Lectures # 01 to 07

Subject: Computer Programming

Batch: 11ES
Subject Teacher: Engr. Sammer Zai

Computer Programming:

(Often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of writing, testing,

debugging/troubleshooting, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This
source code is written in a programming language. The code may be a modification of an
existing source or something completely new. The purpose of programming is to create a
program that exhibits a certain desired behavior (customization). The process of writing
source codes requires expertise in many different subjects, including knowledge of the
application domain, specialized algorithms, and formal logic.

Software:

• Computer software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer

programs, procedures and documentation that perform some task on a computer
system.

• Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the

computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level
programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use
(closer to natural language) than machine language.

• The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1958. In
computer science and software engineering, computer software is all computer
programs.

Types of Software:

Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes: system
software, programming software and application software

1. System Software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes
operating systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools, servers, windowing systems, utilities
and more. The purpose of systems software is to insulate the applications programmer as
much as possible from the details of the particular computer complex being used,
especially memory and other hardware features, and such as accessory devices as
communications, printers, readers, displays, keyboards, etc.There are 3 basics type of
system software:
 a. Operating System: It tells the computer how to use its own components.
Eg: Windows, Macintosh Operating System & Linux
When computer wants the hardware to do something, it communicates through
operating system.

b. Network Operating System: It allows computer to communicate & share data

across network while controlling network operations.

c. Utility: It is a program that makes computer system easier to use or perform

highly specialized tasks utilities are used to manage disks, troubleshoot hardware
problems.
Eg: Antivirus

2. Application Software allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (non-
computer related) tasks. Typical applications include industrial automation, business
software, educational software, medical software, databases, and computer games.
Businesses are probably the biggest users of application software, but almost every field
of human activity now uses some form of application software.

3. Programming Software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing

computer programs and software using different programming languages in a more
convenient way. The tools include text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers,
debuggers, and so on. An Integrated development environment (IDE) merges those tools
into a software bundle, and a programmer may not need to type multiple commands for
compiling, interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc., because the IDE usually has an
advanced graphical user interface, or GUI.

Terminologies:

Freeware - Copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of
charge, for an unlimited time, as opposed to shareware where the user is required to pay
(e.g. after some trial period or for additional functionality).

Shareware: It is typically obtained free of charge, either by downloading from the

Internet or on magazine cover-disks. A user tries out the program, and thus shareware has
also been known as "try before you buy". This software is downloadable from the
Internet. Licenses differ, but commonly the user is allowed to try the program for free, for
a period stipulated in the license, usually thirty days. At the end of the trial period, the
software must be purchased or uninstalled

Open Source: describes the principles and methodologies to promote open access to the
production and design process for various goods, products, resources and technical
conclusions or advice. The term is most commonly applied to the source code of software
that is made available to the general public with either relaxed or non-existent intellectual
property restrictions.

Office Suit:
A collection of programs for a personal computer that is used to automate common office
tasks. The packages usually includes: word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, email,
and database. These components are sold together and typically interface with each other.
Also Known As: office suite, office software suite, productivity suite Microsoft Office is
the most popular office software suite on the market today. Newer variations on the
office applications suite include an e-mail client, a personal information manager (or
groupware package) and/or a graphics

In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity

suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by knowledge workers.Knowledge
workers in today's workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to act and
communicate with knowledge within a specific subject area.

In computers, an office applications suite, sometimes called an office suite,

productivity suite, offimatic suite or integrated offimatic program, is a application
software intended to be used by typical clerical and knowledge workers.

Typical Office Suit Components:

• Spreadsheet
• Word Processor
• Presentation Program
• MS Access
• MS Outlook
• MS Publisher

A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper, accounting worksheet. It

displays multiple cells that together make up a grid consisting of rows and columns, each
cell containing alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas.

A word processor (more formally known as document preparation system) is a

computer application used for the production (including composition, editing, formatting,
and possibly printing) of any sort of printable material. Microsoft Word is the most
widely used word processing software

A presentation program is a computer software package used to display information,

normally in the form of a slide show. It typically includes three major functions: an editor
that allows text to be inserted and formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating
graphic images and a slide-show system to display the content.

