Chapter 1: Introduction

In this chapter you will learn about:

Overview of PC components
The different types of language
Natural Language
Formal Language
Functional / Imperative Language
Programming Languages

C as an imperative language
C program at a glance

Principles of Programming - NI July 2005

Computer Hardware
Components

Components of a PC

Principles of Programming - NI July 2005

Introduction
What is computer hardware?
Computer devices in physical form
Comprised of 4 components:
Input devices
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Output devices
Memory

Chapter 2

Introduction (contd)
Processor
Control
Control
Unit
Unit

Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Logic Unit
(ALU)
Logic
Unit (ALU)
Instructions
Data
Information

Input
Devices

Data

Memory
Instructions
Data
Information

Storage
Devices
Chapter 2

Information

Output
Devices

Input Device
What is input?

Data or instructions entered into memory of computer

Input device is any hardware component that allows users to enter data
and instructions

Chapter 2

Input Device (contd)

Two types of input:

Data
Unprocessed text,
numbers, images,
audio, and video

Instructions
Programs
Commands
User responses

Chapter 2

Input Device (contd)

Keyboard
allows the computer user to enter

Words
Numbers
Punctuation
symbols and
special function commands
into the computers memory

Chapter 2

Output Device
What is output?

Data that has been processed into a useful form,

Chapter 2

Output device is any hardware component that can convey

information to user

Output Devices (contd)

Display device

Output device that visually conveys information

Information on display device sometimes
called soft copy
Monitor houses display device as separate peripheral

Chapter 2

Output Devices (contd)

Display device

LCD monitor

Uses liquid crystal display

Have a small footprint
Mobile devices that contain LCD displays
include

Notebook computer, Tablet PC, PDA,

and Smart Phone

Chapter 2

Input / Output Devices

Input Devices
Accepts information from the user and transforms
it to digital codes that the computer can process
Example: keyboard, mouse, scanner

Output Devices
An interface by which the computer conveys the
output to the user
Example: monitor, printer

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Main Memory
A semiconductor device which stores the
information necessary for a program to run.
2 types
ROM (Read Only Memory)
Contains information that is necessary for the
computer to boot up
The information stays there permanently even when
the computer is turned off.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

Contains instruction or data needed for a program to
run
Got erased when the computer is turned off.
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CPU
What is the central processing unit (CPU)?

Also called the processor

Interprets and carries out basic

instructions that operate a
computer
Control unit directs and
coordinates operations in
computer
Arithmetic logic unit
(ALU) performs
arithmetic, comparison,
and logical operations
Chapter 2

Processor

Control
Control
Unit
Unit

Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Logic
Unit (ALU)
(ALU)
Logic Unit

CPU (contd)
Register

Temporary high-speed storage area that holds

data and instructions

Stores location
from where instruction
was fetched Stores data
Stores
instruction while it is
while ALU
being decoded
computes it
Stores results
of calculation

Chapter 2

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Does most of the work in executing a program
The CPU inside a PC is usually the microprocessor
3 main parts:
Control Unit
Fetch instructions from main memory and put them in
the instruction register

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

Execute arithmetic operations

Registers
Temporarily store instructions or data fetched from
memory

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Storage Devices
A magnetic device used to store a large amount
of information.
Store the software components or data needed
for the computer to execute its tasks.
Could be read only or writable.
Example: Hard drive, CD ROM, floppy disks

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Network Devices
Connect a computer to the other computers.
Enable the users to access data or execute
programs remotely.
Example: modem, Ethernet card

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Natural language
Our everyday-language; spoken and written
Not 100% needed to understand:
Do you want to buy this computer ? remains
comprehensible

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Semantics and Syntax

Semantics the meaning of the language within a
given context
Syntax - Syntax are the rules to join words
together in forming a correct expression or
phrase.
In natural languages it is often possible to
assemble a sentence in more than one correct
ways.

