Tuesday, October 28, 2008

What is data processing life cycle?

Data Processing
Data processing is an important function that converts our data into meaningful information. In this process, difference calculations are performed. In recent time, most of data processing is done using computers. Data processing life cycle is collection of steps required to convert into information. Basically there are three main steps.
  • Input
  • Processing
  • Output
There are many other steps which are related to these steps. The complete data life cycle is give blow.
Collection
In this step data is collected from different sources.
Classification
In this step, the collected data classified into different categories.
Input
In this step, the collected data is given to the computer as in input for processing.
Verification
The data given to computer is verified to make sure that data is correct and valid for processing.
Coding
The data is stored in computer in binary form. In this step data is converted into binary form so that it may be stored into computer.
Storing
It is easy to process sorted data. In this step the data is sorted in different sequence so that processing become easy.
Processing
In this step the processing on data is applied. Different calculation and formulas are applied on stored data to get the desired result.
Summarizing
Some time in spite of having all the stord data asummarized form is obtained. In this step data is processed in summarized form. For example a bank manager may ask for summary of the transactions done in the whole day.
Output
The basic purpose of data processing is to generate desired information from the raw data. In this step the data is displayed on the required medium e.g. monitor pr printer.
Retrieval
If data is stored on storage devices like hard disk, in this step data is retrieval from the storage devices.
Conversion
The information in this step is conversion into different forms like charts, graphs etc.
Communication
Some time information is required an different places,, In this step the information is sent to different places.
Feedback
In this step, the comments are taken from the users about the data processing system and its output. This process is very important to improve the data processing system.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Discuss the History of Computer?

History of Computer
The Abacus
The Abacus is considered the very first computer in history. It emerged about 5000 years ago in asia and still is used in countries like China and japan. It is first way of making calculation and is made of wooden box consisting small beads sliding on racks. Abacus was very popular through out the history of computer. But as the use of pencil and paper spread in Europe it lost its importance.
John Napier Bones
Another manual machine was John Napier Bones. It was cardboard multiplication calculation. It was designed in early 17th century.
Numerical Wheel Calculation:
Blaise Pascal
Numerical wheel calculation was invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642. It could only add and subtraction numbers. Division and multiplication was done by repeated addition and subtraction. this calculation was called pascaline.
Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz
In 1694, a German scientist Leibniz developed a calculating machine; in fact it was improvement on pascaline. He made a machine which could multiply beside addition and subtraction.
Charles Xavier Thomas Colman
Charles Xavier Thomas De Colman a French man improved this machine in such way that it could perform four basic arithmetic operation e.g. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Charles Babbage
Difference Engine:
While Tomas of Colmar was developing the first successful commercial calculator, Charles Babbage realized as early as 1812 that many long computations consisted design a calculating machine which could do these operations automatically. he produced a prototype of this "difference engine" by 18222 and with the help of the British government started work on the full machine in 1823. It was intended to be steam-powered; fully automatic, even to the printing of the resulting tables; and commanded by a fixed instruction program.
Analytical Engine
In 1833, Babbage ceased working on the difference engine because he had a better idea. His new idea was to build an " analytical engine". The analytical engine was a real parallel decimal computer which would operate on words of 50 decimals and was able to store 1000 such numbers. The machine would include a number of built-in operations such as conditional control, which allowed the instructions for the machine were to be stored on punched cards, similar to those used on a Jacquard Loom.
Herman Hollerith
A step toward automated computation was the instruction of punched cards, which were first successfully used in connection with computing in 1890 by Herman Hollerith working for the U.S. Census Bureau. He developed a device which could automatically read census information which had been punched onto card. Surprisingly, he did not get the idea form the work of Babbage, but rather form watching a train conductor punch tickets. As a result of his invention, reading errors were consequently greatly reduced, work flow was increased, and more important, stacks of punched cards could be used as an accessible memory store of almost unlimited capacity; Furthermore, different problems could be stored on different batches of cards and worked on as needed. Hollerith's tabulator became so successful that he started his own firm to market the device; this company eventually became International Business Machines (IBM).
First Electronic Computer
Professor John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry built the world's first electronic-digital computer at Iowa State University between 1939 and 1942. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer represented several innovations in computing, including a binary system of arithmetic, parallel processing, regenerative memory, a separation of memory and computing functions.
Mark I
By the late 1930s punched-card machine techniques had become so well established and reliable that Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer based on standard IBM electromechanical parts. Aiken's machine, called the Harverd Mark|, handled 23-decimal-place numbers (words) and could perform all four arithmetic operations; moreover, it had special built in programs, or subroutines, to handle logarithms and trigonometric functions. The Harvard mark I was the first of a series of computers designed and built under Aiken's direction.
ENIAC
ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrated and Calculator was an all-electronic computer. It was developed from military.John W. Mauchly and J.Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania invented ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer) that used a word of 10 decimal digital instead of binary ones like previous automated calculators/computers. The executable instructions composing a program were embodied in the separate units of ENIAC, which were plugged together to form a route through the machine for the flow of computations. These connections had to be redone for each different problem, together with presetting function tables and switches. This "wire-your-own" instruction technique was inconvenient.
EDVAC
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was great improvement upon ENIAC. As the operation of functionality ENIAC was limited because of wiring board. This problem was overcome by a new concept of stored program is that the data should be stored into computer memory for automatically directing the flow of directions. EDSAC Maurice V.Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge constructed the EDSAC: Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer. The design was based on that of Von Neumann. EDSAC was the world's first practical stored program electronic computer, although not the first stored program computer.
UNIVA I
The UNIVAC I (University Automatic Computer I) was the first commercial computer made in the United States, and the third commercial worldwide. It was designed principally by J.Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the first general-purpose electronic digital computer. The UNIVAC handled both numbers and alphabetic characters equally well. The UNIVAC I was unique in that it separated the complex problems of input and output form the actual; computation facility.
Conclusion
Summing up the point we can conclude that the computer we are familiar these days, were not introduction in their current shape. This the result of hard work done by many people. The early computer were handled manually. Now computer perform all the operation automatically.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Storage Devices and its types?