Microsoft Access, is a pseudo-relational database management system from Microsoft

that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface
and software-development tools. It is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of
applications. Microsoft Access (usually abbreviated as MS Access) is an easy-to-use
program for creating and maintaining databases. Software developers and data architects
can use Microsoft Access to develop application software, and "power users" can use it to
build simple applications.

Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as

a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. The current version
is Microsoft Outlook 2010 for Windows. Although often used mainly as an e-mail
application, it also includes a calendar, task manager, contact manager, note taking, a
journal and web browsing.

Microsoft Publisher, is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft. It is an entry-

level application, differing from Microsoft Word in that the emphasis is placed on page
layout and design rather than text composition and proofing. The current version is
Microsoft Publisher 2010 for Windows.

Disk Manager:

An umbrella term for a variety of functions for initializing a hard disk, maintaining its
health and managing its organization is called disk management.

Accessing Disk Management:

There are a few different ways to access Disk Management. I'll list three different
methods so choose whichever is more convenient.

• Method 1 - Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance >
Administrative Tools. Double click Computer Management and then click Disk
Management in the left hand column.
• Method 2 - By default, Administrative Tools is not shown on the Start Menu but
if you have modified the Start Menu (by right clicking the Start button and
selecting Properties > Customize) so it is shown then just select Start >
Administrative Tools > Computer Management and then click Disk Management
in the left hand column.
• Method 3 - Click Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc in the Open: line and click
OK. The Disk Management snap-in will open.

WINDOWS TOOLS:
Disk Cleanup:

Your computer can pick up and store temporary files when you're looking at web pages
and even when you're working on files in programs, such as Microsoft Word. Over time,
these files will slow your computer's performance. You can use the Windows Disk
Cleanup screen to rid your computer of these deadbeat files.

To run Disk Cleanup:

1. In the Start menu, click My Computer.

2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click the drive you wish to check for
errors (for most of us, this is the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your
computer), and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click Disk Cleanup.

The Disk Cleanup button in the Local Disk Properties dialog box

4. Disk Cleanup will calculate how much space you can free up on your hard drive.
After its scan, the Disk Cleanup dialog box reports a list of files that you can
 remove from your computer, as shown. This scan can take a while depending on
how many files you have lying around on your computer.

Choose files to delete in Disk Cleanup

5. After the scan is complete, in the Disk Cleanup dialog box, click View Files to
see what Disk Cleanup will discard (if you accept the suggestions). You can select
and deselect check boxes to define what you wish to keep or discard. When you're
ready, click OK.
6. You can also select the More Options tab within the Disk Cleanup screen to look
for software programs you don't use much anymore. You then have the choice to
remove these unused programs.

Check Disk:
Whenever a program crashes, or you experience some power outage, your computer may
create errors on your computer's hard disk. Over time, the errors can slow your computer.
Luckily, the Windows operating system includes a Disk Check program to check and
clean any errors on your computer and keep it running smoothly.

To run Disk Check:

1. In the Start menu, click My Computer.

2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click the drive you wish to check for
errors (for most of us, this is the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your
computer), and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab. In the Error-Checking section,
click the Check now… button. A Check Disk dialog box displays, as seen here.

The Check Disk dialog box

4. In the Check Disk dialog box, select all the check boxes. Click Start.
5. You will see a message box that says you can schedule the disk check to start the
next time you restart your computer. Click Yes. The next time you restart your
computer, it will automatically run through a disk check before displaying your
login screen. After the disk check finishes, Windows will automatically bring you
to your login screen.

Note: Check Disk can take more than an hour to check and clean errors on your
computer.

Disk Defragmentation:
Computer often breaks files side by side to increase the speed of access and retrieval.
However, as files are updated, your computer saves these updates on the largest space
available on the hard drive, often found far away from the other adjacent sectors of the
file.

