Computer: A Placement Perspective

Computer: A word computer comes from Latin word compute it means to calculate. A
computer is an electronic device which receives and stores a large quantity of data in the
form of symbols and numbers and processes them at a high speed as per the instruction
given. Control set of instructions known as a program.

Computer programme: A computer programme is a set of sequential instruction

prepared by human being to direct the computer to solve a particular problem and give
out the result.

Advantage of computer:
 Speed
 Accuracy
 Storage
 Automation
 Patience

 Abacus: Earliest known computing device

 Charles Babbage: Father of computer
 Lady Ada Lovace: Mother of computer
 I mainframe launched by IBM
 HCL is pioneer in India in computer manufacture
 TCS is pioneer in software in IT in India, Founded by Faquir Chand Kohli
 Prof. Veer Raja Raman is the I professor of computer in India
 Datum is Singular form and Data is Plural form
 QWERT keyboard is the I keyboard
 Japan is pioneer in Robot Technology
 Prof. Raj Reddy is pioneer in Robotics
 ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
 EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
 UNIVAC: Universal Automatic Computer
 EDSAC: Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator

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 ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange

 JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group
 USB: Universal Serial Bus
 ARPANET: Advanced research project agency network
 MILNET: Military Network
 IP: Internet Protocol
 TCP: Transfer Control Protocol
 FTP: File Transfer Protocol
 WWW: World Wide Web
 CUG: Closed User Group
 GUI: Graphical User Interface
 GIST: General Information System Terminal
 SOHO: Small Office Home Office
 LAN: Local Area Network
 WAN: Wide Area Network
 MAN: Metropolitan Area Network
 VPN: Virtual Private Network
 Richard Brody: Author of MS World
 First computer installed at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
 TCP/IP: Transfer Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
 HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
 C is Structured programming language while C++ is an Object oriented
programming language.
 Open Source ERP: Apache OffBiz
 Indian OS: Boss (Bharat Operating System Software) by C-DAC

Defragmentation: Whenever data is scattered, we arrange these scattered data in an

organized way and arrange some space is vacant, is called defragmentation.

First Generation Computer: The computers, which were made with the use of vacuum
tubes, are identified as the First generation computers.

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Advantage: Vacuum Tubes technology made possible the designing of digital computer
Disadvantage:
 To bulky in size
 Frequent failures
 Slow processing
 Highly heated

Second Generation Computer: The computers, in which vacuum tubes were replaced
by Transistors, are identified as the First generation computers.
Advantage:
 Small size than First generation computer
 Less cost
 Less heat generator
 More faster
Disadvantage:
 Frequent maintenance
 Commercial production was difficult and costly

Third Generation Computer: IBM introduced the third generation computers around
1964. The computer using the Integrated Circuits came to be known as third generation
computers. Example: IBM 360 etc.
Advantages:
 Smaller size compare to previous
 Low maintenance cost
 Widely used for commercial applications
Disadvantages:
 AC required in many cases
 Highly advanced technology required for the manufacturing for the ICs

Fourth Generation Computers: The computers builds with Microprocessor belongs to

the fourth generation.

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 Computer: A Placement Perspective

Advantage:
 Smaller in size
 Cheaper among all generations
 Much faster in compilation
Disadvantage:
 Highly sophisticated technology

Fifth Generation Computer: The fifth generation computer had a new technology
called Artificial Intelligence incorporated in them. They will process non-numerical data
such as pictures and graphics. These computers require new architecture, new memory
organizations and new programming language.

Hardware: The physical component of computer system that is the machine parts are
known as hardware. The major components of the hardware are the microprocessor,
input/output device, memory and various other devices connected to the computer.

