Computer System

Topics covered: computer system, what is computer system, introduction to computer system, elements of computer system

 Computer System 

Computer system is a complete working and full functional computer. It is the combination of interconnected devices that share central storage and various peripherals as a whole. A computer system allows users to input, manipulate and store data. Computer systems typically include computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, user, software and other optional components. It is very flexible, as it can process any task by loading a program any task by loading a program from storage. Computer systems can work by themselves or access other devices that are external or connected with other computer systems. A computer system can be defined as :

The integration of computer hardware, software, liveware and required data which work together to perform specific task collectively is know a computer system.

Elements of Computer System

A computer is a multipurpose electronic device that can receive store, process data and deliver information . A computer takes data such as numbers, text, images, etc. as input and then process those data and convert them to useful information. Additionally, a computer can also store data and information both for future use. Also a computer can do scheduled tasks. Computers are programmed devices. Computer programmers write programs or software for computer which actually takes input, process it and outputs information perform these mentioned tasks, computer system includes the following common elements.

Hardware

The physical parts of a computer are known as computer hardware. The hardware consists of electronic circuits and all the devices used to perform various functions in the computer system. Hardware are such parts of computer that we can see, touch, and feel. Some examples of hardware are keyboard, mouse, monitor, system unit and its components, printer, scanner, microphone, web camera, joystick, etc.

Software

Software is the major element of computer system that is used to operate the computer. It enables the computer to do work. It is not possible to operate the computer without software. It instructs all the physical parts of computer system what task it should perform and how. Unlike hardware, computer software cannot be seen, fell or touched. So, software is the collection of programs which make computer system work.

Data

Data are the unarranged or unprocessed raw facts and figures which may give or may not give much sense or meaning to the user. Data are represented by sign, symbol, number or alphabets. We get meaningful information only after processing data. Data can be processed manually or electronically. The electronic data processing is done using the electronic devices like computer.

User

Persons who operate the computer are known as users. Generally, people used to say that computer has done this and that but actually this is not the computer has done itself but this has done  by the user. User is the main handler of the computer system. The computer system is incomplete without involvement of any user. 

Basic Computer Processing system

A computer is known as an information processing machine. It takes raw data from input devices. After it takes data ,it processes the data according to the given instruction using processing unit. Finally ,the result is displayed to the user and stored in secondary storage devices. Computers can process data, pictures, sound and graphics. They can solve highly complicated problems quickly and accurately. Input, processing and output is the basic computer operations. Thus computers processes or computes any operation through IPOS Cycle. 

IPOS Cycle

IPOS means Input, process, output and storage, which is the first thing we all should keep in mind while writing any program. First we have to take input from the user and then we follow processing, Processing means on which concept or logic of program is based, like for adding two numbers, 2+4 will be processing and we get a output 6. Finally, we store or save result through storage device. The whole system of data processing during the operation is known as IPOS cycle. The computer thought IPOS cycle performs the following operations. 

Input

This is the process of entering data and programs in to the computer system . We should know that computer is an electronic machine like any other machine which takes as inputs raw data and performs some processing giving out processed data. Therefore, the input unit takes data from us to the computer is an organized manner for processing.

Process

The task of performing operations like arithmetic and logical operations is called processing. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) takes data and instructions from the storage unit and makes all sorts of calculations based on the instructions given and the type of data provided. It is then sent back to the storage unit.

Output

This is the process of producing results  from the data for getting useful information. Similarly the output produced by the computer after processing must also be kept somewhere inside the computer before being given in human readable form. Again the output is also stored inside the computer for further processing .

Storage

The process of saving data and instructions permanently is known as storage. Data has to be fed into the system before the actual processing starts. It is because the processing speed of Central Processing Unit (CPU) is so fast that the data has to be provided to CPU with the same speed. Therefore the data is first stored in the storage unit for faster access and processing. This storage unit or the primary storage of the computer system is designed to do the above functionality. It provides space for storing data and instructions.