CSE101-Lecture-1

Introducing Computer Systems

What's the root of the word computer?

The word ‘compute’ comes from the Latin word computare, meaning "arithmetic, accounting,
reckoning". Clearly, its meaning has been extended to include non-numerical "reckoning".
The Latin word computare itself comes from:
• Latin com, meaning "with", and
• Latin putare, meaning "to settle, clear up, reckon".

So, in ancient Rome at least, to "compute" seems to have meant, more or less, something like:
1
• "to settle things together" or maybe "to reckon with (something)".

The derivative “computer” was coined in the mid-17th century, and originally meant simply
‘person who computes’; the modern meaning developed via ‘device for calculating’ at the end of
the 19th century and ‘electronic brain’ by the 1940s.2

What is a Computer?
According to oxford living dictionaries, computer is “an electronic device for storing and
processing data, typically in binary form, according to instructions given to it in a variable
program.”3

Paul Deitel said: “Computer can perform calculations and make logical decisions phenomenally
faster than human being can. Many of today’s personal computer can perform billions of
calculations in once second – more than a human can perform in a lifetime. Supercomputer are
already performing thousands of trillions (quadrillions) of instructions per second! China’s
National University of Defense Technology’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer can perform over 33
quadrillion calculations per second (33.86 petaflops)! To put that in perspective, the Tianhe-2
supercomputer can perform in one second about 3 million calculations for every person on the
planet! And these supercomputing “upper limits” are growing quickly.”4

John V. Guttag of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said “a computer does two
things, and two things only: it performs calculations and it remembers the results of those
calculations. But it does those two things extremely well. The typical computer that sits on a
desk or in a briefcase performs a billion or so calculations a second. It's hard to image how truly
fast that is. Think about holding a ball a meter above the floor, and letting it go. By the time it
reaches the floor, your computer could have executed over a billion instructions. As for memory,

1
https://cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/584/computetymology.html
2
Word Origins by John Ayto: https://www.amazon.com/Word-Origins-John-Ayto/dp/0713674989/
3
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/computer
4
Java how to program, Paul Deitel & Harvey Deitel
a typical computer might have hundreds of gigabytes of storage. How big is that? If a byte (the
number of bits, typically eight, required to represent one character) weighed one ounce (which it
doesn't), 100 gigabytes would weigh more than 3,000,000 tons. For comparison, that's roughly
the weight of all the coal produced in a year in the U.S.”5

Definition of Computer
According to Peter Norton:6

A computer is an electronic device that process data, converting it into information that is
useful for people.

To understand the definition clearly we need to know more about data and information:

Data consists of individual facts or pieces of information that by themselves may not
make much sense to a person. Data are essentially raw, unorganized facts. Almost any
kind of fact or set of facts can become computer data: a letter, text and pictures, a budget,
a colorful graph etc. Data can exist in many forms. Common types of data for computer:
text, graphics, audio and the video data.

Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the
person who receives it.

All the information is data but all the data is not information. The difference between data
and information lies in the word meaningful.

Information is a relative term; it identifies something that has significance to a specific

person in a specific situation.

So, one must not assume that there is always a clear distinction between data and
information.

We don’t need a computer to process data. Anyone can go through an employee file and
make a list of people earning a certain salary. But this would take a lot of time. (if there is
1000 employee!). Conversion of data into information is called information processing.

Computers can only work with digital data. To convert analog data to digital data, the
analog data has to be sampled and then converted to an approximate value.

Analog and Digital Data:

Our world is largely analog and continuous; quantities vary smoothly. Thus, analog data is real
world stuff like sounds, electrical currents, paintings, temperatures, time. It has no precisely

5
Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python (Spring 2013 Edition) by John V. Guttag
6
Introduction to Computer by Peter Norton
measurable or discrete value - we measure to the accuracy of our recording instruments. A range
of values made data.

ther hand is discrete. When sounds are digitized they must be stored as
Digital data, on the other
discrete values representing the pitch, volume, duration and other qualities of the sound.