Software: Software refers to the programme written by the users for solving their
problems and by the computer manufacturers for managing activities and the computer
like operating system. There are primary two types of software:
Application Software: It is a set of programs necessary to carry out the operations for a
specified application. Example: processing examination results
System Software: These programs written for the system which provide the environment
to facilitate the using the application programs. Example: language translators like
compilers and interpreters

Block diagram of computer:

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 Computer: A Placement Perspective

Control Unit

Input Arithmetic Output

and Logical
Unit

Memory Unit

Central
Processing
Unit

Input Device: A computer must receive both program statement and data to solve
problems. The entry of program statements and data into a computer occurs by means of
an input unit. Example: Keyboard, Mouse etc

Central Processing Unit (CPU): The heart of the computer is the central processing
unit. It is this unit that makes comparisons, performs calculations, needs, interprets and
controls the execution of the instructions. It consists of three different units:
 The control unit
 The arithmetic and logical unit
 Memory unit

The Control Unit: The control unit, as the name indicate, supervise the operations of the
entire computers, it selects the program statement from the storage unit, interprets the
statement and sends the appropriate electronic impulse to the arithmetic/logic and storage
units to cause these units to carry out the operations required.

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Arithmetic and Logical Unit: It performs mathematical calculations, compares numeric

and non-numeric values and makes decisions. The data flows between this unit and the
storage unit during processing.

Storage: The storage or primary memory section of the computer controls consists of the
devise and to store the information that will be used for calculations.

Output Devices: Output unit like input units are instruments of communication between
the computer and the user. The most commonly used output devices are monitor, printer
etc.

Bit: A bit is the smallest memory location that can store “0” or “1”.

Byte: Byte is a combination of 8 bits.

8 Bits = 1 Byte
1024 Bytes = 1 KB
1024 KB = 1 MB
1024 MB = 1 GB
1024 GB = 1 TB
1024 TB = 1 PB
1024 PB = 1 EB
1024 EB = 1 ZB
1024 ZB = 1 YB

MS DOS: MS-DOS (Microsoft-Disk Operating System) or DOS as it is commonly

known, is the most widely used, popular and easy to use operating system for the
personal computers or micro computers.
“Willian Gates” and “Poul Allen” developed MS-DOS

Operating System: An operating system consists of programs, which control, co-

ordinate and supervise the activities of various components of a computer. These

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 Computer: A Placement Perspective

operating systems provide links between the users programs and the computer hardware.
These programs confining the operating system are built with a computer and the
supplied by the manufactures as standard packages.
Types of Operating Systems: There are two types:
 Single user Operating System: Example: MS-DOS
 Multi User Operating System: Example: Unix

Booting: The process of loading operating system into the memory is called Booting.
Types of Booting:
 Cold Booting: By switching on
 Warm Booting: some times gets stuck then with the help of CTRL+ALT+DEL

Office Automation: the term automation refers to all tools and methods that are applied
to office activities which make it possible to process written, visual and sound data in a
computer aided manner.
Office automation almost always implies a network of computer with a variety of
available programs.
Office automation intended to provide elements which make it possible to
simplify, improve and automate the organization of the activities of a company or a group
of people.
Considering that organization require increased communication, today, office
automation is no longer limited to simply capturing handwritten notes. In particular it
also includes the following activities:
 Exchange of information
 Management of administrative documents
 Handling of numerical data
 Meeting planning and management of work schedule

Office automation does not always mean that the computer will do everything from
start to finish by clicking a button. Many times the job still requires some human

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intervention because computers can not make business decisions. Therefore, automation
can be used to manage business process more efficiently and with fewer errors.
Advantage:
 Increased Efficiency
 Employees business on core business functions
 Increased output
 By adding to the work process, the process is understood more clearly

Intranet: An intranet is a private network that is contained with in an enterprise. It may

consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area
network. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing
resources among employees. It facilitates working in groups and for teleconferences.
Secure intranets are now the faster growing segment of the internet because they are
much less expensive to build and manage.
Advantage:
 Reduced cost
 Saves time
 Increased collaboration
 Increased productivity and efficiency
 Integrated and distributed computing environment
 Rich in format
Disadvantage:
 Management can not control specific information
 Security issue
 Overload of information, difficult to find meaningful data

Extranet: It is an intranet extended to outsiders to organization for specific purpose. An

extranet is a B2B intranet that allows limited controlled secure access between a
company’s intranet and designated, authenticated users from remote location.