The result: a fragmented file. Fragmented files cause slower performance. This is because
your computer must now search for all of the file's parts. In other words, your computer
knows where all the pieces are, but putting them back together in the correct order—
when you need them—can slow your computer down.

Windows includes a Disk Defragmenter program to piece all your files back together
again and make them available to open more quickly. To reorganize the disk by putting
files into contiguous order. Because the operating system stores new data in whatever
free space is available, data files become spread out across the disk as they are updated.
Large files may be broken into thousands of fragments, causing the read/write head to
move back and forth numerous extra times to read the data. A "defragger" or "optimizer
program" rewrites all the files and stores them in adjacent sectors.

To run the Disk Defragmenter:

1. In the Start menu, click My Computer.

2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click the drive you wish to check for errors
(for most of us this is the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your
computer), and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab, and then in the Defragmentation
section, click Defragment Now….

The Defragment Now button in the Tools tab

4. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, select the Volume (most likely your Local
Disk C:) at the top of the screen, and then click Analyze (disk).
 5. After analyzing your computer, the Disk Defragmenter displays a message stating
whether you should defragment your computer. Press Defragment (disk) to clean
up your computer if necessary. The Disk Defragmenter will reorganize files by
placing them together and sorting them by program and size, as shown here.

Disk Defragmentation in progress

Backup

A copy of a program or data file made by the user onto a separate storage medium, such
as a disk or hard disk, so that copy will be preserved against possible loss or damage to
the original.

To copy files to a second medium (a disk or tape) as a precaution in case the first medium
fails. One of the cardinal rules in using computers is back up your files regularly.

Even the most reliable computer is apt to break down eventually. Many professionals
recommend that you make two, or even three, backups of all your files. To be especially
safe, you should keep one backup in a different location from the others.

You can back up files using operating system commands, or you can buy a special-
purpose backup utility. Backup programs often compress the data so that backups require
fewer disks.

INSTALLATION OF A SOFTWARE:
Most software programs require that you first install them on your computer before using
them. For example, if you buy Microsoft Office, you need to install it on your computer
before you can run any of the included programs such as Word or Excel. You can install
software from a CD or DVD, an external hard drive, or from a networked computer. You
can also install a program or software update from a file downloaded from the Internet.

Installing a software program writes the necessary data for running the program on your
hard drive. Often the installer program will decompress the data included with the
installer immediately before writing the information to your hard drive. Software updates,
which are typically downloaded from the Internet, work the same way. When you run the
update, the installer file decompresses the data and then updates the correct program or
operating system.

Installing software is usually a simple process which consists of the following steps;
1. It involves double-clicking an installer icon
2. then clicking "I Agree" when the license agreement pops up.
3. You may have to choose what directory on your hard disk you would like to
install the software in, but often the installer will even choose that for you.
4. Then simply click on the install and then finish.

Some softwares can be installed by simply dragging a folder or application program onto
your hard drive. Either way, installing software is a rather simple process and should not
be intimidating.

Operating System:
Os is a software program but it is different from all other software programs being
utilized. Operating system is simply a control program.

OS is collection of many small programs which are required to turn on the computer and
run it smoothly. These programs provide very fundamental access to hardware without
which a computer cannot be started.

An operating system is a software component of a computer system that is responsible for

the management of various activities of the computer and the sharing of computer
resources.

In short, operating system enables user interaction with computer systems by acting as an
interface between users or application programs and the computer hardware. Here is an
overview of the different types of operating systems.

1. Single user single tasking

2. Single user multi tasking
3. Muti user multi tasking
4. Real time operating system

1. Single User/ Single Tasking Operating System:

An O.S that allows a single user to perform just one task at a time.This O.S is designed to
manage the computer so that one user can effectively do one thing at a time. These O.S
have limited characteristics, there is still use of them, because they take up very little
space on disk or memory when they are running and donot require powerful & expensive
computers.

Eg.
Ms Dos, Small Palm Hold Devices (Previous Mobile / Cell Phones)

2. Single User/ Multi Tasking Operating System:

It allows single user to perform more than one task/ functions at a time mostly used on
desktops & laptops computer today including Microsoft Windows & Apple’s Mac
(Macintosh) Operating Systems.