Digital representation of numbers

numbers:

Modern computers deal only with discrete quantities; specifically, they deal only with quantities
take on only two values: on or off. This so-called
called digital representation of information has many
advantages over analog representations; most importantly that digital information mation is relatively
immune to noise. If a 0, or off state, is represented by a voltage near 0, and a 1, or on state is
represented by a voltage near 4 (a scheme used by a common family of digital devices called
TTL logic), then noise is unlikely to caus
causee a fluctuation great enough to confuse the two.

Because computers can only represent two states, numbers are stored in binary, or base 2. The
digits in a base 2 number are called bits, thus, a typical number in base 2 number is a collection
of bits like 01011010.

Conversion:
Since the real world is analog, but the computer world is binary, we need to be able to convert
signals between the two. Devices that change an analog signal to a digital signal are called
analog to digital converters (ADC). Devices that change a signal the other way, from digital to
analog, are called digital to analog converters (DAC). Both are important; DACs are used to
control experiments, while ADCs are used to read data from experiments.

Real-world
world signals are continuous in time as well as level. After sampling and quantization
qua it is
transformed into digital form.
Processes, Procedures, and Computers

A process is a sequence of steps. Each step changes the state of the world in some small way,
and the result of all the steps produces some goal state. For example, baking a cake, mailing a
letter, and planting a tree are all processes.

A procedure is a description of a process. A simple process can be described just by listing the
steps. The list of steps is the procedure; the act of following them is the process.

A procedure that can be followed without any thought is called a mechanical procedure. An
algorithm is a mechanical procedure that is guaranteed to eventually finish.

A computer is a machine that can:

1. Accept input. Input could be entered by a human typing at a keyboard, received over a
network, or provided automatically by sensors attached to the computer.
2. Execute a mechanical procedure, that is, a procedure where each step can be executed
without any thought.
3. Produce output. Output could be data displayed to a human, but it could also be anything
that effects the world outside the computer such as electrical signals that control how a
device operates.7
Information Systems
An information system is a complete interconnected environment in which raw data ─
quantifiable facts and figures ─ is turned into useful information. An information system
includes the following parts: people, hardware, software, procedures, and data.

People: People are the computer operators, also known as users. It can be argued that
some computer systems are complete without a person’s involvement; however, no
computer is totally autonomous. The only reason computers exist is to help people
accomplish their goals. Therefore when planning an information system, it’s critical to
understand what the people hope to get out of it. The first step in planning an information
system is to analyze the requirements of the people.

Hardware: When most people think of computers, they immediately think of hardware,
the physical parts of the computer system. The mechanical devices that make up the
computer are called hardware. The hardware includes circuit boards with silicon chips
and transistors mounted on them, input devices like the keyboard and mouse, and output
devices like printers and monitors.

7
Introduction to Computing by David Evans (University of Virginia)
 Software: Software is a set of instructions that makes the computer perform tasks. In
other words, software tells the computer what to do. Computer hardware just sits there
idle unless it has software. There are many different levels of software, including the
operating system (like Windows or Mac OS) and applications (like a word processing or
accounting program).

Procedures: The software doesn’t run itself (usually). People must interact with the
computer to tell it what software to run. We can learn procedures from the online Help
system in the application, from a printed user manual, from a training class, or by trial
and error.

Data: Data consist of individual facts or pieces of information that by themselves may
not make much sense to a person. Computer programs operate upon the data they receive.
A computer’s primary job is to process these tiny pieces of data in various ways,
converting them into useful information.

Computer System Components

Every computer system is made up of multiple electronic components. These components fall
into four broad categories that serve different purposes in the information processing cycle,
shown in Figure below. Information processing cycle is the four-step process that data moves
through as it is processed by a computer consists of input, processing, output, and storage.

Input: Components that help humans put data into the computer. Examples include a
keyboard, mouse, and touch screen.

