.

In a computer system, data is entered through

input peripherals (for example, the keyboard), data is extracted from
through the output peripherals (for example, the monitor) and also
there are input/output ports, which are used to input and output data in the
computer (for example a router). More about peripherals
herePeripherals.

How a Computer System Really Works

Computer?

To understand how a computer system works, we first input

the data or information through the input peripherals.

Once the data is entered into the computer system, it

they must be processed. But... what does it mean to process the data?
Well, it's very simple, organize them, store them and transform them.
That is what the computer does when we talk about processing
data.

According to what was said, once we input the data into the system
IT organizes, once organized
store it temporarily and when you can
transforms according to the instructions received. This normally
it is done by themicroprocessor. Let's see this through an example
very simple.

We want to calculate the sum 2 + 3. We enter the numbers through the keyboard.
numbers 2, the symbol + and the number 3. The computer these data
organize. On one side, place the numbers and on the other the symbols,
then stores them (we will see where), and finally, with the
instructions for a program, for example a calculator program,
add them up and transform them into a result which in this case would be 5.

We already have the transformed data. What do we do with it now?

Well very simple, we must collect the transformed data from some
form. This transformed data is what we call information of
exit.

We collect output information through output peripherals.

of input/output:
As a conclusion of what has been said so far, we are going to see a scheme of
what a Computer System does:

The machine that does all this is what is known as

a computer or a computer. But... what if we had to
define it?

INFORMATION SYSTEM

It is the system responsible for collecting data, processing it and

transmit the information once processed. The machine that
doing all this is called a Computer. The basic function it performs is
A computer is the execution of a program. A program consists of
a set of instructions (orders).

In a computer system, data is transformed through the

programs written in some type ofeprogramming language, now
Well, for the computer to understand them, the data must be
translated all electric language which is the only one that the computer
know. We must not forget that the computer is a machine
electric. So....

How do we communicate with the computer?

We must have a common language that both of us know.

It is the same as if a Spanish person knows Spanish and English, and another
Portuguese, knows Portuguese and English. How do you think they would understand each other?
They would understand each other speaking English! That is the language they have in

common, even if it is not the language of either of the two. But what
What language do we have in common, a computer and a person? THE SYSTEM
BINARY NUMBERING!

The decimal numbering system is a system that uses ten digits.

to form infinite numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). It is also the
system that we usually use. The number ten is a combination of 1 with
the 0, the 11 of two ones, the thirteen of the 1 with the 3 and so on until the 19. Then
we start combining numbers with 2 up to 29 and so on until we reach
to 99. Now, since we no longer have any more possible combinations of two
numbers, we start combining numbers with three digits being the
lower than 100. Thus we obtain a number system.
decimal call.

But in computing and electronics, another system is also used.

numbering, equally valid as the decimal, called SYSTEM
BINARY because it only uses two digits, 0 and 1.

Thus we would have the following numbers from smallest to largest in the system
binario: 0 , 1 , 10 , 11 , 100 , 101 , 110 , 111 , 1000 , 1001 , 1010 ,
1011, 1100, 1101. Remember, to build the numbering system
in binary, only the digits 0 and 1 can be used, so when reaching 1
we would have to start combining numbers two by two (the 1 with the
0 and 1 with 1) and when reaching 11 we would have to combine numbers
every 3...

If we wanted to have an equivalence, for example, of the eleven.

first numbers of the decimal system with those of the binary system
we would have

If you want to learn more about the binary system in this

link:Binary System.

Why is this numbering system used in electronics and in

computer science?

The main component of the computer, the microprocessor, of which already

we talk and we will talk more, it's as if it were made up of millions
of switches that are electrically activated when they
arriveaelectric currentand they are inactive when it doesn’t reach them
current. These two electrical states for us will be two numbers
possible '0' and '1' that correspond to the states of a switch
open and closed.
 If we had some lamps connected behind the switch, some
they would be lit and others off, depending on how they were
switches.

