Computer And Their Business Applications Flashcards
Computer
Machine that accepts data as input & processes info w/o human intervention by using store instructions
Stored instructions
A computer program
CPU
Central processing unit. Heart of the comp, divided into the ALU & control unit
ALU
Arithmetic logic unit. Performs arithmetic operations & comparison or relation operations (last two mean comparing numbers)
Control unit
Tells the computer what to do, like which device to read or send output to
Bus
Link between devices connected to comp, it can be parallel or serial, internal or external (internal: video card, memory; external: USB device)
Disk drive
Peripheral device for recording, storing, and retrieving info
CPU case
The tower, holds everything
Motherboard
Main circuit board. Contains the CPU & ports for ram, expansion slots, etc etc
Input devices
Send data and info to the comp. ex. Keyboard & mouse
Output devices
Capable of retrieving info from comp. the form might be visual, audio, or digital. Ex printers, display monitors
Main memory
Stores data and info and is volatile. Contents lost while electrical power is turned off
Secondary memory
Non volatile. Holds data with comp is off or during the course of a program’s operation.
RAM
Random access memory. Volatile memory, data can be read from and written to, also called read-write memory
Cache RAM
Stores recently accessed memory so processor is not waiting for the memory transfer. Resides on processor
ROM
Read only memory. Is non volatile, data cannot be written to ROM
Magnetic disk
Made of Mylar or metal. Used for random access processing, data can be accessed in any order
Magnetic tape
Made of plastic material and stores data sequentially
RAID
Redundant array of independent disks. Collection of disk drives used for fault tolerance and improved performance & found in large network systems
Cloud storage
Used for online storage & backup. Involves multiple virtual servers that are hosted by third partied. Customers buy or lease this storage space
SAN
Storage area network. Dedicated high speed network consisting of both hardware & software used to connect & manage shared storage devices
NAS
Network attached storage. Network-connected computer dedicated to providing file based data storage service to other network devices
Server
Is a computer and all the software for managing network resources and offering services to a network.
OS
Operating system. Set of programs for controlling & managing computer hardware and software
Application software
Can be commercial software or developed in house, used to perform a variety of tasks on personal computers
Machine language
First gen of computer languages, consists of a series of 0’s and 1’s representing data or instructions
Assembly language
Second generation of computer languages. Uses a series of short codes or mnenmonics to represent data or instructions
High-level languages
Machine dependent and part of 3rd gen of computer languages. Many languages available and each designed for a specific purpose.
Fourth-generation languages (4gls)
Uses macro codes that can take the place of several lines of programming
Fifth generation languages (5gls)
Use some AI and visual and graphical approach to programming Designed to facilitate natural conversations between you and computer.
Object oriented programming (OOP)
A language organized around a system of objects that represent the real world
Object
An item that contains both data and the procedures that read and manipulate it
Class
Defines the format of the object and the action that it performs
Power of computers
Speed, accuracy, storage & retrieval
Computer speed is measured by…
Millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond and pico second
Data is stored in bits. 1 bit = 0 or 1. Bytes?
8 bits = 1 byte= size of character “a”
ASCII
American standard code for information exchange. Data close for text files, pc apps and internet, defines up to 128 characters
