Programming Test #1

Why is a computer so powerful?

The ability to perform the information processing cycle with amazing speed, reliability, accuracy, ability to store huge amounts of data and information, ability to communicate with other computers

Many computers use an operating system that has a graphical user interphase (GUI) that provides

visual clues such as icon symbols to help the user

Types of application software

word processing, electronic spreadsheet, database, presentation graphics

Compact Disk (CD)

flat, round, portable storage medium that uses the same laser technology as audio CDs for recording music; in addition, it can contain other types of data such as text, graphics, and video

Most common auxiliary storage devices

hard disk drives, solid state drives, CD-ROM drives, USB flash drives, and cloud storage

Output devices make the information

resulting from processing available for use

Output devices

speaker, printer, monitor

Once the program is stored in memory the computer can

start the operation by executing the program instructions one after the other

Processing and memory devices

system unit, CD-RW, hard disk, zip drive

Keyboard

the most commonly used input device on which data is entered by manually keying in or typing certain key

Formatting

the process of preparing a disk for reading and writing

A computer with 8 megabytes (MB) can store

8 million characters

Auxiliary storage devices

Auxiliary storage devices are used to store data when they are not being used in memory

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

CPU contains electronic circuits that cause processing to occur

Operating system software tells the computer

how to perform the functions or loading, storing and executing an application and how to transfer data

Examples of GUI

Windows 10, OS X, Linux

Data

a collection of raw facts, figures, and symbols, such as numbers, words, images, video, and sound, given to the computer during the input phase

Mouse

a pointing device which is used to control the movement of a mouse pointer on the screen to make selections from the screen

Floppy Disks ("Old School")

a portable, inexpensive storage medium that consists of a thin, circular, flexible plastic disk with a magnetic coating enclosed in a square-shaped plastic shell

Computer

an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions (software), stored in its own memory unit, that can accept data (input), manipulate data (process), and produce information (output) from the processing

A computer knows what to do by given a detailed list of instructions called a

computer program or software that tells it exactly what to do

Application software

consists of programs that tell a computer how to produce information

Information

data that is organized, meaningful, and useful

Computers manipulate data to create

information

What are the primary components of a computer?

input devices, central processing unit, memory, output devices, storage devices

Four general operations

input, processing, output, storage

During the output phase, the information that has been created

is put into some form, such as a printed report

Input devices

keyboard, mouse, scanner, camera

The CPU interprets instructions to the computer, performs the

logical and arithmetic processing operations, and causes the input and output operations to occur

A floppy disk is a magnetic disk, which means that it used

magnetic patterns to store data

Random Access Memory (RAM)

main memory of the computer, also known as temporary memory, that consists of electronic components that store data including numbers, letters of the alphabet, graphics and sound

Before processing a specific job, the computer program corresponding to that job

must be stored in memory

Disk Operating System (DOS)

old school operating system that is text based

A memory location, or byte, usually stores

one character

Hard disk consists of

one of more rigid metal plates coated with a metal oxide material that allows data to be magnetically recorded on the surface of the platters, these disks spin at a high rate of speed

Computer software can be categorized in

operating system software and application software

Read Only Memory (ROM)

permanent memory that is etched on a chip that has start-up directions for your computer