OMPUTER SYSTEM

Definition: Is a collection of entities(hardware,software and liveware) that are designed to receive, process, manage and present information
in a meaningful format.

COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER SYSTEM

 Computer hardware - Are physical parts/ intangible parts of a computer. eg Input devices, output devices, central processing unit
and storage devices
 Computer software - also known as programs or applications. They are classified into two classes namely - sytem software and
application software
 Liveware - is the computer user. Also kwon as orgwareor the humanware. The user commands the computer system to execute
on instructions.

a) COMPUTER HARDWARE

Hardware refers to the physical, tangible computer equipment and devices, which provide support for major functions such as input,
processing (internal storage, computation and control), output, secondary storage (for data and programs), and communication.

HARDWARE CATEGORIES (Functional Parts)

A computer system is a set of integrated devices that input, output, process, and store data and information. Computer systems are currently
built around at least one digital processing device. There are five main hardware components in a computer system: Input, Processing,
Storage, Output and Communication devices.

1. INPUT DEVICES

Are devices used for entering data or instructions to the central processing unit. Are classifie according to the method they use to enter data.

a) KEYING DEVICES
Are devices used to enter data into the computer using a set of Keys eg Keyboard, key-to- storage and keypad.

i) The keyboard

Keyboard (similar to a typewriter) is the main input device of a computer . It contains three types of keys-- alphanumeric keys, special keys
and function keys. Alphanumeric keys are used to type all alphabets, numbers and special symbols like $, %, @, A etc. Special keys such as
<Shift>, <Ctrl>, <Alt>, <Home>, <Scroll Lock> etc. are used for special functions. Function keys such as <Fl>, <F2>, <F3> etc. are used to
give special commands depending upon the software used e.g.F5 reloads a page of an internet browser. The function of each and every key
can be well understood only after working on a PC. When any key is pressed, an electronic signal is produced. This signal is detected by a
keyboard encoder that sends a binary code corresponding to the key pressed to the CPU. There are many types of keyboards but 101 keys
keyboard is the most popular one.

How the keys are organized

The keys on your keyboard can be divided into several groups based on function:

 Typing (alphanumeric) keys. These keys include the same letter, number, punctuation, and symbol keys found on a traditional
typewriter.
 Special (Control) keys. These keys are used alone or in combination with other keys to perform certain actions. The most
frequently used control keys are CTRL, ALT, the Windows key, and ESC.
 Function keys. The function keys are used to perform specific tasks. They are labelled as F1, F2, F3, and so on, up to F12. The
functionality of these keys differs from program to program.
 Cursor Movement (Navigation) keys. These keys are used for moving around in documents or WebPages and editing text. They
include the arrow keys, HOME, END, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, DELETE, and INSERT and ARROW KEYS.
 Numeric keypad. The numeric keypad is handy for entering numbers quickly. The keys are grouped together in a block like a

conventional calculator or adding machine.

B. POINTING DEVICES
Are devices that enter data and instructions into the computer using a pointer that appears on the screen. The items to be entered
are selected by either pointing to or clicking on them.e.g mice, joystick, touch sensitive screen, trackballs

i) THE MOUSE
A mouse is a small device used to point to and select items on your computer screen. Although mice come in many shapes, the typical mouse
does look a bit like an actual mouse. It's small, oblong, and connected to the system unit by a long wire that resembles a tail and the
connector which can either be PS/2 or USB. Some newer mice are wireless.

A mouse usually has two buttons: a primary button (usually the left button) and a secondary button. Many mice also have a wheel between
the two buttons, which allows you to scroll smoothly through screens of information.

When you move the mouse with your hand, a pointer on your screen moves in the same direction. (The pointer's appearance might change
depending on where it's positioned on your screen.) When you want to select an item, you point to the item and then click (press and
release) the primary button. Pointing and clicking with your mouse is the main way to interact with your computer. There are several types of
mice: Mechanical mouse, optical mouse, optical-mechanical mouse and laser mouse.

Basic parts
A mouse typically has two buttons: a primary button (usually the left button) and a secondary button (usually the right button). The primary
button is the one you will use most often. Most mice also include a scroll wheel between the buttons to help you scroll through documents
and WebPages more easily. On some mice, the scroll wheel can be pressed to act as a third button. Advanced mice might have additional
buttons that can perform other functions.

