Computer Applications

Unit-I

Computer: A computer is an electronic data processing device, which accepts and stores
data input, processes the data input, and generates the output in a required format.

Functionalities of a Computer
Digital computer carries out the following five functions −
- Takes data as input.
- Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses them as required.
- Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
- Generates the output.
- Controls all the above four steps

Input Process Output

Characteristics of Computers
Following are certain advantages of computers.
High Speed
 Computer is a very fast device.
 It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.
 The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the
picosecond.
 It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who will
spend many months to perform the same task.
Accuracy
 In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.
 The calculations are 100% error free.
 Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that the input is correct.
Storage Capability
 Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.
 A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
 It can store large amount of data.
 It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.
Diligence
 Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of
concentration.
 It can work continuously without any error and boredom.
 It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy.
Versatility
 A computer is a very versatile machine.
 A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
 This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.
 At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very next
moment it may be playing a card game.
Reliability
 A computer is a reliable machine.
 Modern electronic components have long lives.
 Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.
Automation
 Computer is an automatic machine.
 Automation is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once the computer
receives a program i.e., the program is stored in the computer memory, then the
program and instruction can control the program execution without human
interaction.
Reduction in Paper Work and Cost
 The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to reduction in
paper work and results in speeding up the process.
 As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the problem of
maintenance of large number of paper files gets reduced.

Applications of Computer

Business: Computer is used in business organizations for:

 Payroll calculations
 Budgeting
 Sales analysis
 Financial forecasting
 Managing employee database
 Maintenance of stocks, etc.

Banking: Today, banking is almost totally dependent on computers.

Banks provide the following facilities:

 Online accounting facility, which includes checking current balance, making deposits
and overdrafts, checking interest charges, shares, and trustee records.
 ATM machines which are completely automated are making it even easier for
customers to deal with banks.

Insurance: Insurance companies are keeping all records upto-date with the help of
computers. Insurance companies, finance houses, and stock broking firms are widely using
computers for their concerns.
Insurance companies are maintaining a database of all clients with information showing:

 Procedure to continue with policies

 Starting date of the policies
 Next due instalment of a policy
 Maturity date
 Interests due
 Survival benefits
 Bonus

Education:

The computer helps in providing a lot of facilities in the education system.

The computer provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer Based
Education).  CBE involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning.

Marketing:

In marketing, uses of the computer are following:

Advertising - With computers, advertising professionals create art and graphics, write and
revise copy, and print and disseminate ads with the goal of selling more products.

Home Shopping - Home shopping has been made possible through the use of computerized
catalogues that provide access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to
be filled by the customers.

Healthcare:

Computers have become an important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. They are
being used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is also used in
scanning and diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, ultrasounds and CT scans, etc. are
also done by computerized machines.

Following are some major fields of health care in which computers are used.

Diagnostic System - Computers are used to collect data and identify the cause of illness.

Lab-diagnostic System - All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by computer.

Patient Monitoring System - These are used to check the patient's signs for abnormality
such as in Cardiac Arrest, ECG,etc.

Pharma Information System

- Computer is used to check drug labels, expiry dates, harmful side effects, etc.
Surgery - Nowadays, computers are also used in performing surgery.

Engineering Design Computers are widely used for Engineering purpose. One of the major
areas is CAD (Computer Aided Design) that provides creation and modification of images.
Some of the fields are:

Structural Engineering - Requires stress and strain analysis for design of ships, buildings,
budgets, airplanes, etc.

Industrial Engineering - Computers deal with design, implementation, and improvement of

integrated systems of people, materials, and equipment.

Architectural Engineering - Computers help in planning towns, designing buildings,

determining a range of buildings on a site using both 2D and 3D drawings.

Military

Computers are largely used in defence. Modern tanks, missiles, weapons, etc. Military also
employs computerized control systems. Some military areas where a computer has been
used are:

 Missile Control ,Military Communication ,Military Operation and Planning ,Smart

Weapons

Communication

Communication is a way to convey a message, an idea, a picture, or speech that is received

and understood clearly and correctly by the person for whom it is meant. Some main areas
in this category are:  E-mail  Chatting  Usenet  FTP  Telnet  Video-conferencing

Government : Computers play an important role in government services. Some major fields
in this category are:  Budgets  Sales tax department  Income tax department 
Computation of male/female ratio  Computerization of voters lists  Computerization of
PAN card  Weather forecasting
Generations of Computer:

Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is/was being

used. Initially, the generation term was used to distinguish between varying hardware
technologies. Nowadays, generation includes both hardware and software, which together
make up an entire computer system. There are five computer generations known till date.