Storage Devices:
Storage devices are used to store data and programs permanently. These devices are used to store large volume of data. These devices are also called backing storage devices or secondary storage devices.
There are three types of secondary storage devices
  • Magnetic Tape
  • Magnetic Disk
  • Optical Disk
Magnetic Disks
Magnetic disk is the most widely used storage media. A magnetic disk is thin, circular metal plate coated with magnetic material. A disk should be formatted before it is used. Formatting process creates tracks and sectors on disk which is used to hold data.
There are following types of magnetic disk.
Floppy Disk
Floppy disk is also called diskette. It is a small removable disk. It consist of a thin plastic disk coated with magnetic material. This disk is enclosed in rigid plastic jacket. This is inexpensive storage media.
Hard disk
A hard disk contain several disk plates stacked on single rotating spindle. Data is stored on the all surface of platters. The hard disk can contain large amount of data. There are heads which reads and write data. It si more reliable than floppy disk.
Zip Disk
Zip Disk is more portable disk. It is like floppy disk but can stor more data than floppy disks. Its capacity is up to 100 MB.
Flash Drive/Pen Drive/Thumb Drive
Flash drive is more reliable than a floppy disk and can store data than the floppy disk. It has longer lifespan. There is no need to format it.
Optical Disk
Optical disks use laser technology to read and write data on disk. Laser beam write on by creating small pits in the disk.
There are different there of optical devices given below.
CD-Rom
CD-Rom stands for compact disk read only memory. The data stored on the CD-ROm can only be read. It can not be deleted or changed. This is protable device data can be transferred easily by using CD-Rom.
DVD
DVD stands for digital video disk. It is similar to CD-Rom but storage capacity is higher than CD-Rom.
WORM Disk
Worm stands for write once read many. On this type of disk datamay be stored in greater capacity. Once data written can not be changed or deleted.
Rewritable Disk
It is like CD-Rom but data written on this disk may be changed or deleted.
Magnetic Tape
Magnetic tape has been used as a storage devices for a number of years an it remain choice today for high speed and large volume data storage. Its data density is high. Magnetic tape is a plastic ribbon that is coated on one side with iron oxide.

Disadvantages of using Internet

In spite of advantages there are also some disadvantages of using internet, which are given below.
Hacking
Hacking is one of the most important disadvantages of the internet. The hackers access the data stored on the computers across the internet. They use this data illegally and even can destroy this data.
Security Problem
Internet has caused many security viruses. Viruses are spread using websites and emails. When a user opens such emails or visits such websites, the viruses are automatically copied on the computer and harm the computer.
Immorality
Internet contains a number of websites which contain immorality material. Such web sites are against the moral values and are destroying the characters of young people.
Wastage of time
Many people use internet without any positive activities, as many user use internet for chatting in this way they waste their time.
Cyber crimes
Internet is source of cyber crime. Many users use internet for negative purposes. Many people hack the credit cards of other and use them for shopping.

