Chapter 1 test

expansion slots

"In order for a computer to be useful a user must be able to add things like printers and scanners and also be able to hook up things like digital cameras or memory cards" "When you hook a monitor or printer into most desktop computers you are accessing expansion slots. These are cards that are connected to the Motherboard on the inside of the computer but offer a connection on the outside for things like VGA monitors, network cables, speakers or microphones to be hooked" Others include usb slots and SD slots

Servers

"More powerful than basic PCs and usually only have one task that they are responsible for. Examples would be an email server, a web server that hosts websites, Proxy Server controls website access, Login Servers control permissions, etc.

Software

"Software: You cannot touch software but you can use it. Software (or Programs) are the instructions someone has written to make your computer useful. It tells the computer what to do. Example of a software program are Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, even games like Call of Duty.

system software

"System Software is just as important to a computer as application software but it's not as sexy and sometimes just an afterthought. There are 3 types of system software, Operating Systems, Utilities Software and Language Translators.

Hard drive

"The Hard Disk or Hard Drive in your computer is used for permanent storage of data.

Motherboard

"The Motherboard is the main circuit board in a computer. Think of it as the backbone or spine of your computer. All of the most important components are connected to the Motherboard so they can communicate through the circuits embedded in the board. Attached to the Motherboard you will find the CPU, memory slots, hard drive, expansion slots, disk drives, power supply and more. "

People

Another way of saying the computer user. A computer does not know what to do without someone giving it instructions. The user drives the computer"

Computer system

In order for a computer to work it needs; hardware, software, data and people

Bits and bytes

"A single 0 or 1 is known as a Bit. " "When you put 8 numbers together you get a Byte of information." "These terms also refer to how much data can be stored on a device"

Application software

"Application Software is also called "Productivity Software", the reason why is simple, it's the software that allows us to do useful and creative things on the computer. If we abbreviated Application Software we might get the word App, as in all those apps that get downloaded on a daily basis. Apps let us do things on our phones and they are just like the more powerful apps we use on our computers. The most common forms of application software are software programs we use every day. Word, Excel, PowerPoint are all examples of apps used on a computer to help people be productive"

Data

is the information you put into your computer or the information that is created by using your computer or gaming system. Anytime you type information in or create a picture in Photoshop you want to save, that is data.

"Read Only Memory (ROM")

"The second type of memory in your computer is called Read Only Memory or ROM. While not as fast as RAM it provides critical information your computer needs to function. While RAM is volatile (not stable) ROM is very stable and it needs to be because it holds important instructions your computer needs to start. Even when you turn your computer off the instructions stay on the disk. " When you first turn on your computer it has to relearn all of its functions. What operating system is it running, what programs are installed, what peripherals (keyboards, printers, mouse) are attached to it and how to do they all work. The computer gets this information form the ROM"

Random Access Memory (RAM):

"When people ask how much memory does you computer have they are talking about RAM. RAM is important because it can help your computer run more efficiently. The more RAM you have the faster your computer can handle instructions and run programs because RAM is temporary memory" "The problem with RAM is that it is extremely volatile. This means that it is not stable"

instruction cycle

"When you put the CPU and the Memory together you get a process called the Instruction Cycle and it looks like this. Instructions are fed into the RAM, taken by the Control Unit, processed by the ALU and returned to RAM where the program can pick up the result.

Hardware

: Think of the hardware of a computer as anything you can physically touch. The monitor, keyboard, mouse, circuit boards, processor, etc.

Computer

A computer is defined as an electronic device that receives data, processes the data, stores the data and gives a result or output.

Central Processing Unit (CPU) (AKA Microprocessor)

The CPU is one of the most important parts on any computer. Consider it the computer's brain. You would not function very well without a brain and neither does your PC. This component does all of the computations and jobs that are requested whenever a user pushes a button or hits return. "The CPU has 2 main parts, the Arithmetic/Logic Unit and the Control Unit. These two components control the flow of information through the CPU. "Control Unit translates programming language into the machine language or binary code (0s and 1s) that the ALU uses for its work. "Just like the name says, this controls all of the CPUs activities. It's the boss. It runs the instructions through the CPU." "Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU): Since the computer is a calculator this part handles the math associated with running a computer. It does addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and logical comparisons lie greater than, less than or equal to"