Discovering Computers - Chapter 1 Notes

What is a computer?  A computer is an electronic device, that operates under the control of a program which will accept input, or data and process it into meaningful output or information.

Components of a Computer System (hardware)

• Input Devices are used to enter data.  Examples:  

• Output Devices display information.  Examples:  

• System Unit  is the case that contains the electronic components that are used to process data.  The motherboard holds many of these components.  Two that we will study are the processor and memory.  The processor is the electronic component that interprets and carries out the instructions that operate the computer.  An example of a processor chip is an Intel Pentium 4.  Memory is actually computer chips that temporarily hold data.  When the computer is shut down, what is in memory is erased.  Memory is commonly called RAM.
• Storage Devices hold data, programs and information for future use.  Examples: 
• .  This type of storage is considered permanent or "non-volatile".
• Communication Devices are hardware devices that allow a computer to transmit and receive data from one computer to another.  An example is a modem.

Networks and the Internet

A network is a collection of computers and devices connected together via communications devices.  Networks allow computers to:

What is the role of the file server?.  

How does it work at ECC?

 See page 11 in your text.  Networks can be configured by wiring computers together, or they can be wireless.  

The Internet is a worldwide collection of networks. What are some uses of the Internet?


 There are many ways to connect to the Internet.  What are three ways?

Computer Software (commonly called programs) are instructions that tell the computer what to do.  What are some common programming languages used today?

  You interact with a program through its "user interface" called a GUI,.  Common characteristics of a GUI are icons and pull down menus.

Software is catagorized as "System Software" and "Application Software" .  What is system software and give some examples?  

What is an application program and give some examples?

Categories of computers:  Computers are classified as personal computers, mobile computers, game consoles, servers, mainframes, supercomputers and embedded computers.  



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