MODULE 1: Lesson 1 Flashcards
What are the two major components of a computer?
Hardware and software
- Hardware refers to the physical or tangible components of a computer system, such as the monitor, keyboard, and motherboard.
- Software is a program that a computer uses to function which
is kept in a hardware device like a hard disk and is
intangible.
Two types of memory
Main memory and secondary memory.
Comparison between main and secondary memory
Main memory - fast in speed, expensive in price, low in capacity, and is volatile.
Secondary memory - slow in speed, cheap in price, high in capacity, and is not volatile.
What is Input/output devices?
The I/O devices allow computer systems to interact with the outside world by moving data into and out
of the system.
These are the instructions for the processor.
Programs
Types of computer programs:
• System programs
• Application programs
• Compilers
This is a standardized communication technique for expressing instructions to a computer. Like human languages, each language has its syntax and grammar. These instructions are translated into machine language that can be understood by
computers.
Programming language
Two categories of programming language:
- High-Level Languages
⚬ User-friendly
⚬ Platform-independent
⚬ Abstract from low-level details - Low-Level Languages
⚬ Closer to machine code
⚬ Platform-dependent
⚬ Efficient but harder to program
In late middle ages, The first device known to carry out calculations was the _____. It was invented in Asia but was used in ancient Babylon, China, and throughout Europe until the late middle ages. The abacus uses a system of sliding beads on a rack for addition and subtraction.
Abacus
Pascaline was a calculating device invented in 1642 by ______, a French philosopher and a mathematician. It had eight movable dials on wheels that could calculate sums up to eight figures long. It can only perform addition and subtraction operations like abacus
Blaise Pascal
Gottfried von Leibniz invented a device that was able to add, subtract, multiple, and divide in the ______.
17th Century
(Back in the _______), Charles Babbages, an English mathematician and physical scientist, designed two calculating machines the difference engine and analytical engine. The difference engine could automatically perform complex operations, such as squaring numbers. The first complete difference engine was completed in 2008 and is on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Californina. Most of Babbage’s work is known through the writings of his colleague, Ada Augusta, Countess of Lovelace. Augusta us considered to be the first computer programmer.
Early and mid 1800s
At the end of the _____ , US Census officials needed help in accurately tabulating the census data. Herman Hollerith invented a calculating machine that ran on electricity and used punched cards to store data. Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which later became known as IBM.
19th Century
In the year “1944” The first computer-like machine was the _____ . It was built by IBM and Harvard University under the leadership of Howard Aiken. Punched cards were used to feed data into the machine. Mark I was 52 feet long, weighed 50 tons, and had 750, 000 parts.
Mark I
In 1946 the __ (__ __ __ __ ___) was built at the University of Pennsylvania. It contained 18, 000 vacuum tubes and weighed some 30 tons
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
The computers that we know today use the design rules given by John von Neumann in ______ . His design included components such as arithmetic logic unit, control unit, memory, and input/output devices. Neumann’s design makes it possible to store the programming instruction and the data in the same memory space.
late 1940s
The ___ ( __ ___ ___ ) was built in 1951 and sold to the US Census Bureau.
UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer)
Invention of smaller, faster, more reliable, and more energy- efficient computer transistors. This era also saw the emergence of the software development industry with the introduction of FORTRAN and COBOL, two early programming languages. Later on, transistors were replaced by tiny integrated circuits or chips that are smaller and cheaper than transistors and can contain thousands of circuits on a single chip. They give computers tremendous processing speed.
1956
In ___ , Microprocessors was invented. It is an entire CPU on a single chip.
1970
____ and ____ designed and built the first Apple computer in the garage in the year 1977.
Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs
IBM introduced its personal computer (PC)
1981
Clones of the IBM PC made the personal computer even more affordable.
1980s
In ___ until today, People from many walks of life were able to afford computers. As of today, modern-day computers are very powerful, reliable and easy to use. It also has advanced features.
Mid 1990s
The program development life cycle
Step 1: problem definition.
• A problem definition is a clearly
defined problem that is already
half the solution.
Step 2: problem analysis.
• Break down the problem into
smaller parts
• identify the input (data you
start with) and output (the
desired result).
Step 3: Algorith design and Representation.
• Create a step-by-step plan to
solve the problem.
• Algorithms can be written in
plain language, as a picture
(flowchart), or in a code-like
way (pseudocode).
STEP 4: Coding and Debugging.
After constructing the algorithm,
it is now possible to create the
source code. Using the algorithm
as a basis, the source code can
now be written using the chosen
programming languag
Two ways of expressing our solution:
EXPRESSING OUR SOLUTION
THROUGH HUMAN LANGUAGE:
- Get the list of names, let’s call this
nameList - Get the name to look for, let’s call this the
keyname - Compare the keyname to each of the
names in nameList - If the keyname is the same as a name in
the list, add 1 to the count - If all the names have been compared,
output the result.
EXPRESSING OUR SOLUTION
THROUGH A PSEUDOCODE:
- Get nameList.
- Get keyname.
- Set count=0.
- Compare keyname to nameList.
- If keyname = name in nameList, then
count + 1 6. Else, display count.
a schematic representation of a sequence of operations, as in a manufacturing process or computer program. a graphical representation of the sequence of operations in an information system or program.
Flowchart
TYPES OF ERRORS
- COMPILE-TIME ERROR OR SYNTAX ERRORS.
A syntax error occurs if
there is a syntax error in
the code. - RUNTIME ERRORS.
Compilers are not perfect,
and so they cannot catch all
errors at compile time. This
is especially true for logic
errors, such as infinite loops.
This type of error is called
runtime error.
