Introduction to Computer
Nowadays, computers have become an integral part of our lives. Ever since its invention, the power of computer has been growing rapidly. Strangely enough, the cost of hardware has been declining by the year. Many application software packages are now available that make computers highly productive, versatile and easy to use.
What is Computer ?
The word "computer" comes from the word compute which means to calculate. It is calculating device that can perform arithmetic operations at an enormous speed and operates upon data.
A computer is an electronic device that can perform a variety of operations according to a given set of instructions called a program. It then displays or prints the result.
C :- Common
O :- Machine
P :- Purposely
U :- Used for
T :- Technological
and
E :- Educational
R :- Research
Now before proceeding to further there are few terms that need to be understand :-
Data :- Raw facts or figure that need to be processed.
Information :- Meaningful data which is processes, organized and presented in an understandable form.
Instruction :- Command that tells computer what to do.
Processing :- Sequence of action take on data to convert it into information.
Hardware :- The physical components of computer.
Program :- The instructions that tell the computer what to do, either in sequential or non-sequential manner.
Software :- A sequence of instruction given to computer to perform a particular task.
Evolution of computer
A computer is a machine which works on the data and information, given in the form of numbers. Computer was preceded by number of devices, which have been developed for making computations faster and reliable, and those developments are :
Earlier, caveman used to count with their fingers and toes, and it was considered as the first counting tools.
