10- COMPUTER SOFTARE

 Software is a collection of instructions and data (called program) that tell the computer how to work. Software comprises the entire set of programs, procedures, and routines associated with the operation of a computer system to a specific task. 

 

It essentially directs all of the peripheral devices on the entire computer system, what exactly to do and how exactly to perform a task. A software plays a key role of a mediator between the user and the computer hardware. In the absence of software, a user essentially can’t perform any task on a computer. Software can be thought of as the variable part of a computer, and hardware the constant part.

The software are classified into the following categories:

1. System software
2. Application software

1- SYSTEM SOFTWARE:

System software are sets of one or more programs that are basically designed to control the operation of computer system. These are programs written to assist users in the use of computer programs, such as controlling all functions, getting data out of the computer and providing a platform to execute application programs, develop new applications and packages etc. System software supports the following works:

• Running of other software.
• Communicate and interconnect with peripheral devices such as printers, keyboards, mouse, monitors, memory, other external cards, etc.
• Development of other types of software.
• Monitoring various types of hardware.

There are some example of system software details:

OPERATING SYSTEM:

This is the main type of system software that is firstly installed on the computer when we buy the new one or use the already existing computer. It is very necessary software that connects computer hardware to interact the users. Every device, whether a desktop, laptop or mobile phone requires an operating system to provide the basic functionality to it. As an OS essentially determines how a user interacts with the system, therefore many users prefer to use one specific OS for their device. Some examples of Operating systems given below:

• MS-Windows
• Mac OS
• Unix
• Linux
• CentOS
• Ubuntu
• Android
• DOS
• iOS

DEVICE DRIVER:

The second most important types of system software is the device drivers. It is a type of software that controls particular hardware which is attached to the system. Hardware devices that need a driver to connect to a system include displays, sound cards, printers, mice and hard disks. 

 

Usually the mouse, keyboard and sound card usually pre-installed with operating system. But other drivers you need to download from manufacturers official website.

 

Some examples of device drivers are: 

• • BIOS Driver
  • Display Drivers
  • Motherboard Drivers
  • Printer Drivers
  • ROM Drivers
  • Sound card Driver
  • USB Drivers
  • USB Drivers
  • VGA Drivers
  • VGA Drivers
  • Virtual Device Drivers

FIRMWARE:

It is type of operating software that is embedded within a ROM, flash, or EPROM memory chip for the operating system to identify it. It directly manages and controls all the activities of a single hardware. The firmware can be easily upgraded without swapping semiconductor chips. Without firmware a hardware couldn’t be accessible by the operating system.

 

• BIOS
• Computer Peripherals
• Consumer Applications
• Embedded Systems
• UEFI

 

UTILITIES:

Utilities software are also system software that provides some security and utility to user to better experience with the computer. This software is designed to aid in analyzing, optimizing, configuring and maintaining a computer system. It supports the computer infrastructure. This software focuses on how an OS functions and then accordingly it decides its trajectory to smoothen the functioning of the system. Some examples of utility tools are:

• Windows file explorer
• WinRAR
• Winzip
• Windows Firewall
• Antivirus
• PC Tools
• Disk Defragment
• Disk cleaner
• Loader
• File Manager
• Linker
• Text Editor
  

 

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS:

These are intermediary programs that software programs rely on to translate high-level language code into machine-level code. A translator takes a program written in source language as input and converts it into a program in target language as output. It also detects and reports the error during translation. There are 3 different types of programming language translators as follows: 

• Compiler
• Interpreter
• Assembler

 

• COMPILER: The compiler is a translator used to convert high level language to low level language. It converts the whole program in one session and reports errors detected after the conversion. The compiler takes time to do its work as it translates high level code to lower level code all at once and then saves it to memory. Example: C, C++, Java, FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL etc.
  
• INTERPRETER: The interpreter is similar to a compiler, it is a translator used to convert high level programming language to low level programming language. The difference is that it converts the program one line of code at a time and reports errors when detected, while also doing the conversion. An interpreter is faster than a compiler as it immediately executes the code upon reading the code. It is often used as a debugging tool for software development as it can execute a single line of code at a time. Example: BASIC, Python, Perl, MATLAB, Ruby etc.
  