Advantages of using Internet

There are many advantages of using of internet. Some of them are given below.
Information Search
Information about all types of topics is stored on internet. So information about any topic may be searched by using search engines.
E-Mail
Through using internet we can send messages via email. It is inexpensive and fast way of communication. We can send text messages, pictures and files from one place to other place of the world.
E-Commerce
E-Commerce means carrying business using internet. Using this facility one person can deal with his customers on internet.
Online Result
Many colleges and universities provide the facility of online result using internet. Students can get their result from any part of the world.
Online Shopping
Using internet people can buy and sell goods. Even payment can be made on internet using credits card.
Fast Communication
Internet is a fast way of communication. People can communicate with one another in less time from any part of the world.
Job Search
Many people use internet to search jobs. They search different types of jobs all over the world. Many websites are developed to provide information about vacancies.
Entertainment
Internet provides the facility of entertainment. People can play games, listen songs and watch movies and matches.
Downloading
There is facility of downloading on internet people can download required material about any topic. There are thousands of websites about any topic through which user can get desired information.
Online Education
There is facility of online education. People can get education over internet. Many universities provide the facility of online degree. It is a fast and cheaper way of education.
Advertisement
Many organizations are using internet to advertise their products. They provide information about their product all over the world.
Video Conferencing
Internet provides the facility of video conferencing. Using this facility people can talk with one another using web cameras. They can share their ideas with each other as there sitting in the same room.
News
Many news agencies have their websites. Latest news are provided on these web sites.
Encyclopedia Publishers
Encyclopedias are available on internet. Using encyclopedias user can find detailed information about any topic in the world.
Medical
Many websites provide the detailed information about diseases. And even user can consult the panel of online doctors to get the advice about any medical problem.

Services provides by Internet

SERVICES OF INTERNET
There are many services provided by Internet.
  • Mail Service
  • Telnet FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
  • Client/Server Facility
  • World Wide Web
  • Email Discussion Group
  • News Group
  • E-Commerce
  • Chatting and instant messaging
Mail Service
The mail service reliable transmits and receives messages. Each message is sent from one computer to another on its way to a final destination. The mail service ensures that the message arrives at the correct address.
TELNET
The next service, called Telnet, allows establishing a terminal session with a remote computer. For example, you can use Telnet to connect to a host on the other side of the world. Once the connection is made, you can log in to that computer in a regular manner. Telnet also allows two programs to work cooperatively by exchanging data over the Internet.
FTP(File Transfer Protocol)
The third service is called FTP. FTP allows to transfer files from one computer to another. Most of the time, FTP is used to copy files from a remote host to the user computer. This process is called downloading. However, Files can also be transferred from the user’s computer to a remote host. This is called uploading.
Client/Server Facility
A client program can connect to another computer and ask for the help of a server program. For example, the Gopher system works in this way. The Gopher client displays a menu for the user. When the user makes a selection from the menu the client connects to the appropriate server, no matter where it is no the Internet, and process the service the user requested.
World Wide Web
World Wide Web also called web provides the facility to publish information on the internet. It is the collection of documents or web pages. These web pages are connected to one another with the help of hyperlinks. Any one can these pages using web browser.
Email Discussion Group
People can communicate over the internet using email facility. People exchange information such as news, entertainment business and science. A user sends message to newsgroup, other user in newsgroup read and reply to the message.
E-Commerce
E-Commerce stands for electronic commerce. It means doing business using internet. A person can deal with its customers throughout the world. People can buy and sell good on the internet and also can pay their bills.
Chatting and instant messaging
Chat programs allows users on the internet to communicate with one another by typing messages.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundred of channels. To access IRC one must use an IRC software program.

What is Microsoft Word?

MICROSOFT WORDS
Microsoft word is word processing program that provides us the facility for documentation. We can create and type letters, reports, newsletters, brochures, etc. In MS Word we can set toolbars and we will hide & show the toolbars . Toolbars is used to display shortcut buttons to make editing and formatting quicker and easier in Ms Word. Word provides an undo, which is used to remove the effect of last action. Action can be done again by using redo. The ruler is used for documentation. Header is to automatically display text at the top of each page. Footer is text that appears at the bottom of the each page. Word provides wizard for creating professional-looking Web pages. The use of styles in word allows to quickly formatting a document with a consistent and professional look. Paragraph and character styles can be designed, saved, changed& deleted. Bullets and the numbers are used to display a list of items with a symbol or number at the start of each line. It makes the text more readable and decorated. Word allows you to draw many different geometrical shapes, arrows, flow chart symbols stars, and banners on the documents. Word provides to store text permanently for using repeatedly in documents. Text is a collection of row and columns. You can easily display your data in tables. These tables can also be formatted. You can easily add rows and columns from a table without distributing your data. Word allows you to a particular word or pieces of text by using Find command. After you have found the word, it can be replaced by executing Replace command. Spelling and Grammar in Word help the user correct any mistakes made when typing the document. Your misspelled words are highlighted by the red underline and grammar errors by green underline. Word automatically corrects many commonly misspelled words and punctuation marks with the AutoCorrect. Word provides us AutoFormat that automatically changes text as you type. AutoFormat includes such formatting as numbered and bulleted lists, borders, capitalization, and common spelling errors. Word has an excellent feature for finding words with similar meanings. You can select any word from the list of suggested words. Word provides us Thesaurus this is used to find different words. A template is a preformatted document that serves as a model creating new documents. You can create professional looking letters, memos, reports, and others documents easily. Word provides the facility to set a password on the document. It stops unauthorized use of your documents and provides protection to your data. Word provide us the of Word Art this is used to give artistic shapes to text. Word allows dividing the page in the form of columns. You can us any number of column in your documents. Word provides printing facility. You can change the color, back ground color, size, and style of your text. You can apply formatting on characters, paragraphs, and whole pages. You can add your comments on your documents. These comments are used as a reference for the user.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

