In the BSc Computer Science first-year Module 1, "Computer Fundamentals and HTML," students are introduced to the foundational concepts of computing and web development. This module covers the basic principles of computer systems, including hardware components, software, and operating systems. Stud...
Computer Hardware:
The term hardware refers to mechanical device that makes up computer. Computer Hardware is any part of the
computer that we can touch these parts. Computer hardware consists of interconnected electronic devices that we
can use to control computer’s operation, input and output. Examples of hardware are CPU, keyboard, mouse, hard
disk, etc.
Computer Software:
Software is a collection of instructions, procedures, documentation that performs different tasks on a computer
system. We can say also Computer Software is a programming code executed on a computer processor. The code
can be machine-level code or the code written for an operating system. Examples of software are Ms Word, Excel,
Power Point, Google Chrome, Photoshop, MySQL etc.
System software
Application software
System software Application software
1) System Software
System software operates directly on hardware devices of computer. It provides a platform to run an application. It
provides and supports user functionality. Examples of system software include operating systems such as Windows,
Linux, UNIX, etc.
2) Application Software
An application software is designed for benefit of users to perform one or more tasks. Examples of application
software include Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Oracle, etc.
, Computer Languages
The user of a computer must be able to communicate with it. That means, he must be able to give the computer
commands and understand the output that the computer generates. This is possible due to the invention of computer
languages.
1] Low Level Languages
The main function of low level languages is to interact with the hardware of the computer. They help in operating,
syncing and managing all the hardware and system components of the computer.
Machine Language: This is one of the most basic low level languages. The language was first developed to interact
with the first generation computers. It is written in binary code or machine code, which means it basically comprises
of only two digits – 1 and 0.
Assembly Language: This is the second generation programming language. It is a development on the machine
language, where instead of using only numbers, we use English words, names, and symbols. It is the most basic
computer language necessary for any processor.
2] High Level Language
The important feature about such high level languages is that they allow the programmer to write programs for all
types of computers and systems. Every instruction in high level language is converted to machine language for the
computer to comprehend.
Scripting Languages: Scripting languages, as the name suggests, is a programming language that supports scripts.
A scripting language binds a set of software components that collaborate to solve a particular problem. Scripting
assumes the existence of powerful components and provides the means to connect them together. These languages
employ a high level construct which allows it to interpret and execute one command at a time. Some examples are
AppleScript, JavaScript, and Pearl etc.
, Object-Oriented Languages: The reasoning behind is that the programmers really cares about the object they wish
to manipulate rather than the logic needed to manipulate them. Some examples include Java, C+, C++, Python, and
Swift etc.
Procedural Programming Language: This is a type of programming language that has well-structured steps and
complex procedures within its programming to compose a complete program. It has a systematic order functions
and commands to complete a task or a program. FORTRAN, ALGOL, BASIC, COBOL are some examples.
Language Translators
A translator is a programming language processor that converts a computer program from one language to
another. It takes a program written in source code and converts it into machine code. It discovers and identifies the
error during translation. There are 3 different types of translators as follows:
1) Compiler
A compiler is a translator used to convert high-level programming language to low-level programming language. It
converts the whole program in one session and reports errors detected after the conversion. Compiler takes time to
do its work as it translates high-level code to lower-level code all at once and then saves it to memory. A compiler
is processor-dependent and platform-dependent. But it has been addressed by a special compiler, a cross-compiler
and a source-to-source compiler. Ex: Microsoft Visual Studio, GCC, COBOL
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