• ASSEMBLER: An assembler is a translator used to translate assembly language into machine language. It has the same function as a compiler for the assembly language but works like an interpreter. Assembly language is difficult to understand as it is a low-level programming language. An assembler translates a low-level language, such as an assembly language to an even lower level language, such as the machine code. 

 

2- APPLICATION SOFTWARE:

Application software or app for short, is a type of computer program that designed to assist the user with a particular process such as personal, Entertainment, educational, and business. There are some application versions of common services such as those providing weather or transport information apps for customers to interact with companies. 

 

The end user uses applications software for a specific purpose. It programmed for simple as well as complex tasks. It either be installed or access online. It can be a single program or a group of small programs that referred to as an application suite. Some examples of Application Software are Word processing software, Spreadsheets Software, Presentation, Graphics, CAD/CAM, Sending email etc.

 

Types of application software are given below:

• Application Suites
• Database applications
• Web browser applications
  
• Enterprises applications
  
• Simulation applications
  
• Multimedia applications
  
• Word processing applications
  

 

APPLICATION SUITES:

MS-Office suites, Adobe creative suites, CorelDRAW graphics suites, LibreOffice etc. are the bundle of multiple applications for multiple tasks at a desk.  It provides lower price than buying each one separately and can provide better interoperability compared to buying lots of different applications from different companies.

 

DATABASE APPLICATIONS:

 Database is a collection of data related to any applications. The records of students studying in school and college, records of employees working in government and private companies, we get data instantly with the help of database software. When we operate the application data is accessed from the database, and after manipulation, we save back in the database application. MySQL, MS Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Foxpro, SQlite and Oracle is the example of database application Software. 

WEB BROWSER APPLICATIONS:

The web browser applications (commonly referred to as a browser) are software for accessing information on the World Wide Web. When a user want a web page from a particular website, the web browser retrieves the necessary content from a web server and then displays that page on the user's device. However, for a website to connect to the server and display its web pages, the user must have a web browser in their computer. The most popular ones are Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Microsoft Edge etc.

 

ENTERPRISES APPLICATIONS:

The enterprise application is a large software system platform. It is design to operate in a corporate environment such as business or government. Enterprises applications are complex, scalable, component-based, distributed and mission critical software. The enterprises applications software consists of a group of programs with shared business applications and organizational modeling utilities designed for unparalleled functionalities are develop using enterprise architecture.

 

SIMULATION APPLICATIONS:

Simulation is an imitation of real world and environment. The simulation creates a physical environment of the real world to represent the similar behavour, function and key nature of the selected topic. Simulation is technology for education, engineering, testing, training, video games and for scientific modelling of natural systems to gain insight into their functioning. The simulation used in the area of the real world where the real system cannot be accessible or may be dangerous or unacceptable. Some example of simulations are area of technology flight, economics, automobiles, Robotics, digital lifecycle, Space Shuttle Navigation, weather.

 

MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS:

Multimedia is a form of communication that combinations of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single presentation. Popular examples of multimedia include video podcasts, audio slideshows, animated shows, and movies. 

 

WORD PROCESSING APPLICATIONS:

Word Processing software is used to manipulate, format the text, to create memos, letters, faxes and documents. Word processing Software is used to format and beautify the text. It provides a list of features. Like thesaurus, the option provides synonyms, antonyms and related words for chosen word or phrase etc. Find and replace feature enables users to scan and replace selected words or phrases in the documents. Font option provides font colour, font style, font effect, font size to modify the texts. Word Art option used to modify or animated titles, hyphens, columns and text boxes in documents. Grammar and Spelling check option available for checking errors. For example Microsoft Word, Note pad Word Pro, Word pad and Corel WordPerfect, Libre press etc.

 

 

 

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9- OUTPUT DEVICES

A computer can still function without an output device.  However, without an output device, there’s no way to determine what the computer is doing.  There is no indicator of errors, nor of the need for additional input.  

 

The device or unit input data is displayed as the output result after processing is called output device. An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment which converts information into human readable form. It can be text, graphics, tactile, audio, and video.