CLASSIFICATION OF DIGITAL COMPUTERS:

Computers are classified according to size speed and memory capacity. Computers are of different types:
  • Super Computers

  • Main frame Computers

  • Mini frame Computers

  • Micro/PC/Desktop

  • Laptop
Super Computers:
Super Computers are the largest, faster, and the most expensive computer system in the world. They are used to process complex scientific jobs. They are considered to be the resources (assets) of any nation. Super Computer are used to performed million of instructions at the same time. Very few companies in the world produce super computers. Cray research and ETA systems are two primary manufacturers of super computers in the United States. Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC are the companies in japan, which produce super computers.
Use of the Super Computers:
Super computers are widely used in meteorological where weather patterns are predicted by manipulating vast amount of data.
Mainframe Computers:
The Mainframe Computers are the large computers available in different models, capacities and prices etc.
Examples: IBM 370, DEC 1090 and NEC etc.
Characteristics of Mainframe Computer
The main characteristics are:
  • They are based on the principle of strong physical computing power. Many people can make use of the same machine at the same time.
  • They are sensitive to variations in temperature, humidity, dust etc., and are hence in a controlled environment, i.e., air conditioned rooms.
  • Qualified operators and programmers are required for their operations. They support
  • Wide range of peripherals.
  • They have a large storage capacity.
  • They can make a use of wide range of software
  • These systems generally support 500 to 2000 local and remote users
Mini Computers:
Mini Computers were introduced in the 1960s. They have less capacity to manipulate and store data, compared to mainframe computers. Examples: Digital Equipment Company (DEC) introduces first Mini frame computer called VAX.
Characteristics of Mini Computers
Some of the characteristic of minicomputers are:
  • They offer limited range of peripherals.
  • Limited software can be used.
  • There is facility for direct operation of the machine by the end user
  • Air conditioning is not necessary for minicomputers.
  • Computers are widely used for data processing and in industry.
  • These system generally support 10 to 200 users.
The Micro / Personal / Desktop Computers:
These computers are used now days commonly and these computers revolutionized the Computer industry because of their size and cost.
Some of the features are:
  • They are cheap and easy to use
  • They have limited input and output capacity
  • They have low storage capacity
  • The range of the software that can be used by one person at a time
  • A visual display screen or a printer is used to get the output
Uses of the Microcomputers:
Most of the companies produced microcomputers. They are used for various applications. They are also used by million of a persons for entertainment and personal applications.
Laptop Computers:
There are light and compact and are called portable because they work on batteries and can operate without external power source. Laptop, which weigh from four to eight pound, are often called notebook PCs because they are about the size of a one-inch think notebook. These computers are fits in briefcase and they do not have to plug in. Most laptops accept diskettes, so it is easy to move data form one computer to another. Normally these computers are expensive.

HYBRID COMPUTERS:

A computer that combines the characteristics of both analog and digital computer is known as hybrid Computer. Example of a hybrid computer system a cement plant where all calculations are made by digital computers and action such as increase in material, or decrease of fuel for temperature is performed by the help of analog computers.
Example 2:
In ICU ( Intensive Care Unit ) of hospital Hybrid Computers are used. Analog quality of these Computer controls the temperature of the room and Digital quality of these Computers informs to doctor about the blood pressure, temperature and physicalstatus of the patient.
Characteristics of Hybrid Computers:
  1. These Computers are reliable and provide accurate result.
  2. These Computers work fast and speedy.
  3. Both analog and digital qualities are present in these Computers.
  4. These Computers are helpful in Hospitals.

DIGITAL COMPUTERS:

Digital means discrete (single). With digital signals, every thing is described in two states either on or off. Computer is based on principles of counting. Infact, digital computers use digital signals, which can distinguish between just two values 0 and 1.
Characteristics of Didital Computers:
  1. Digital Computers have two staes on (1) and off (0).
  2. These Computers are very easy to use and operate.
  3. Human being likes to use Digital Computers.
  4. These Computers are reliable in result.
  5. These Computers have big memory.

