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Introduction to Computing Hardware & Software

Introduction to Computing Hardware & Software. INSIDE THE COMPUTER. Hardware Physical components of the computer. Any part that you can see and touch Examples: Boards, drives, monitor, keyboard, etc. Software Virtual components of the computer. Exists as electrical impulses when the

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Introduction to Computing Hardware & Software

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  1. Introduction to Computing Hardware & Software

  2. INSIDE THE COMPUTER • Hardware • Physical components of the computer. Any part that you can see and touch • Examples: Boards, drives, monitor, keyboard, etc. • Software • Virtual components of the computer. Exists as electrical impulses when the • computer is on. • Examples: Windows, Word, Netscape, Excel, etc.

  3. Hardware • Motherboard • Main circuit board inside the computer. Contains the CPU and RAM among other things. All other hardware must maintain a physical connection to the motherboard. Body of the computer. • CPU: Central processor unit. Computer chip in which instructions from the software are carried out. Measured in MHz-GHz (Megahertz-Gigahertz, millions/billions of operations per second). Brains of the computer. • RAM: Random access memory. Electronic memory in computer. Holds loaded software and any additional material created by currently running software while the computer is on. Measured in MB (megabytes). • IO Bus: Circuitry that moves information between the CPU and RAM. Measured in MHz. Usually significantly slower than CPU

  4. Hardware • Drives • Physical or permanent information storage (magnetic or optical in nature) • Hard drive, floppy, CD/DVD, Zip, etc. • Other • Keyboard, mouse, monitor • Video, hard drive, network, modem, etc.

  5. SOFTWARE • Instructions for CPU • Written in the language of the computer (machine) • Several layers of translation between user and computer • Loaded and stored in RAM when started • To perform a certain task (e.g. print a document), the CPU obtains the instructions from the program. • Removed from RAM when user quits/exits the program or computer is shut off • Memory management by programmer’s and user is critical • The computer’s language • Digital (numerical) in nature • Binary (1’s and 0’s) • Can also be thought of as a switch (on/off)…The “bit”

  6. DIGITAL VERSUS ANALOG • Analog • Nature is analog • Continuous • Non-numerical nature…must be translated to a numerical value. • Infinitely precise • Examples: Alcohol thermometer or old-style clock that requires winding • Digital • Numerical by nature • Discreet levels • Less precise but generally more accurate than analog • Examples: Digital clock, Computers

  7. DIGITAL VERSUS ANALOG (Sound Wave) Analog sound wave

  8. DIGITAL VERSUS ANALOG (Sound Wave) Digital sound wave

  9. DIGITAL IMAGES • Formats (bitmap, gif, jpeg, and so on). • Color of each pixel stored as a number. • Memory intensive (compression algorithms).

  10. Pixel: Smallest element of a screen or printer that can display a single color.

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