 

Some examples of output devices are given below:

1. Monitor 
2. Printer
3. Plotter
   
4. Speaker 
5. Headphones 
6. Projector 
7. GPS 
8. Sound Card 
9. Video Card 
10. OMR  
11. Braille reader

1- MONITOR:

A display device is the most common form of output device. It presents output visually on computer screen. The output appears temporarily on the screen and can easily altered or erased, It can be text, graphics, tactile, audio, and video. It is sometimes referred to as soft copy also. The display device for a desktop PC is called monitor, screen or VDU (Visual display unit).

 

This is the most common computer output device. It creates a visual display by the use of which users can view processed data.  Monitors come in various sizes and resolutions.

• CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
• LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
• LED (Light Emitting Diode)

 

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube):

CRT (Cathode Ray tube) is the technology used in traditional computer monitors and televisions. The image on a CRT display is created by firing electrons from the back of the tube to phosphors located towards the front of the display. Once the electrons hit the phosphors, they light up and are projected on the screen. The color you see on the screen is produced by a blend of red, blue, and green light, often referred to as RGB. 

 

CRT consumes more power which makes this device warmer, therefore these devices has gone out of vogue. But CRT becomes a real color. It is considered best for doing photography (Black & white or Colours) related works. CRT monitors are cheap and accessible to everyone.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display):

A liquid-crystal display is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly, instead using a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.

Unlike CRT monitors, LCD monitors are slim, occupy less space and consume less energy. The large screen area makes it perfect for playing games, watching movies while the size of the CRT monitor is always less  than the specified size. This is why LCD monitor is still in use today. But does not pick up the actual color. LCD monitor doesn’t support black and white feature and also has less response time. Therefore, it is not good to do the work of colored DTP on this.

LED (Light Emitting Diode):

Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an improved version of LCD monitor and manufacturers have tried to eliminate the drawbacks of LCD monitors. The both monitors are based on the same display technology and provide better resolution. 

However, the difference comes on backlighting as LCD monitors use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light and LED monitors are based on light emitting diode. It is lightweight in terms of weight and has a short depth. As the source of light, it uses a panel of LEDs. Nowadays, a wide number of electronic devices, both large and small devices such as laptop screens, mobile phones, TVs, computer monitors, tablets, and more, use LED displays.

2- PRINTER:

A print is a second important output device, which is connected to a CPU of a computer. Its function is to make a hard copy of those documents that have been stored in an electronic format (soft copy). It can be texts or images prints on white or transparency paper sheet. 

The technology of connection of printer to the CPU are by wires or wirelesses. The most printer connects with wire to CPU but in a office or bank, used to wireless connection. The features of the printers are the printing speed and which determines in the pages per minute (ppm) or characters per second (cps) and the other, resolution refers to the quality of the print and it expresses by the number of points (pixels or dpi) that the printer can create on paper.

Printers can be divided into main two categories: 

1. Impact Printer
2. Non-impact Printer

1- IMPACT PRINTER:

Impact printers are printers which works by creating a direct contact between ink ribbon and paper. Impact printers create an image by using some mechanism to physically press an inked ribbon against the page, causing the ink to be deposited on the page in the shape desired. These printers are typically loud, but remain in use today because of their unique ability to function with multipart forms. Typically roll papers are used in these printers.

 

This category has the following 3 subcategories:

• 
  DMP (Dot Matrix Printer)
• DWP (Daisy-wheel Printer)
• Line Printer

DMP(Dot Matrix Printer):

DMP (Dot Matrix Printer) prints on papers using a fixed number of pins or wires.  Typically the pins or wires are arranged in one or several vertical columns. The pins strike an ink-coated ribbon and force contact between the ribbon and the paper, so that each pin makes a small dot on the paper. Thus, the printer prints texts, images etc.

 

DWP(Daisy Wheel Printer):

Daisy wheel printers can only print characters, numbers and sign/symbols of fixed size and font. It contains separate hammer for each character so it is also known as letter quality printer. Its printing quality is better than dot matrix printer. It is faster than dot matrix printer. It cannot be used for various purposes, so it is rarely used in present time.

 

Line Printer:

A line printer is also known as drum printers, band-printers, chain printers and bar printer. Line printers print a complete line at a time and have speeds in the range of 150 to 2500 lines per minute.  It prints one entire line of text before advancing to another line. The speed of these printers are 600 lines per minute (about 10 pages per minute). Later increasing to as much as 1200 lpm.

