ELEMENTS OF COMPUTER

¨ PEOPLEWARE

¨ HARDWARE

¨ SOFTWARE

1. PEOPLEWARE

refers to the user / operator of the computer.

¨ They are the most important part of a Computer and Communication System.

¨ They are the users and operators of the system.

Two types of People

¨ Professional – a person who had formal education in the technical aspects of using a computer-and-communication system.

¨ End – user – someone without much technical knowledge of information technology who uses computers for entertainment, education or work-related tasks.

2. HARDWARE

-refers to the physical parts of computer. It can be seen and touched.

– consists of all the machinery and equipment in a computer system.

THE BASIC OPERATION OF COMPUTER

INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

Hardware devices are categorized according to the computer operations it performs.

Types of Computer Hardware

¨ Input Hardware

¨ Processing and Memory Hardware

¨ Output Hardware

¨ Secondary Storage Hardware

¨ Input Hardware - allow people to put data into the computer in a form that the computer can use.

Example:

Keyboard

Mouse

Scanner

Microphone

¨ Processing and Memory Hardware

CPU (the processor) – computing part of the computer. It controls and manipulates data to produce information.

Memory (also known as main memory,RAM or primary storage) – is a working storage. Memory is the computer’s “work space” where data and programs for immediate processing are held.

¨ Output Hardware – consists of devices that translates information processed by the computer into a form that humans can understand.

Example:

Monitor

Printer

Speaker

Headphone

¨ Secondary Storage Hardware – ( external storage) – consists of devices that store data and programs permanently.

Example:

Diskette

Hard Disk

Optical Disk

Four Types of Computer Hardware

¨ Input Hardware – e.g. keyboard, mouse, scanner, microphone

¨ Processing and Memory Hardware – e.g. CPU, RAM

¨ Output Hardware – e.g. monitor, printer, speaker, headphone

¨ Secondary Storage Hardware – e.g. hard disk, diskette, optical disk or CD, flash drive

3. SOFTWARE

refers to programs that makes the computer works

¨ Software or programs – consist of the step by step instructions that tell the computer how to perform a task.

Two Major Types

Application software

System Software

Application Software – defined as software that can perform useful work on general purpose task.

Examples:

Web browser, word processing software, spreadsheet software, database software, presentation graphics software.
1) Opera (Web Browser)
2) Microsoft Word (Word Processing)
3) Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet software)
5) MySQL (Database Software)
6) Microsoft Powerpoint (Presentation Software)
7) iTunes (Music / Sound Software)
8) VLC Media Player (Audio / Video Software )
9) World of Warcraft (Game Software)
10) Adobe Photoshop (Graphics Software)

Application software run under System Software , and are made to do a specific task

¨ System Software - have direct control and access to your computer hardware , and memory locations . They perform I/O operations on various memory locations , and control the hardware , to make the application software do a task .

Operating systems , are the main examples for system software .

Examples :
1) Microsoft Windows
2) Linux
3) Unix
4) Mac OSX
5) DOS
6) BIOS Software
7) HD Sector Boot Software
8) Device Driver Software i.e Graphics Driver etc
9) Linker Software
10) Assembler and Compiler Software