These Conputers are further divided into different categories such as

Personal Computers, Mainframe Computers, Mini frame Computers, Laptop Computers, Super Computers etc.

ANALOG COMPUTER:

The computer that consist of mechanical parts, having needle-dial meters speedometers, quartz clocks or watches are called ANALOG COMPUTERS. Analog computers operate by measuring rather than counting. The output of those computers is normally in continuesform. Normally, these are used at weight machines, petrol pumps and in Industrial or plant accessories like boilers and oil filling sections.
Characteristics of Analog Computers:
  1. The speed of Analog Computer is fast.
  2. The result of these Computer is not reliable.
  3. These Computers became the bases for Digital Computers.
  4. These Computers are difficult to use and operate.
  5. THese Computers are asy-.tu..deelop.
  6. These Computers have small memory

Different Types of Programming Language

Programming languages are divided into following three distinct categories.
  1. Low Level Language
  2. High Level Language
  3. IDE ( Integrated Development Environment)
Low Level Language:
Programming language that normally translates from one source instruction to onne-object instructions.
These languages are machine dependent, The program or instructions written in these languages are in binary from and are very close to the machine language.
The main Low Level Language are:
Machine Language:
machine language is a language that a computer can understand.
OR
A low-level language that is directly understandable by the computer system. Each model of a computer has a unique machine language. It is the fundamental language of computer and is written in the form of binary strings 1's and 0's. The programs written to machine language are very fast in execution. there are no limitations of Machine language. All types of high level programming language are also developed of Machine language. It is difficult to learn programming language because to learn this language, detailed knowledge of Hardware is required. It is also a time consuming method of programming. If there is any error in a program written in this language, it is difficult to find out the error. This language is machine dependent. To write an application program in this language, a programmer has to write a program according to internal structure of computer.
Assembly Language:
A low level programming language in which mnemonics are used to code operations and alphanumeric symbols are used for addresses. This language lies between high level language and machine language. Assembly language is very close to the machine language and was developed in 1950. In this language symbols are used instead of binary numbers. This language is, therefor, also called the symbolic language.In this language mnemonic codes are used in place of 1s and 0s to written a program 9or instructions). A mnemonic code is an alphabetical abbreviation used to represent the machine code instructions. For example, to represent an addition operation, a programmer might use the mnemonic AD. Assembly is used to convert the program written in assembly language into machine code.
High Level Language:
A programming language whose structure is application oriented and is independent of the structure of the computer is called High Level Language.
OR
The programming language that is easy to understand for human being but difficult for machine due to frequent use of commonly used English Words is called High Level Language. Each statement of such a language is translated into many machine language statement. Sets of instructions are written in English words that are quite easy to understand which are then translated into machine language. The ease of high-level language provides many programmers a in past few years. A program written in High-Level Language an be executed on any computer, which has compiler is system software, which is used to translate program written in high level language into the machine executable form.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) (Language);
IDE is the latest kind of programming that has become most popular over the last few years. These language provides a visual environment of working in which user feels more pleasant to work and develop programs. The most significant aspect of these modern development facilities is that they provide a very large number of preprogrammed facilities to their programmers, which can simply be chosen by pointing and dragging certain pictures and icons on the screen that reduces the programming time. The IDEs infect provides a hybrid environment of the procedural and object oriented languages. Many user friendly and visual working facilities are grouped together in IDE.

What is Programming Language

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE:
A language used to express algorithms in computer understandable form. Programming language is the process of giving instructions to the computer so that the machine can execute the given task. It's the way of communicating with computers. Programming languages are used to prepare customize application / software for the people. Although a large variety of application software have, spread out rapidly which meet certain problems of the computer users. Quite often, a special program has to be developed that meets the specific needs of a company for which any other application software is not available.
Programming language are used to develop such specific application that meets the requirements of the company precisely. The procedure of developing a computer program by using a programming language is known as" Programmer". A programmer must follow the predefined rules and regulations of a particular language, which is called "Syntax" of the language.