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Formal Language
Language with limited, defined, words
Each concatenation of words ('phrase') has a
single, clearly defined meaning
no (miss-)interpretation possible

Sometimes called Context Free Language

To 'talk' to a computer; to instruct a computer; our
commands must be 100% clear and correct.
Often there is only a single, correct syntax.
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Functional / Imperative
Language
Functional Language:
Tell what to do, but not how:
sum [1...10]

Imperative Language:
Tell what to do, but mainly how:
Take number 1 and add the next number to it;
then add the next number to the sum; and so on;
until you have reached 10 as number to be added.
Then print the sum of all numbers
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What is Programming?
Programming is instructing a computer to do something
for you with the help of a programming language
The two roles of a programming language:
Technical: It instructs the computer to perform tasks.
Conceptual: It is a framework within which we
organize our ideas about things and processes.
In programming, we deal with two kind of things:
Data - representing 'objects' we want to manipulate
Procedures -'descriptions' or 'rules' that define how to
manipulate data.

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Programming Language
Formal Language used to communicate to a
computer.
A programming language contains instructions
for the computer to perform a specific action or a
specific task:
'Calculate the sum of the numbers from 1 to 10
'Print I like programming
'Output the current time'

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Programming Language
Can be classified into as a special-purpose and
general-purpose programming languages.
Special-purpose : is design for a particular type of
application
Structured Query Language (SQL)

General-purpose : can be used to obtain solutions

for many types of problems
Machine Languages
Assembly Languages
High-Level Languages
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Machine Language
The only language that the processor actually
'understands
Consists of binary codes: 0 and 1
Example: 00010101
11010001
01001100

Each of the lines above corresponds to a specific

task to be done by the processor.
Programming in machine code is difficult and slow
since it is difficult to memorize all the instructions.
Mistakes can happen very easily.
Processor and Architecture dependent
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Assembly Language
Enables machine code to be represented in words and
numbers.
Example of a program in assembler language:
LOAD A, 9999
LOAD B, 8282
SUB B
MOV C, A
LOAD C, #0002
DIV A, C
STORE A, 7002

Easier to understand and memorize (called Mnemonics),

compared to machine code but still quite difficult to use.
Processor and Architecture dependent
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High-Level Language
Use more English words. They try to resemble English
sentences. Therefore, it is easier to program in these
languages.
The programming structure is problem oriented - does not
need to know how the computer actually executes the
instructions.
Processor independent - the same code can be run on
different processors.
Examples: Basic, Fortran, Pascal, Cobol, C, C++, Java
A high level language needs to be analyzed by the compiler
and then compiled into machine code so that it can be
executed by the processor.
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C Programming Language
Why 'C' ?
Because based on 'B'; developed at Bell Laboratories
Developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories in
the 1960s
In cooperation with Ken Thomson it was used for
Unix systems
The C Language was only vaguely defined, not
standardized, so that almost everyone had his own
perception of it, to such an extend that an urgent
need for a standard code was creeping up
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C Programming Language
cont
In 1983, the American National Standards Institute

(ANSI) set up X3J11, a Technical Committee to draft

a proposal for the ANSI standard, which was
approved in 1989 and referred to as the ANSI/ISO
9899 : 1990 or simply the ANSI C, which is now the
global standard for C.
This standard was updated in 1999; but there is no
compiler yet

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C An Imperative Language
C is a highly imperative language
We must tell it exactly how to do what;
the means and functions to use;
which libraries to use;
when to add a new line;
when an instruction is finished;
in short: everything and anything

Hint: Observe the syntax in the next slide

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A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
printf("I like programming in C.\n");
}

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A Simple Program in C - explanation

#include <stdio.h>
standard Library, input-output, header-file
Begin of program

main()
{

Start of Segment
Function for printing text

printf("I like programming in C.\n");

Insert a new line

End of statement
End of Segment

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C Output

I like programming in C.

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Summary
We have looked at some underlying hardware
We have seen some different types of languages;
the relevance of semantics and syntax.

We have observed the detail necessary in an

imperative language to instruct a computer
properly.
Finally, we examined the syntax to print a line of
text to the screen of our computer.

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