3- PLOTTER:

A plotter is a type of printer, designed for printing graphics. Instead of printing individual dots on the paper, plotters draw continuous lines. This makes plotters ideal for printing architectural blueprints, engineering designs, and other CAD (Computer-added Design) drawings. 

Plotters can work on very large sheets of paper while maintaining high resolution. It can print on a wide variety of flat materials including plywood, aluminum, sheet steel, cardboard, plastic and allow the same pattern to be drawn thousands of times without any image degradation. There are two main types of plotters:

• Drum Plotters: It spin the paper back and forth on a cylindrical drum while the ink pens move left and right. These two directions, lines can be drawn in any direction.
• Flatbed Plotters: It have a large horizontal surface on which the paper is placed. A traveling bar draws lines on the paper as it moves across the surface.

 

4- SPEAKER:

The speaker is an electro acoustic transducer hardware device which that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance.

 

Speakers are made up of a cone, an iron coil, a magnet, and housing (case). When the speaker receives electrical input from a device, it sends the current through the causing it to move back and forth. This motion then vibrates the outer cone, generating sound waves and hearing by our ears. 

 

5- HEADPHONES:

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electro-acousitc transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding voices.

 

Headphones let a single user listen to an audio source privately, in against to a loudspeaker, which emits sound into the open air for anyone nearby to hear. 

6- PROJECTOR:

A projector is an optical output device that projects a figure or picture onto a surface. This surface is usually white and it may be a projection screen, white clothes sheet or sometimes a wall. Projectors may be used as an alternative to a television or monitor in large gatherings.

 

7- GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM):

GPS is a satellite navigation system used to determine the ground position of an object. The satellites are evenly spread out so that four satellites are accessible via direct line-of-sight from anywhere on the globe. Each GPS satellite broadcasts a message that includes the satellite's current position, orbit, and exact time.

 

8-SOUND CARD:

 The sound card is that slots fixed to the motherboard's PCI slot inside the computer. It enables you to playback music and record things such as your own voice into a microphone. All laptops and lots of PCs have an internal speaker for audio output for listen the sound.

 

9-VIDEO CARD:

The video card (graphics card) is an expansion card which generates a result of output images or videos to the monitor. The video card is a circuit board in a computer with specialized hardware optimized for displaying high-quality graphics at a high rate of speed. Most modern computers include them, and while they're sometimes associated with video gamers looking to get the most fun out of their games, it is also useful for professional applications like using Corel Draw, Auto CAD, Adobe Photoshop to edit photos or editing business videos.

 

10-OMR:

OMR (Optical mark recognition) is the process of capturing human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests. It is used to read questionnaires, multiple choice examination paper in the form of lines or shaded areas.

 

11-BRAILLE READER:

A braille reader also called a braille display, is an electronic device that allows a blind person to read the text displayed on a computer monitor. The computer sends the text to the output device, where it's converted to Braille and "displayed" by raising rounded pins through a flat surface.

 

 

 

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8- CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT)

The CPU stand for Central Processing Unit, is the brain of computer. CPU is the main component of the computer. All functions and processes that is done on a computer is performed directly or indirectly by the CPU. 

 

It runs by the operating system and applications, constantly receiving input from the user or software programs. It processes the data and produces output, which stored by an application or displayed on the screen. 

 

CPU is actually a small microprocessor. The first microprocessor was 'Intel 4004' invented by Intel Corporation in 1971. The microprocessor chip is a half-inch piece of pure silicon metal (Semiconductor), arranged in a shell with a lot of smalls connectors. A CPU chip contains millions of delicate transistors. People use chemical methods to etch or photo-etch transistors on a silicon piece. Therefore, the CPU is composed of transistors. Simply put, transistors are miniature electronic switches. They are the cornerstone of building a CPU. You can think of a transistor as a light switch. They have an operating bit, which represents two states: ON and OFF.

There are many companies in the world that designed and manufactures microprocessors. Some of the most popular are like Intel, AMD, NEC, IBM, DEC, Motorola, HP, Hitachi, Acorn, Fujitsu, Cyrix,  MTI, HAL, Sony, Tosiba etc. 