Different kinds of Operating System

The most commonly used operating systems are:
MS-DOS ( Microsoft Operating System )
MS-WINDOWS Microsoft Windows ) (95, 98,2000, xp etc.)
UNIX and LINUX
WINDOWS NT ( New Technology ).
NOS ( Network Operating System ).
SUN SOLARIES
ZINIX / MINIX
OS/2
NET WARE
Mac. OS ( Macintosh Operating System ).
CLASSIFICATION OF OPERATING SYSTEM:
The operating system can be classified as:
  1. Single-user operating system,
  2. Multi-user operating system,
  3. Single-tasking operating system,
  4. Multi-tasking operating system,
Single-user Operating System:
Single-user operating system means only one user may log into the system at a time. These operating systems are used on individual computers. this kind of computer system is used only on personal computers. Some of the most widely used single-user operating system.
  • MS-DOS
  • OS/2
  • Macintosh system etc.
  • Windows 95 & 98
Multi-user Operating System:
Multi-user operating system means more than one can log into the computer at a time. These operating system are usually used on computers, which are lying over LAN in an office or company. Multi-user Operating System are used on large computers systems for commercial scientific and engineering data processing purposes.
Some of the multi-user operating systems are:
  • UNIX / XENIX
  • Novell
  • Windows NT
Single-tasking Operating System:
The opertaing system on which just a single task can be performed at a time is called single tasking operating system. These operating system are no longer popular now, For example,
  • MS-DOS
Multi-tasking Operating System:
The operating system which multi tasks (operation) can be performed at a time is called multi tasking operating system. These operating system have become extremely popular
due to high accessibility options. For example
  • UNIX
  • WINDOWS
    OS / 2 etc
GUI Operating System:
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. Windows is a GUI operating system because it provides a visual environment with Command Buttons, Icons, Menus and different color combination. Windows is easy to learn because its graphical interface is consistent from one application to another. People previous using DOS they now prefer to use latest version of UNIX and Windows, Which are GUI operating systems. However Gui systems usually have the disadvantage of requiring more hardware such as CPU, more memory ( RAM ), higher quality monitors etc.

Monday, October 20, 2008

What is Windows?

Windows
Windows is the Windows operating system for business desktop and laptop system. It is used to run software applications, connect to internet and intranet sites, and access files, printers, and network resources.
It is the built on Windows NT technology. It has easy-to-use interface. Windows xp gives business users increased flexibility. The integrated Web capabilities let you connect to the Internet from anywhere , at anytime, giving your company access to host of flexible, cost-effective communications options. It also supports broad peripheral and mobile computer support.
Features of Windows xp
1. Easier To Use
Working with files and folders is easier than ever. Windows xp, by default,saves all your a list of your recently used files for quick access later.
2. Easier To Manage
Windows xp Professional is easier to manage for you and your local network administrator. You can easily add and remove programs and sort the,m by how often you use them. On a Windows xp network some programs even automatically install and repair themselves.
3. Multi-Tasking
Windows xp Professional is a multi-tasking system. A single user can run multiple programs at the same time. For example, you can play a song while working is MS Word.
4. Multi-User
This means hundreds of people can use the computer at the same time, either over a network, the Internet, or on laptops/computer or terminals connected to the serial ports of those computers.
5. Multiple Processor Support
Windows xp supports multiple processors. Many companies have hardware that is in danger of becoming obsolete. The capability of adding processors means that these companies will be able to continue using the existing hardware thereby safeguarding their investement.
6. Latest Hardware Support
Windows xp includes the latest drivers to support the lastest advancements in computer hardware technology. Windows xp now includes hardware support for
  • USB Ports
  • Webtv
  • Laptop
7. More Reliable
Windows xp also keeps track of files and components your programs need to run. If a file is missing or damaged, Windows will search for and reinstall the files automatically.
8. More secure
Windows xp Professional can restrict access to your programs, files, and folder, and other resources on the network. It can also filter content.
9. Performance
Running the most popular business applications, with 64 MB of RAM, Windows xp was 32 percent faster than Windows 95 and 27 percent faster than Windows 98. It is also significantly faster than Windows NT.
10. Internet Integration
Windows xp comes with Internet Explorer in integrated with Windows xp in the Active Desktop. Which means you can view the contents of your computer like a Web Page
11. Windows Update Via The Internet
If you are connected to the Internet, you can use the Windows Update Wizard to download and install the latest updates for Windows and your Software.
12. Fewer Buds
Microsoft has fixed over1,800 bugs in Windows xp. That makes Windows xp more reliable ans less prone to crashes than Windows 98.
13. Personalized Menus
Using Windows xp you can personalize menus. Start menu shows your work by showing the applications, you use most often.
14. More Wizards
Many Wizards are available for different tasks. For example, the Add Printer Wizard makes it easy to connect to local and network printers even when you're browsing the Web.
15. Plug and Play
Lets you automatically install new hardware with only minimal configuration. More yhan 6,500 devices now support this funtionality.
16. Search bar
Helps you quickly search for different types of information, such as web pages people's addresses. And choose which search engine you want to use all from one location.
17.History bar
It not only tracks web sites, but aloso intranet sites, netwoek servers, and local folders.
18. Internet Connection Sharing
Connects your network or small office network to the Internet; using a dial-up or broadband connection.
19. Backup And Recovery
Backup and recovery features mak it easierto backup data and then recover data in the event of a hard disk failure. Windows xp allows back up to a single file on a hard disk.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

What is Intermet & terminologies of internet.