People can accomplish more in shorter period of time. For e.g. A person is able to send
large document to a pointer and be able to do other work as well and to be able to
instantly switch between two programs.

E.g; Windows

3. Multi User / Multi Tasking Operating System:

It allows many users to take advantage of computer resources simultaneously & running
on single n/w server called “Terminal Server”. This gives each user a computer
environment called a user session, on the server. In multi user/ multi tasking all or most
of computing occurs at server.

E.g.

Unix, VMS & Mainframe Operating system such as MVS.

Being able to have multiple accounts on a Windows operating system does not make it a
multi-user system. Rather, only the network administrator is the real user. But for a Unix-
like operating system, it is possible for two users to login at a time and this capability of
the OS makes it a multi-user operating system.

4. Real-time Operating System: It is a multitasking operating system that aims at

executing real-time applications. Real-time operating systems often use specialized
scheduling algorithms so that they can achieve a deterministic nature of behavior. The
main object of real-time operating systems is their quick and predictable response to
events. RTOS are very fast, relatively small O.S but multitasking, embedded operating
system.

RTOS support multi tasking as well as sometimes single tasking. Real time applications
that respond to certain extremely quickly. Real time applications are needed to run
Medical diagnostics equipments, life support systems, machinery, scientific instruments
& industrial systems.

Programmable thermostats, Household appliances controller (Microwave oven, Washing

Machine) industrial robots , space crafts & scientific research equipments are some of the
examples of RTOS.

A real-time operating system (RTOS) is a multitasking operating system intended for

applications with fixed deadlines (real-time computing). Such applications include some
small embedded systems, automobile engine controllers, industrial robots, spacecraft,
industrial control, and some large-scale computing systems.

An early example of a large-scale real-time operating system was Transaction Processing

Facility developed by American Airlines and IBM for the Sabre Airline Reservations
System.

Features of an operating system:

1. Program Execution
2. Handling Input/Output Operations
3. Manipulation of File System
4. Error Detection and Handling
5. Resource Allocation
6. Accounting
7. Information and Resource Protection

INTERNET SERVICES:

There are several types of services that provides a wide range of tools and
applications to users of the internet. While not part of the internet itself, these
applications work with the internet at some point in order to provide clients with a range
of service options.

1. Online Services

An online service is a company that offers access, generally on a subscription

basis, to e-mail, discussion groups, databases on various subjects (such as weather
information, newspaper articles, and so on), and other services ranging from
electronic banking and investing to online games. Online services also offer
access to the internet, functioning as an ISP to their subscribers. The m ost
popular online services are America Online, CompuServe.

In addition to internet access, online services offer other features that typical ISPs
do not. For example, America Online has become famous for its casual chat
rooms, and CompuServe is probably best known for its discussion forums geared
to technically oriented users. These activities do not take place on the internet,
where every one can access them. Rather these services are provided only for the
subscribers of the online services. Users typically pay by the month for a
subscription that allows them to use the service for a limited number of hours per
month; they may pay by the hour for the additional time, if needed. Subscription
with unlimited hours are also available.

2. Peer-to-Peer Services

These services are distributed networks that do not require a

central server, such
as a web server to manage the files. Instead P2P services allow
an individual’s
computer to communicate directly with another individual’s
computer and even
access files on that computer.

An example of P2P services is an instant messaging (IM) software. IM software

sets up a direct relationship between you and your colleagues and friends.
Example of such softwares include Microsoft’s MSN messenger Service, Yahoo
Messenger etc.

Peer-to-Peer services are popular, because they allow people to share files of all
types directly from the peer connections available via the peer software.
Corporations have adopted P2P technology as a quick means of transporting
information, without having to have all the information stored in a centralized
location.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems let you exchange files without a web site or other
centralized system. The most famous of these services are used to share music
files. Some allow you to exchange other types of files including video,
photographs, text documents, and software.