In this way, we could tell a computer, formed only by

lamps, when I want some to be on and others off.

Look at the image below. For example, if I introduce it to the

number (instruction in binary) 01001 I am telling you to turn on
the lamps in the figure (the second and the last that are worth
We could say that if this happened, it would show us on the screen the
letter 'A', for example, instead of turning on lamps. WE ALREADY
WE ARE UNDERSTANDING!

In computing, we could assign to each letter or symbol (characters) or

number, a binary number of 8 digits (8 zeros and ones) and thus obtain
a code by which we can understand each other with the computer. This
call code ASCII:

For example, the letter A is the number 10100001. When we press the
key of the letter A, we send the information to the computer.
corresponding 8-digit binary code, that is, the number
(10100001) and he interprets that we are telling him that we want to
display the symbol of the letter A on the screen.

Each 0 or 1 of a number in binary is called a bit.

bit: it is the smallest unit of information representation in a

computer, which corresponds to a binary digit, 0 or 1.

The letter A (and any character) in this code is expressed with 8 bits:
10100001

Byte = set of 8 bits, which is what occupies a number or a

character (letter, or symbol) in the coding system used in
computer science.

How much space will a document made up of 1000 characters take? Well
very simple 1000 bytes!

As we can see, the more characters, the more it will take up

document.

The Byte is the basic unit of storage in

computer science (like the metro is of length). It helps us to know it
that occupies a document or any program (instructions that
will have the program).

I can know how many bytes a document has or what is the same,
How many bytes will I need to store it somewhere external.

Since this unit is very small, multiples of it are often used:

 1 Byte = 8 bits (one letter, one number, or one space in a
document)
1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes
1 Megabyte = 1024 Kilobytes
1 Gigabyte = 1024 Megabytes

For example, a document that takes up 1Mb will be made up of 1024.

numbers, letters, symbols or blank spaces.

Another unit commonly used in computing is speed of

data transmission. Unit used to measure the speed at which
Data is sent from one computer to another in a computer network
(for example internet speed), or the speed at which the
data from one part to another of the computer.

The data transmission speed unit (bytes) of a site to

another will be expressed in Bytes/second (B/s) MB/s or GB/s.

NOTE! Sometimes it is represented as bits per second in

place of bytes (especially on the Internet) In this case, it is distinguished by
that the abbreviation is b (lowercase) instead of the B (uppercase) used
for the bytes: example Mb/s (megabits per second). 'It is a unit 8
TIMES LESS than the previous one.

Information Storage

On a computer, we can store information externally.

computer, or internally inthehard drive. The capabilities of the
the most common storage units are:
 Of all these, the one that is practically only used today is the pencil.
of memory, also called USB memory or pendrive. If you want to know
more about this we recommend this link:USB memories.

The Microprocessor

The microprocessor (CPU) we already saw is responsible for executing

(interpret) the specified instructions through the process of the
data, but in addition to this, also to govern and control everything
system (control all the processes that occur in the computer).

In order for the micro to do everything inside, it is divided into two.

totally different parts:
 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): this unit performs all the
mathematical calculations of the CPU. The ALU can add, subtract,
multiply, divide, and perform other calculations or operations with the
binary numbers (logical function IF for example).

Control Unit (CU): Control all processes that occur

in the system. This component is responsible for directing the flow (in which
order they must go, and when) of the instructions and the data within
the CPU.

Where does the microprocessor receive the data (instructions) from to

that processes them? The micro will always seek the data from a storage
of the computer, called RAM Memory.

If you want to know more about the microprocessor, go to the following

link:Types of Microprocessors.

The RAM Memory

When we run (open) a program on our

computer, we are passing the program orders to a warehouse
called RAM memory. In this memory there are only the data of the
programs that we are using (running) at that moment. If I
I open the Word program, all its instructions come from the large store,
what is the hard drive, to another storage called RAM. When
I close the program, this (the instructions) goes out of the RAM and is
store on the hard drive.