Internet
Internet is collection million of computers around the world that are all connected to one another. it is global network of computer.
Basic Terminologies of internet
Website
The entire collection of web pages and other information (such as images, sound, and video files, etc.) that are made available through what appears to users as a single web server.
Home Page
The web for which a browser is set to use when it starts up. Most websites have a staring point called a home page .
Hyper Link
Any text that contain links to other websites. When it is clicked take the user automatically to other pages of the same web site or even different websites.
Anchor
An anchor is link to different parts of the same webpage.
Image Map
If different parts of the same images are linked with different web pages, it is called image map.
Frame
Frame are used to divide a web page into different parts.
Tables
Tables is collection of rows and columns.Data in a web page can be displayed in tables.
HTTP
Http stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. It is the protocol that is used for moving hypertext files across the internet.
HTML
Html (Hypertext Markup Language) the basic coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web.
Web Page
A document designed for viewing in a web page. Typically written in HTML. A web site is made of one or more web pages.
Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The parts on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general.
URL
URL stands for Uniform Resources Locator. The URL is the web address for any given web document. Each URL has several parts, which can be displayed using the address
ISP( Internet Service Provider)
An institution that provides access to the Internet in some form, usually for money is Known as ISP.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Difference between Procedural & Non-Procedursl Language?

Procedural Language /3GL

1. Direction

Procedural language directs the computer what to and how to do.
2. Learning

It is difficult to learn.
3. Debugging

It is difficult to debug.
4. Requirement

It requires large number of procedural instruction .
5. Uses

It is normally used by professional programmers.
6. Orientation

It is typically file-oriented.
7. Capabilities

Procedural language provides many programming capabilities.




Non-Procedural Language / 4GL


1. Direction

Non-Procedural language directs the computer what to do not and how to do.
2. Learning

It is easy to learn.
3. Debugging

It is easy to debug.
4. Requirement

It requires a few non-procedural instructions.
5. Uses

It can be used professional and non-technical users.
6. Orientation

It is typically database-oriented.
7. Capabilities

Non-procedural language provides less programming capabilities.

Difference between Low-Level & High-Level Language

High-level Language
1. Learning

High-level languages are easy to learn.

2 Understanding


High0level languages are near to human languages.
3. Execution

Programs in high-level languages are slow in execution.
4. Modification

Programs in high-level languages are easy to modify.
5. Facility at hardware level

High-level languages do not provide much facility at hardware level.
6. Knowledge of hardware Deep

Knowledge of hardware is not required to write programs.
7. Uses

These languages are normally used to write application programs.



Low-level languages
1. Learning

Low-level languages are difficult to learn.
2 Understanding

Low-level languages are far from human languages.
3. Execution

Programs in low-level languages are fast in execution.
4. Modification

Programs in low-level languages are difficult to modify.
5. Facility at hardware level

Low-level languages provide facility to write programs at hardware level.
6. Knowledge of hardware Deep

Deep knowledge of hardware is required to write programs.
7. Uses

These languages are normally used to write hardware programs.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

What is Word Processing?

The process of creating documents before they are printed is called word processing. It includes creating and modifying text, graphics and picture etc. The process of creating and printing documents using personal computes is called desktop publishing. Typewriter was used for creating documents before computer. Only simple text could be written using typewrite. Picture and graphics were printed using the facilities of professional printers. Desktop publishing has made the process of printing documents very simple and easy. Personal computers are used to create documents. These documents can be printed using different types of printers. It takes less time and effort to publish documents.
Different programs are available to create high-quality documents. The user can create simple documents as well as complex and colorful pictures, graphics and charts.

What are functions of Operating system?

FUNCTIONS OF OPERATING SYSTEM:
Operating system is a set of programs having following features:
1. It provides an interface or link bridge between a user and a computer.
2. It manages and looks after the computer hardware resources and their operations.
3. If operating system is not loaded on to we can not communicate with computer because there is no platform to communicate with computer.
4. Computer only understands low language operating system translates the user given instructions into computer language and convert computer given results in human readable form.
5. It provides CPU mangement also called process management.
6. It provides memory management.
7. It enable a computer to boot.
8. It provides disk or storage management.
9. It provides data manipulation.
10. It also provides networking facilities.

What is Opreating System?

OPERATING SYSTEM SOFT WARE:
An operating system is a special kind of software that behaves as an interface between user and computer. The software that enables communication between user and computer and controls all the internal functions of the computer is called Operating System.
OR
An integrated set of computer programs that is used to manage the various resources and overall operations of computer system.
OR
A computer is digital electronic device. Hence to perform various operations and commands there is a need to have an organized set of instructions that may control the overall operations of the computer, and can translate the user given commands into machine understandable form. the kind of software that provides a link, between user and computer is known as Operating System.
OR
As soon as,BIOS finishes its task of Booting, it automatically switches control to another special piece of software, which is usually placed on the the computer's hard disk, floppy disk or CD. This most essential piece of software is called Operating System.