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Language Translators: Programming language can be divided in two major categories:

Low level and High level.
“Assemble language” and “Machine language” are called as low level language
while BASIC, Visual Basic, JAVA are called as high level language. There are two types
of language translators:

Compiler: Compiler is a special program that process statements written in a particular

programming language and converts them into machine language, a binary program or
code that a computer processor uses.
In this process, a programmer writes language statements in a language such as C,
Pascal or C++ one line at a time using a tool called an editor. The edited file contains the
source statements. The programmer then runs the appropriate language compiler, when
executing the file, the compiler first analyzes all of the language statements syntactically
in a sequential manner and then, in one or more successive passes, build the output code.

Interpreter: An interpreter translates high-level instructions line by line and converts

them into an intermediate form, which it then executes.
An interpreter may be a program that either
 executes the source code directly
 translates source code into some efficient intermediate representation (code) and
immediately executes this
 explicitly executes stored precompiled code made by a compiler which is part of
the interpreter system

Utility Programs: Utility programs help manage, maintain and control computer
resources. Some examples of utility programs include:
 Virus scanning software
 Backup software
 Scan disk
 Disk defragmenter

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Application Programs: Application programs are programs, which the user uses to
perform specific task. Example: word processor, spread sheet, database.

Waterfall Model: Waterfall model was one of the first models to be proposed.

Requirement
Analysis

System
Design

Program
Design

Coding

Unit and
Integration
Testing

System
Testing

Acceptance
Testing

Operation and
Maintenance

We follow a certain order to accomplish a task and they are followed I the same sequence
each time. So a process can be defined as a sequence of ordered tasks. A series of steps
involving activities, constraints and resources, which produce an intended output of some
kind. From the figure we can imply that one development stage should be completed
before the next begins. The waterfall model presents a very high level view of what goes
on during development and it suggests to developers the sequence of events they should
expect to encounter.

Multitasking: It refers to the running of multiple independent computer programs on the

same computer; giving the appearance that it is performing the tasks at the same time.
Since most computers can do at most one or two things at one time, this is generally done
via time sharing, which means that each program uses a share of the computers time to
execute.

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Hard Coding: It refers to the software development practice of embedding input or

configuration data directly into the source code of a program.

Soft Coding: It refers to obtaining a value or function from some external resources, such
as a preprocessor macro, external constant, configuration file, command line argument or
database table. It is the opposite of hard coding.

Batch Processing: Batch processing is execution of a series of programs on a computer

without human interaction. It allows sharing of computer resources among many users
and programs. It shifts the time of job processing to when the computing resources are
less busy.

Absolute Addressing: In this, you specify the actual address (called the absolute
address) of a memory location. It is used in programming and in spreadsheet application.

Relative Addressing: An address specified by indicating its distance from another

address called the base address. Example: B+15, B being the base address and 15 is the
distance (called the offset)

DBMS (Data Base Management System): DBMS is a collection of programs that

enables us to store, modify and extract information from a database. Example:
Computerized library system, Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

RDBMS (Relational Data Base Management System): RDBMS is a type of DBMS

that stores data in the form of related tables. Relational Data Base is powerful because
they require few assumptions about how data is related or how it will be extracted from
the database.

ERP Evaluation:

2000s Extended ERP

1990s ERP
1980s MRP-II
1970s MRP
1960s Inventory Control Packages

ERP Products:

SAP(1972)
ORACLE (1977)
PeopleSoft (1987)
Baan (1978)
JD Edwards (1977)

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 Computer: A Placement Perspective

Three Tier architecture of ERP:

Presentation Layer Client

Application Layer Application Server
Database Layer Database Servers

*****************************Best of Luck*****************************

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