Holding and moving the mouse

Place your mouse beside your keyboard on a clean, smooth surface, such as a mouse pad. Hold the mouse gently with your index
finger resting on the primary button and you thumb resting on the side. To move the mouse, slide it slowly in any direction. Don't
twist it—keep the front of the mouse aimed away from you. As you move the mouse, a pointer (see picture) on your screen moves in
the same direction. If you run out of room to move your mouse on your desk or mouse pad, just pick up the mouse and bring it back
closer to you.

Pointing to an object often reveals a descriptive message about it.The pointer can change depending on what you're pointing at.
For example, when you point to a link in your web browser, the pointer changes from an arrow to a hand with a pointing finger .

Most mouse actions combine pointing with pressing one of the mouse buttons. There are four basic ways to use your mouse buttons:
clicking, double-clicking, right-clicking, and dragging.

Clicking (single-clicking)

To click an item, point to the item on the screen, and then press and release the primary button (usually the left button).

Clicking is most often used to select (mark) an item or open a menu. This is sometimes called single-clicking or left-clicking.

Double-clicking

To double-click an item, point to the item on the screen, and then click twice quickly. If the two clicks are spaced too far apart, they might be
interpreted as two individual clicks rather than as one double-click.
Double-clicking is most often used to open items on your desktop. For example, you can start a program or open a folder by double-clicking
its icon on the desktop.

Right-clicking

To right-click an item, point to the item on the screen, and then press and release the secondary button (usually the right button).

Right-clicking an item usually displays a list of things you can do with the item. For example, when you right-click the Recycle Bin on your
desktop, Windows displays a menu allowing you to open it, empty it, delete it, or see its properties. If you are unsure of what to do with
something, right-click it.

C) SCANNING DEVICES
Are devices that capture an object or a document directly from the source. They are classifie according to the technology used to capture
data e.g. Scanners and Document readers.
i) Scanners
Used to capture a source document and converts it into an electronic form.
Example are - FlatBed and HandHeld scanners.
ii) Document readers
Are documents that reads data directly from source document and convey them as input in the form of electronic signal. e
Types of Document Readers

i) Optical Mar Reader (OMR)

ii) Barcode readers

iii) Optical Character Readers

b) Magnetic Readers
Reads data using magnetic ink.t uses principle of magnetism to sense data which have been written using magnetised ink.

THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT ( C P U)

Is the brain or the heart of a computer. Is also known as processor and consist of three units namely -
i) Control Unit ( C U)
ii) Arithmetic logic Unit ( A L U)
iii) Main Memory unit ( M M U)

The system unit is the core of a computer system. Usually it's a rectangular box placed on or underneath your desk. Inside this box are many
electronic components that process data. The most important of these components is the central processing unit (CPU), or microprocessor,
which acts as the "brain" of your computer. Another component is random access memory (RAM), which temporarily stores information that
the CPU uses while the computer is on. The information stored in RAM is erased when the computer is turned off.

Almost every other part of your computer connects to the system unit using cables. The cables plug into specific ports (openings), typically
on the back of the system unit. Hardware that is not part of the system unit is sometimes called a peripheral device. Peripheral devices can
be external such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, external Zip drive or scanner or internal, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or
internal modem. Internal peripheral devices are often referred to as integrated peripherals. There are two types according to
shape: tower and desktop.

Tower System Unit Desktop System Unit

A motherboard (mainboard, system board, planar board or logic board) is the main printed circuit board found in computers and other
expandable systems. It holds many of the crucial electronic components of the system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory,
and provides connectors for other peripherals.

Motherboard

TYPES OF PROCESSORS
I) Comples Instruction Set Computers (CISC)
ii) Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC)

FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

- Process data
- Control sequence of operaions within the computers
- It gives command to all parts of a computer
- It control the use of the main memory in storing of data and instructions
- it provides temporary storage (RAM) and permanent storage(ROM) of data

THE CONTROL UNIT

Is the center of operations for the computer system, it directs the activities of the computer system.
Funlctions of Control Unit

Subsystem

A unit or device that is part of a larger system. For example, a disk subsystem is a part of a computer system. A bus is a part
of the computer. A subsystem usually refers to hardware, but it may be used to describe software. However, "module,"
"subroutine" and "component" are more typically used to describe parts of software.