What is Basic Architecture of Computer?

Basic Architecture of Computer System
The Basic architecture of computer differs from computer to computer but the basic organization remains the same for all computers.
There are basic part of computer which are given below.
Mother board:
The main circuit board on which main memory, external cards and CPU are mounted is called the motherboard.
Central Processing Unit (CPU):
Microprocessor of computer also called CPU. It is the brain of computer. Each CPU has a set of pins through which it communicate which it communicate with all other devices. CPU consist of tow units given below.
ALU (Arithmetic and Logic Unit)
Cu (Control Unit)

ALU (Arithmetic and logic Unit)
This is the part of the CPU where all processing on data is performed. All the arithmetic operation like addition, subtraction, division and multiplication and logical operation such as greater then, less then and equality are performed in this part of the CPU.
Control Unit (CU)
The control unit control the operation of the entire system. This unit does not process data. The program instruction are selected and fed into CPU from the storage area. And from there the signals are sent to other components to execute the task.
Memory
A component in the computer used for storing data is called memory.
There are two main types of memory
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Read Only Memory(ROM)

Random Access Memory (RAM)
RAM is called the main memory of computer. It is also known as direct access memory, which means the every bit in memory is directly accessible. RAM is temporary memory. When the power is switched off all the data in ram is lost. So RAM is called volatile memory. RAM is circuitry board with no moving parts.
Types of RAM
There are two types of RAM
Static Ram
Dynamic Ram

Static RAM (SRAM)
Static Ram require more space and power the DRAM. But it is much faster then the DRAM, as it does not require to be refreshed again and again.
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
Dram is least expensive but it is very slow because it requires to be refreshed again and again.
WORKING OF RAM
All the program and data must be transferred to Ram from any device such as input or storage devices before it can be execute.
READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM)
The data stored in ROM is permanent. Once content stored in ROM can not be changed it can only be read by the users. If the power is switched off the data is not lost that is why it is know as nonvolatile memory. Mostly the information in ROM is stored by the manufacturers.
TYPES OF ROM
PROM
EPROM
EEPROM

PROM
PROM stands for programmable read only memory. In this type of ROM user can write instruction but only once. If there is any error that can not be removed.

EPROM
EPROM stands for erasable programmable read only memory. User can erase instruction stored on EPROM and write new programs.
EEPROM
EEPROM stands for Electronically Erasable programmable read only memory. In his type of ROM user can erase and write program using electrical pulses.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

What is Microsoft Excel?

Excel is used for calculation in tabular form. The main window is called worksheet in Excel. It is divided into a row and columns. The intresection of a row and colunm is called cell.Cells contain the data ,text,and formulas used in calculation. Row are labeled by numbers(1,2,3.....)and colunms are labeled with leters (A,B,C..,AA,AB,AC...).Cells are then labeled with both the colunm, letters and row number in that order. A cell is selection (highlighted) by clicking the cursor on it. a cell which is selected at a given time cell is called the active cell.there are some essential features of Ms Excel.Many Toolbars displaying shortcut buttons are available to make editing and formatting quicker and easier in MS Excel.Excel provides an Undo feature , which is used to remove the effect of last action. Action can be done again by using Redo.Header feature is used to automatically display text at the top of each page. Footer is text that appeares at the bottom of each page. Autofill is the Excel feature that allows you to automatically fill cell with a series of numbers, datas ect. the use of Styles in Excel allows to quickly format a document with a consistent and professional look.Paragraph and character styles can be designed , saved, changed & deleted. Excel allows you to find a particular value or piece of text by using Find command. After you have found the word, it can be replaced by executing Replace commanf. Spelling and Grammar feature in Excel help th euser correct any mistakes made when typing in a sheet. Your misspelled words are highlighted. Spelling errors are highlighted bby red underline and gremmar errors by green underline.AutoFormat is a feature that automaticcally changes text as you type. A Template is a performatted document that serves as a madel for other documents. AutoShape toolbar alows you to draw many different geometrical shapes, arrows, chart symbols, stars, and banners on the worksheet. Excel allows you to keep track of cell addresses and to easily enter formula for performing calculations.Microsoft Excel has many built-in-functions. The function name tells Excel what calculation you want to perform. You can apply lengthy calculations on worksheet easily by using these functions. Sorting is the process of arranging your data in a particular order. You can sort the data in your worksheets in ascending or descending order. Charts are representation of your data. Excel provides different types of charts. These charts can be formatted , resized or moved. You can display the required data ina worksheet by using this feature.