Hardware and Software

Concept of Hardware and Software

In this section we shall distinguish between hardware and software used in a Computer. There are different types of software and there are several generations.
Hardware
The electronic circuits and mechanical components of a Computer such as hard disk, printers, central processing unit, keyboard, mouse, motherboard and other peripheral devices, which ere tangible in nature, or which can be felt, touched are known as hardware.
Software
Programs namely the list of instructions to be executed by Computer is known as the software of the Computer. There are different: types of software depending on the requirement of user or Computers. Software fails into two general categories: a) System Software b) Application Software Application software
Refers to the programs, which allow the Computer to carry out specific tasks related to the users such as payroll processing, inventory control, or word processing. Application software may be supplied by the Computer manufacture or software vendors, or may be written by programmers.
System software
Controls and coordinates Computer operations, and unifies all of the Computer components into a functional and smooth running system. System software also provides the Computer users with a means of gaining access to the system and its resources. The task of translating instructions into machine code is done by a special set of software called the Compiler. Operating system prepares the computer for use and also controls the different devices attached to the computer. Operating system & Compilers are the example of system software.
Concept of Computing, Data and Information
Data:
Data is a collection of facts, such as values or measurements. It can be numbers, words, measurements, observations or even just descriptions of things in simple words data is a raw fact example. Representing Data in the Computer:
Basic component of Computer like CPU, RAM etc are transistors. These are made of a number of Integrated circuits (ICs), which contain transistors. These transistors set like a two-way switch which can be either on or off. These transistors have just two operating states; either on or off. When a transistor is switched on, it is said to represent the value 1. Conversely, when the transistor is switched off, it is said to represent the value 0. The values 0 and 1 are the only two digits with which Computer works.
Thus all data to be stored and processed in Computers are transformed or represented as sequence of two symbols, one symbol to represent each state. The digits 0 and 1 are represented inside the computer as electrical voltages. The electrical voltages have just two states, or levels, referred to as high and low. Usually the Low voltage represents a value of 0, while the high voltage represents a value of 1.