First Generation The period of first generation: 1946-1959. Vacuum tube based.

The period of first generation was from 1946-1959. The computers of first generation used
vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central
Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of heat and the installations
used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they were very expensive and only large organizations
were able to afford it. In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was
used. Punch cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape was used as input and output devices.
The computers in this generation used machine code as the programming language.

The main features of the first generation are:  Vacuum tube technology  Unreliable 
Supported machine language only  Very costly  Generated a lot of heat  Slow input and
output devices  Huge size  Need of AC

Non-portable  Consumed a lot of electricity Some computers of this generation were: 

ENIAC  EDVAC  UNIVAC  IBM-701  IBM-650

Second Generation The period of second generation: 1959-1965. Transistor based.

The period of second generation was from 1959-1965. In this generation, transistors were
used that were cheaper, consumed less power, more compact in size, more reliable and
faster than the first generation machines made of vacuum tubes. In this generation,
magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks as
secondary storage devices. In this generation, assembly language and high-level
programming languages like FORTRAN, COBOL were used. The computers used batch
processing and multiprogramming operating system.

The main features of second generation are:  Use of transistors  Reliable in comparison to
first generation computers  Smaller size as compared to first generation computers 
Generated less heat as compared to first generation computers  Consumed less electricity
as compared to first generation computers  Faster than first generation computers  Still
very costly  AC required  Supported machine and assembly languages Some computers of
this generation were:  IBM 1620  IBM 7094  CDC 1604  CDC 3600  UNIVAC 1108

Third Generation The period of third generation: 1965-1971. Integrated Circuit based.

The period of third generation was from 1965-1971. The computers of third generation used
Integrated Circuits (ICs) in place of transistors. A single IC has many transistors, resistors,
and capacitors along with the associated circuitry. The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This
development made computers smaller in size, reliable, and efficient. In this generation
remote processing, time-sharing, multi-programming operating system were used. High-
level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used
during this generation.

The main features of third generation are:  IC used  More reliable in comparison to
previous two generations  Smaller size  Generated less heat  Faster  Lesser maintenance
 Costly  AC required  Consumed lesser electricity  Supported high-level language Some
computers of this generation were:  IBM-360 series  Honeywell-6000 series  PDP
(Personal Data Processor)  IBM-370/168  TDC-316

Fourth Generation The period of fourth generation: 1971-1980. VLSI microprocessor based.

The period of fourth generation was from 1971-1980. Computers of fourth generation used
Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors
andother circuit elements with their associated circuits on a single chip made it possible to
have microcomputers of fourth generation. Fourth generation computers became more
powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable. As a result, it gave rise to Personal Computer
(PC) revolution. In this generation, time sharing, real time networks, distributed operating
system were used. All the high-level languages like C, C++, DBASE etc., were used in this
generation

The main features of fourth generation are:  VLSI technology used  Very cheap  Portable
and reliable  Use of PCs  Very small size  Pipeline processing  No AC required  Concept
of internet was introduced  Great developments in the fields of networks  Computers
became easily available Some computers of this generation were:  DEC 10STAR 1000 
PDP 11  CRAY-1(Super Computer)  CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)

Fifth Generation The period of fifth generation: 1980-onwards. ULSI microprocessor based.

The period of fifth generation is 1980-till date. In the fifth generation, VLSI technology
became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology, resulting in the production of
microprocessor chips having ten million electronic components. This generation is based on
parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. AI is an emerging
branch in computer science, which interprets the means and method of making computers
think like human beings. All the high-level languages like C and C++, Java, .Net etc., are used
in this generation.

AI includes:  Robotics  Neural Networks  Game Playing  Development of expert systems

to make decisions in real-life situations  Natural language understanding and generation

ULSI technology  Development of true artificial intelligence  Development of Natural

language processing  Advancement in Parallel Processing  Advancement in
Superconductor technology  More user-friendly interfaces with multimedia features 
Availability of very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rates Some computer types
of this generation are:  Desktop  Laptop NoteBookUltraBookChromeBook

Types of Computer

PC (Personal Computer)

It is a single user computer system having moderately powerful microprocessor

Workstation: It is also a single user computer system, similar to personal computer however
has a more powerful microprocessor

Mini Computer: It is a multi-user computer system, capable of supporting hundreds of users

simultaneously.

