CS 1308 Computer Literacy and the Internet

WHAT IS A COMPUTER?

Two Main Components

Hardware
Physical media that uses electrical current to

process instructions.

Software
Instructions written by humans that tell the

computer what to do.

The Modern Computer

The Stored-Program Model
Invented by John von Neumann
Digital Information Memory

Processor
Input/Output Secondary Storage We will revisit this model in much more detail later

in the semester.

Organization of a von Neumann Machine (almost every modern computer)

Data Bus

Memory
(RAM)

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Input/Output I/O Secondary Storage

Information in the Real World

Information that we gather through our senses is primarily in waves and typically analog.
Light Sound Temperature Etc.

Information can be quantified down to the atom

Thats a lot of information!

CS 1308 Computer Literacy and the Internet

Information in the Computer World

Information in the computer world is digital.
On/Off Fully Charged Fully Discharged Magnetized Demagnetized

Computer information is binary.

0 Off 1 On

Detecting Voltage Levels

Why not 10 levels? Would be unreliable Not enough difference between states
CS 1308 Computer Literacy and the Internet

Bits, Bytes, and so on

A bit is one 0 or 1
Short for binary digit

A byte is a collection of 8 bits

They named it byte instead of bite so you couldnt easily

mess up the spelling and confuse it with bit. Anybody know what half a byte is called?

The number of bits we have will determine how much

information we can store. (VERY IMPORTANT)

1 bit, on or off (two states) 2 bits, four different states (00, 01, 10, 11) 3 bits, eight states In general, 2bits states
CS 1308 Computer Literacy and the Internet

What is Data?
Any useful input or output from the computer
Documents that you are working on

.doc, .xls, .pdf

Music

.mp3
Pictures

.jpg, .gif
Text

The quick Brown Fox

Numbers

42, 3.14
Readings from sensors Others?

All of these are encoded in a consistent binary format so

they can be shared between computers and users.

What is an Instruction?
Computers rely on very simple instructions given to them by

programmers to accomplish tasks. Assembly Language (written by humans)

LOAD R1, #42 JUMP R2 ADD R1, R2

These instructions are translated to Machine Language

Computers only understand ones and zeros

1010001001010011 1000111101001111 1010010010100011

Programs consist of millions of these instructions Machine language is different for each processor
That is why Mac programs wont run on a PC

Random Access Memory (RAM)

The programs (instructions) and data are stored in the

Random Access Memory (RAM) for use by the Central Processing Unit (CPU). RAM loses its memory when the power goes off so we store information and programs more permanently on Secondary Storage Devices (hard drives, flash drives, etc.).

Data and instructions are Fetched from the

RAM and used by the CPU to perform tasks. RAM is finite.

What implications does this have for real numbers?

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU uses instructions to move data around in the computer and to produce output. The CPU has a simple task. Follow the Execution Cycle over and over again, very quickly.
Fetch an instruction
Decode the instruction Execute the instruction

Input/Output

(I/O)

Every useful computer creates some kind of output. Most computers use input data of some kind to produce the

output. Garbage in = Garbage out

Devices
Input

Bad data leads to useless results.

Keyboard Mouse Others?

Output

Monitors Speakers Others?

Secondary Storage
The memory in RAM goes away when the power is shut off.
Volatile

Programs and data are stored more permanently

on secondary storage devices. Contain much more space than RAM. Hard Drives USB Drives DVD CD Others?

Organization of a von Neumann Machine (almost every modern computer)

Data Bus

Memory
(RAM)

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Input/Output I/O Secondary Storage

Quiz
Which of the following are a computer?
How can we tell?
Does it have a processor?

Does it have memory to store data and/or a

program? Does it use input or create output?