1. BLOG
2. WEB DEVELOPMENT

Different Types of Software with Examples

Dec 27 7 mins read

Every day, we come across different types of computer software that helps us with our tasks and increase our efficiency.
From MS Windows that greets us when we switch on the system to the web browser that is used to surf the internet or the
games that we play on our computer to the calorie burn counter on our smartphone, are all examples of software. In this
world of technology, we even come across various software development trends  that help our business to grow, we are
surrounded by all these software which are determined to make our lives easier. By definition, a Software (also abbreviated
as an SW or S/W) is a collection of data, programs, procedures, instructions, and documentation that perform various
predefined tasks on a computer system. They enable users to interact with the computer
In the field of software engineering and computer science, the software is nothing but information processed by a computer
system and programs. The software includes libraries, programs, and corresponding non-executable data, such as digital
media and online documentation. Computer hardware and software need each other and neither one of them can be
convincingly used on its own. The amalgamation of the hardware and the software gives control and flexibility to modern-
day computing systems. Without software, computers would be of no use. For instance, without the help of your web
browser software, you will not be able to surf the Internet. Similarly, without an operating system, no application can run on
your computer.

Today there are abundant high-end technologies and software accessible to us that outline the way we lead our lives and
house our continuously changing and increasing needs. The endless number of software types can be overwhelming for
anybody, especially when one does not understand the various types of software and their users thoroughly.

Different Types of Software

Typically, there are two major classifications of software, namely System Software and Application Software.

1. System Software

A system software aids the user and the hardware to function and interact with each other. Basically, it is a software to
manage computer hardware behavior so as to provide basic functionalities that are required by the user. In simple words,
we can say that system software is an intermediator or a middle layer between the user and the hardware. These computer
software sanction a platform or environment for the other software to work in. This is the reason why system software is
very important in managing the entire computer system. When you first turn on the computer, it is the system software that
gets initialized and gets loaded in the memory of the system. The system software runs in the background and is not used
by the end-users. This is the reason why system software is also known as ‘low-level software’.

Some common system software examples are:

 Operating System: It is the most prominent example of System Software. It is a collection of software that handles
resources and provides general services for the other applications that run over them. Although each Operating
System is different, most of them provide a Graphical User Interface through which a user can manage the files
and folders and perform other tasks. 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. There are various types of
operating system such as real-time, embedded, distributed, multiuser, single-user, internet, mobile, and many
more. It is important to consider the hardware specifications before choosing an operating system. Some
examples of Operating systems given below:


o Android
o CentOS
o iOS
o Linux
o Mac OS
o MS Windows
o Ubuntu
o Unix

 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.
Further, there are two types of device drivers: Kernel Device Drivers and User Device Driver. Some examples of
device drivers are:
 
o BIOS Driver
o Display Drivers
o Motherboard Drivers
o Printer Drivers
o ROM Drivers
o Sound card Driver
o USB Drivers
o USB Drivers
o VGA Drivers
o VGA Drivers
o Virtual Device Drivers

 Firmware: Firmware  is the permanent software that is embedded into a read-only memory. It is a set of
instructions permanently stored on a hardware device. It provides essential information regarding how the device
interacts with other hardware. Firmware can be considered as ‘semi-permanent’ as it remains permanent unless it
is updated using a firmware updater. Some examples of firmware are:
o BIOS
o Computer Peripherals
o Consumer Applications
o Embedded Systems
o UEFI
 Programming Language Translators: These are mediator programs on which software programs rely to translate
high-level language code to simpler machine-level code. Besides simplifying the code, the translators also do the
following :
o Assign data storage
o Enlist source code as well as program details
o Offer diagnostic reports
o Rectify system errors during the runtime
o Examples of Programming Language Translators are Interpreter, Compiler and Assemblers.
 Utility: Utility 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. Softwares like antiviruses, disk cleanup &
management tools, compression tools, defragmenters, etc are all utility tools. Some examples of utility tools are:

o Avast Antivirus
o Directory Opus
o McAfee Antivirus
o Piriform CCleaner
o Razer Cortex
o Windows File Explorer
o WinRAR
o WinZip

2. Application Software

Application Software , also known as end-user programs or productivity programs are software that helps the user in
completing tasks such as doing online research, jotting down notes, setting an alarm, designing graphics, keeping an
account log, doing calculations or even playing games. They lie above the system software. Unlike system software, they are
used by the end-user and are specific in their functionality or tasks and do the job that they are designed to do. For
example, a browser is an application designed specifically for browsing the internet or MS Powerpoint is an application used
specifically for making presentations. Application Software or simply apps can also be referred to as non-essential software
as their requirement is highly subjective and their absence does not affect the functioning of the system. All the apps that
we see on our mobile phones are also examples of Application Software. There is certain software that is exclusively made
for app development  like Meteor and Flutter. These are examples of Application software too.