The gradual development of the Intel CPU is as follow:

 

The CPU is made up of three main components given below:

1. CU (Control Unit)
2. ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
3. Primary Memory 

1- CU (Control Unit): 

This part handles the internal operations of the computer. It is a main component of the CPU that implements the microprocessor instruction set. It extracts instructions from memory and decodes and executes them, and sends the necessary signals to the ALU to perform the operation needed.

It directs the operation of the other units by providing timing and control signals. Most computer resources are managed by the CU. It directs the flow of data between the CPU and the other devices.

2- ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit):

The Arithmetic Logic Unit has circuits that add, subtract, multiply, and divide two arithmetic values, as well as circuits for logic operations such as AND and OR (where a 1 is interpreted as true and a 0 as false, so that, for instance, 1 AND 0 = 0). The ALU has several to more than a hundred registers that temporarily hold results of its computations for further arithmetic operations or for transfer to main memory.

 

In a microprocessor architectures, the ALU is divided into the arithmetic unit (AU) and the logic unit (LU). The design of the ALU is obviously a critical part of the processor and new approaches to speeding up instruction handling are continually being developed.

 

3- Primary Memory :

Primary memory is the main memory of the computer system. Accessing data from primary memory is faster because it is an internal memory of the computer. The primary memory is most volatile which means data in primary memory does not exist if it is not saved when a power failure occurs.

 

The primary memory is a semiconductor memory. The capacity of primary memory is very much limited always smaller & costly compares to secondary memory. 

 

There are two types of primary memory:

• RAM (Random Access Memory)
• ROM (Read Only Memory) 
  

RAM (Random Access Memory):

RAM is called volatile or temporary memory as the data stored in it gets deleted with the shutdown of the computer. The data sent by the input device to the CPU is stored in the RAM before processing and then the CPU continues to receive data from it as per the requirement.

RAM is used to load and run applications, such as your word, excel, media player programs respond to commands, such as any edits you made in the word or excel, or toggle between multiple programs, such as when you left the composing letter, calculating in excel to check email or composed mail. Memory is almost always being actively used by your computer.

 

More memory is better, but you only need so much. It really depends on what type of device you’re using and, more importantly, what applications you plan to use on that device. So, how much RAM do you need? That depends on what you want to do with your computer, but we usually recommend 8GB as a starting point. Windows 10 alone takes around 2GB of RAM just to run. Although you can buy RAM as per the requirement, but in a normal computer, up to 2GB, 4GB, 6GB or 8GB memory is sufficient. 

 

ROM (Read Only Memory):

ROM (Read Only memory) is non-volatile memory and primary memory used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be destroyed even after the computer or other electronic device are shut down, and or cannot be electronically modified after the manufacture of the memory device.

In a typical modern computer, there are numerous ROM chips located on the motherboard and a few on expansion boards. The chips are essential for the basic input/output system (BIOS), boot up, reading and writing to peripheral devices, basic data management and the software for basic processes for certain utilities.

 

The ROM (Read only memory) is classified into 4 types: 

1. ROM (Read Only Memory)
2. PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory)
3. EPROM (Electrical Programmable Read Only Memory)
4. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 

ROM:

Classic or “mask-programmed” ROM chips contain integrated circuits. Mask ROM consists of a grid of word lines (the address input) and bit lines (the data output), selectively joined together with transistor switches, and can represent an arbitrary look-up table with a regular physical layout and predictable propagation delay.  Rewiring is functionally impossible, and so there’s no way to modify these types of ROM chips.

 

PROM:

PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) is essentially a blank version of ROM that you can purchase and program once with the help of a special tool called a programmer. A blank PROM chip allows current to run through all possible pathways. But once programmer writes their programs on PROM, cannot be modify on.

EPROM:

The programmer can be repeatedly reset to its unprogrammed state by exposure to strong ultraviolet light. This light burns out all the tiny charges in the EPROM to reopen its circuits. This exposure effectively renders the chip blank again, after which you can reprogram it according to the same process as a PROM. EPROM chips will eventually wear out, but they frequently have lifetimes of over 1000 erasures.

 

 EEPROM:

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) is that makes very efficient use of chip area and can be erased and reprogrammed thousands of times without damage. It permits erasure and programming of only a specific part of the device, instead of the entire device. This can be done at high speed, hence its name flash memory.

 

 

 

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