Introduction and Evolution of Computer

Computer Introduction

The term 'computer' was derived from the Greek word 'computare' which means to compute or calculate. A computer is an electronic device that can perform a variety of tasks in accordance with a set of instruction called program. The computer inputs the command or signals from the input devices such as mouse and keyboard and processes some internal functions to calculate the result and finally shows the output result to the output devices such as monitor and printer.

The major characteristics of the computer are as follows:

a)  Electronic

b)  Speed

c)  Storage

d)  Accuracy

e)  Versatility

f)    Diligence

g)  Automation

h)  Non-intelligence

i)    Word length

Computer Introduction

A) Hardware: Computer hardware is the collection of physical components that make up a computer. Examples of computer hardware are input devices like keyboard and mouse, output devices like printer and monitor, storage devices like disk drive and the computer itself. B)  Software: Software refers to parts of computer which do not have a material form, such as programs, data, protocols, etc. software refers to something intangible. Basically, software is a program, written by a programmer which controls specific parts of computer or specific application. C) Firmware: A set of micro instructions stored in a chip is called firmware. Micro instructions are hardware level instructions which are directly executed by the hardware. It is added at the time of manufacturing. It is used to run user programs on the device