Main Frame: It is a multi-user computer system, capable of supporting hundreds of users

simultaneously. Software technology is different from minicomputer.

Supercomputer: It is an extremely fast computer, which can execute hundreds of millions of

instructions per second.

Computer Architecture:
S.No. Operation Description

The process of entering data and instructions into the

1 Take Input
computer system.

Saving data and instructions so that they are

2 Store Data
available for processing as and when required.

Processing Performing arithmetic, and logical operations on data

3
Data in order to convert them into useful information.

The process of producing useful information or

Output
4 results for the user, such as a printed report or visual
Information
display.

Control the Directs the manner and sequence in which all of the
5
workflow above operations are performed.

Input Unit

This unit contains devices with the help of which we enter data into the computer. This unit
creates a link between the user and the computer. The input devices translate the
information into a form understandable by the computer.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

CPU is considered as the brain of the computer. CPU performs all types of data processing
operations. It stores data, intermediate results, and instructions (program). It controls the
operation of all parts of the computer.

CPU itself has the following three components −

 ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

 Memory Unit
 Control Unit

Central Processing Unit (CPU) consists of the following features −

 CPU is considered as the brain of the computer.

 CPU performs all types of data processing operations.
 It stores data, intermediate results, and instructions (program).
 It controls the operation of all parts of the computer.
Memory or Storage Unit:
This unit can store instructions, data, and intermediate results. This unit supplies
information to other units of the computer when needed. It is also known as internal
storage unit or the main memory or the primary storage or Random Access Memory (RAM).
Its size affects speed, power, and capability. Primary memory and secondary memory are
two types of memories in the computer.

Functions of the memory unit are −

 It stores all the data and the instructions required for processing.
 It stores intermediate results of processing.
 It stores the final results of processing before these results are released to an output
device.
 All inputs and outputs are transmitted through the main memory.

Control Unit
This unit controls the operations of all parts of the computer but does not carry out any
actual data processing operations.
Functions of this unit are −
 It is responsible for controlling the transfer of data and instructions among other
units of a computer.
 It manages and coordinates all the units of the computer.
 It obtains the instructions from the memory, interprets them, and directs the
operation of the computer.
 It communicates with Input/Output devices for transfer of data or results from
storage.
 It does not process or store data.

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

This unit consists of two subsections namely,
Arithmetic Section
Logic Section
Arithmetic Section
Function of arithmetic section is to perform arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. All complex operations are done by making repetitive use of the
above operations.

Logic Section
Function of logic section is to perform logic operations such as comparing, selecting,
matching, and merging of data. ( Logical operations such as AND, OR, NOT & >, <, >=)
Output Unit

The output unit consists of devices with the help of which we get the information from the
computer. This unit is a link between the computer and the users. Output devices translate
the computer's output into a form understandable by the users.

Input devices: An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer,
allowing you to interact with and control it.

Following are some of the important input devices which are used in a computer:−

 Keyboard
Keyboard is the most common and very popular and standard input device which helps
to input data to the computer.
 Mouse
Mouse is the most popular pointing device
 Joy Stick
Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move the cursor position on a
monitor screen.
 Light pen
Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu
item or draw pictures on the monitor screen.
 Scanner
Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine.
 Microphone
Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form
 Optical Character Reader(OCR)
OCR is an input device used to read a printed text. OCR scans the text optically,
character by character, converts them into a machine readable code, and stores the
text on the system memory
 Bar Code Reader
Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of
light and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering
the books, etc.
 Optical Mark Reader(OMR)
OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by
pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and
marked. It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having
multiple choice questions.
Output device: An output device is any hardware device which is used to display result
Types of output devices:-
 Monitor
 Printer
 Speaker

Printers
Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper.
There are two types of printers −
Impact Printers
Non-Impact Printers

Impact Printers
Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed on
the paper.
Eg:- Dot Matrix printer.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following −
 Very low consumable costs
 Very noisy
 Useful for bulk printing due to low cost

Non-impact Printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print a
complete page at a time, thus they are also called as Page Printers.

These printers are of two types −

Laser Printers
Inkjet Printers

Characteristics of Non-impact Printers

 Faster than impact printers
 They are not noisy
 High quality
 Supports many fonts and different character size
Laser Printers
These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to
form the characters to be printed on a page

Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new technology. They
print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high
quality output with presentable features