Processing: Components that move and process the data inside the computer. The
motherboard and its processor and memory chips fall into this category.

Output: Components that provide the results of the processing to humans. The monitor is
the primary output device; other examples include printers and speakers.
 Storage: Components that store software and data until it is needed. Storage components
include hard drives, USB flash drives, and DVDs.

Types of Computer
Computers exist in a wide range of forms, and thousands of computers are hidden in devices we
use every day but don’t think of as computers such as cars, phones, TVs, microwave ovens, and
access cards.

Personal computer

A personal computer, or PC is designed for only one person to use at a time. Personal computers
fall into several categories that are differentiated from one another by their sizes. The most
common sizes are:

Desktop PC: A computer designed to be used at a desk, and seldom moved. This type of
computer consists of a large metal box called a system unit that contains most of the
essential components, with a separate monitor, keyboard, and mouse that all plug into the
system unit.

Notebook PC: A portable computer designed to fold up like a notebook for carrying. The
cover opens up to reveal a built-in screen, keyboard, and pointing device, which
substitutes for a mouse. This type of computer is sometimes called a laptop. A smaller
version of a notebook PC is sometimes referred to as a netbook, which is short for
Internet book, implying that this type of computer is primarily for accessing the Internet
rather than running applications.

Tablet PC: A portable computer that consists of a touch-sensitive display screen

mounted on a tablet-size plastic frame with a small computer inside. There is no built-in
keyboard or pointing device; a software-based keyboard pops up onscreen when needed,
and finger sliding on the screen serves as a pointing device.

Smartphone: A mobile phone that can run computer applications and has Internet access
capability. Smartphones usually have a touch-sensitive screen, and provide voice calls,
text messaging, and Internet access. Many have a variety of location-aware applications,
such as a global positioning system (GPS) and mapping program and a local business
guide. GPS is a device that determines current position by communicating with an
orbiting satellite and provides maps and driving directions.
Multi-User Computers

Multi-user computers are designed to serve groups of people, from a small office to a huge
international enterprise. Here are some common types of multi-user computers:
1. Server
2. Mainframe
3. Supercomputer

1. Server: A computer dedicated to serving and supporting a network, a group of network

users, and/or their information needs. It performs network tasks such as managing files,
printers, or email for multiple users. Many networks employ servers to provide a
centrally accessible storage space for data, and share common devices like printers and
scanners. A group of servers located together in a single room or facility is called a
server farm, or server cluster. Large Internet service provider (ISP) companies maintain
extensive server farms.

2. Mainframe: A large and powerful computer capable of processing and storing large
amounts of business data. For example, a mainframe might collect all the sales data from
hundreds of cash registers in a large department store and make it available to executives.
The modern mainframe unit itself is a large cabinet, or a series of cabinets, each about the
size of a refrigerator. A mainframe may be stored in its own air-conditioned room in a
business or school, and may have multiple employees monitoring and maintaining it.

3. Supercomputer: The most powerful computers in terms of performance and data

processing are the Supercomputers. These are high capacity, specialized and task specific
machines with hundreds of thousands of processors that can perform trillions of
operations per second. It is used for the processing of enormous volumes of data. These
computers are used by large high-tech academic, governmental, and scientific research
facilities. For example, NASA uses supercomputers for launching space shuttles,
controlling them and for space exploration purpose. It is also used for sifting
demographic marketing information and for creating film animation

The supercomputers are very expensive and very large in size. It can be accommodated in
large air-conditioned rooms; some super computers can span an entire building.

Currently (till June 2018) the fastest supercomputer in the world is IBM’s Summit with a
peak performance of 200 petaflops, or 200,000 trillion calculations per second.8
The complete list of Top 500 Supercomputers in the world can be viewed from the
website top500.org.9
8
The world’s fastest supercomputer is back in America: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/6/12/17453918/ibm-summit-worlds-
fastest-supercomputer-america-department-of-energy
9
https://www.top500.org/list/2018/06/