There are various types of application software:

 Word Processors: These applications for documentation. Along with that it also helps I storing, formatting and
printing of these documents. Some examples of word processors are:


o Abiword
o Apple iWork- Pages
o Corel WordPerfect
o Google Docs
o MS Word

 Database Software: This software is used to create and manage a database. It is also known as the Database
Management System or DBMS. They help with the organization of data. Some examples of DBMS are:


o Clipper
o dBase
o FileMaker
o FoxPro
o MS Access
o MySQL

 Multimedia Software: It is the software that is able to play, create or record images, audio or video files. They are
used for video editing, animation, graphics, and image editing, Some examples of Multimedia Software are:


o Adobe Photoshop
o Inkscape
o Media Monkey
o Picasa
o VLC Media Player
o Windows Media Player
o Windows Movie Maker

 Education and Reference Software: These types of software are specifically designed to facilitate learning on a
particular subject. There are various kinds of tutorial software that fall under this category. They are also termed as
academic software. Some examples are:


o Delta Drawing
o GCompris
o Jumpstart titles
o KidPix
o MindPlay
o Tux Paint

 Graphics Software: As the name suggests, Graphics Software has been devised to work with graphics as it helps
the user to edit or make changes in visual data or images. It comprises of picture editors and illustration software.
Some examples are:


o Adobe Photoshop
o Autodesk Maya
o Blender
o Carrara
o CorelDRAW
o GIMP
 o Modo
o PaintShop Pro

 Web Browsers: These applications are used to browse the internet. They help the user in locating and retrieving
data across the web. Some examples of web browsers are:


o Google Chrome
o Internet Explorer
o Microsoft Edge
o Mozilla Firefox
o Opera
o Safari
o UC Browser

Other than these, all the software that serves a specific purpose fall under the category of Application Software.

However, there exists one more classification of the software. The software can also be classified based on their availability
and sharability.

This classification is as given below:

1. Freeware

Freeware software is available without any cost. Any user can download it from the internet and use it without paying any
fee. However, freeware does not provide any liberty for modifying the software or charging a fee for its distribution.
Examples are:

 Adobe Reader
 Audacity
 ImgBurn
 Recuva
 Skype
 Team Viewer
 Yahoo Messenger

2. Shareware

It is a software that is freely distributed to users on a trial basis. It usually comes with a time limit and when the time limit
expires, the user is asked to pay for the continued services. There are various types of shareware like Adware, Donationware,
Nagware, Freemium, and Demoware (Cripplewareand Trialware). Some examples of shareware are:

 Adobe Acrobat
 Getright
 PHP Debugger
 Winzip
3. Open-source

These kinds of software are available to users with the source code which means that a user can freely distribute and modify
the software and add additional features to the software. Open-Source software can either be free or chargeable. Some
examples of open-source software are:

 Apache Web Server

 GNU Compiler Collection
 Moodle
 Mozilla Firefox
 Thunderbird

4. Software

They are also known as Closed-source software. These types of applications are usually paid and have intellectual property
rights or patents over the source code. The use of these is very restricted and usually, the source code is preserved and kept
as a secret.

Drivers
It is challenging to give a single precise definition for the term driver. In the most fundamental sense, a driver is a software
component that lets the operating system and a device communicate with each other. For example, suppose an application needs to
read some data from a device. The application calls a function implemented by the operating system, and the operating system calls
a function implemented by the driver. The driver, which was written by the same company that designed and manufactured the
device, knows how to communicate with the device hardware to get the data. After the driver gets the data from the device, it
returns the data to the operating system, which returns it to the application.

KeyGen Software License Key Generator allows you to add keyed licenses to your program in order to get benefits from it. The
system is very similar to the key system used by the famous Kaspersky antivirus. The program generates a random number that will
correspond to a key. It will then be opened in a text editor and saved to a file.

The keys to be generated can be configured to be case sensitive, include numbers or alphanumeric data. To apply it to your
software include a documented section.