This warehouse has the peculiarity of being able to send the data.
that I ask for the mic very quickly. Also, the mic is going to take time.
little in finding the data because it will only search in its own data
program, and not in all the data we have on our computer
(we can have many different programs on the hard drive). That is to say
the process is done this way much more quickly.

How would we define RAM?

The main memory or RAM (Random Access Memory, Memory of

Random Access) is where the computer stores the data that it is
using (running) at that moment. The storage is
considered temporary because the data and programs remain in
she while the computer is on and the program in
execution. When the computer is turned off, the data on it is
they lose.

To learn more about RAM, we recommend this link:Types of

RAM memory.

What is important in a RAM memory?

The storage capacity is important (32Mb, 64Mb, 128Mb,

256Mb, 512MB, 1GB....), the type of RAM, which will determine the speed
data transfer between RAM and the CPU.

RAM can be expanded with new RAM memory modules. Here

we see a RAM memory module:
ROM memory

Let's move on to something else. When we turn on the

computer. Who tells him what to do until it stops at
the Windows screen?

Well, some instructions that are in another warehouse. To this warehouse the
micro is going to look for the instructions that are in it when we press
the start button. This storage is called: ROM Memory.

The data in this memory will never be lost even when it

turn off the computer. How do you ensure that they are not lost
turn off?. Through the computer's opila accumulator. Let's see a
computer stack

The data in this ROM memory could never be modified. Now

instead of having ROM memory, computers have what is called RAM
System BIOS. The BIOS has replaced the old ROM memory, in
in this case some data can be modified in case the user wants to
upgrade your computer (for example, by adding a hard drive).
Conclusion, The BIOS (or the bios) of a PC is a ROM memory, but
with the ability to configure itself according to the particular characteristics of
each machine (there are data that can be modified).

The Motherboard

All these components are housed on the so-called motherboard, and to

they have to receive all the external information that comes from the
called peripherals (external components to the computer): Mouse,
monitor, keyboard, etc.

How do peripherals send/receive information to and from the

motherboard?

Well, through some cables called Buses. The buses are the cables.
where the information travels through a computer.

On the motherboard, there are slots where we can connect components.

or cards such as sound cards, multimedia, etc. The
the most common are the PCI calls. The SIMM or DIMM are for insertion
in them the RAM.

To learn more about the motherboard:Motherboard Components.

Buses

Buses can be of two types: IDE or the more modern ATA.

The Buses (cables) have to be connected somewhere, these places

they are the connectors. An IDE cable can only be connected to one connector
IDE.

Peripherals

We can define peripherals as the devices that allow us

they allow communication between the inside of the computer and the outside world.
There are input peripherals (to enter data), output peripherals (to output data), and
input/output (allow data to be input and output).
 But the peripherals connect to the computer via theports of
communication(slots or connectors located on the motherboard of
computer), not directly to the motherboard. Let's look at the types of
ports that exist:

More about peripherals here:Peripherals.

With all this, I think we have enough to understand how

A computer works. You can expand the information on this.
link:Components of a Computer.
 Here we leave you an image with the main components of a
computer

And here you have the explanation in presentation form. Behind you have the
exercises promised at the beginning.
Exercises

1st) What two parts make up a computer? Define them.

2nd) Draw the diagram of a computer system.

3rd) What difference would there be between a computer system and a

computer?

4th) What numbering system do we use to understand each other with the
computer?

5th) What is the decimal equivalent of the binary 1000?

6th) What is its equivalent in binary of the decimal 8?

7ª) ¿Qué es un bit?. ¿Qué es un byte?.

8th) Write down the most common storage capacities of the

most used storage units.

9th) What two units are commonly used for transmission speed?
of data between a network of computers?

10th) Explains what each of the two parts of a

microprocessor.

11th) How would you define RAM memory?

12th) Where is the data for the computer to be able to

to pull out?

13th) What are buses and what are the two types?

14th) Name at least two wired ports and one wireless.

15th) What type of technology is used to connect computers?

wireless form?