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Introduction to Computer Science

• Course taught by Dr. Ahmed Taha
• Department of Computer Science
• Faculty of Computers & Informatics, Benha University

Book Contents

• Chapter 1: Computers and Digital Basics
• Chapter 2: Computer Hardware
• Chapter 3: Computer Software
• Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management
• Chapter 5: Local Area Networks
• Chapter 6: The Internet
• Chapter 7: The Web and E-mail
• Chapter 8: Digital Media
• Chapter 9: The Computer Industry: History, Careers, and Ethics
• Chapter 10: Information Systems Analysis and Design
• Chapter 11: Databases
• Chapter 12: Computer Programming

Contents

• All Things Digital
• Digital Devices
• Digital Data Representation
• Digital Processing

The Digital Revolution

• Ongoing process of social, political, and economic change.
• Brought about by digital technology (computers and the Internet).
• The Information Age is a period where information is easily accessible and affects many aspects of daily life.

The Digital Revolution - Digitization

• The process of converting various data like text, numbers, sound, photos, and videos into data that can be processed by digital devices.
• Benefits as diverse materials like books, movies, and conversations can be converted into a single, common format eliminating the need for separate hardware.

When did the Digital Revolution Begin?

• Engineers built the first digital computers during World War II (1939 - 1945) for code-breaking and missile trajectory calculations.
• In the 1950s, computers were marketed for business applications (e.g., payroll, inventory).
• Some historians consider the 1980s as the start of the digital revolution.

The Digital Revolution Phases

• Data Processing: Computers were large, complex, and expensive. Primarily used by large corporations and governments.
• Personal Computing: Personal computers became more accessible. Popular uses included word processing and gaming with basic sound and graphics.
• Network Computing: Computers were networked. Internet access became widely available, with applications like email and multimedia becoming prevalent.
• Cloud Computing: Internet-based services, like applications and social media, became accessible through computers and handheld devices. This allowed access from anywhere with an internet connection.

Phase I: Data Processing

• The initial computing model of the digital revolution.
• Characterized by large, expensive devices.

Phase II: Personal Computing

• Introduction of personal computers.
• Main applications were word processing and gaming with less sophisticated graphics and sound capabilities.

Phase III: Network Computing

• Computers are interconnected for data sharing and resource access.
• Internet and web evolved as a key part of network computing.
• Data was primarily stored locally on hard drives.

Phase IV: Cloud Computing

• Internet-based services (applications, social media) became accessible from computers and handheld devices.
• Data is stored in the cloud, making it accessible from any device that's connected to the internet.

Social Media

• Cloud-based applications designed for social interaction and consumer-generated content.
• Examples include social networking, wikis, blogging, photo sharing, and microblogging sites.

Digital Devices

• Multipurpose devices accepting, processing, storing and producing output.

Computer Basics

• A computer accepts input from various devices.
• Data is processed in the CPU according to instructions.
• Computers use storage devices to store data permanently.

Input and Output

• Input: Data entered into the computer system.
• Output: Results produced by the computer system.

Data and Information

• Data represents raw facts, objects, or ideas.
• Information is data that has been organized, structured or presented to be useful.

Computer Basics: Memory and Storage

• Memory: Temporary storage during processing.
• Storage: Long-term data storage.
• File: A named collection of data on a storage medium.

Computer Program

• Instructions that tell the computer system how to accomplish processing tasks.
• Forms part of the software used by computers to do specific tasks.

Computer Basics: Software Types

• Application Software: Programs used by people for specific tasks (word processing, etc.).
• System Software: Software controlling how computer systems function in general (operating systems).

Computer Types

• Personal Computers: Used by individuals. Include a keyboard and screen.
• Workstation: Powerful desktop computers for demanding tasks like design and medical imaging, often more expensive.
• Servers: Machines that serve computers on a network; supply them with data.
• Mainframes: Large, expensive computers for data processing of large scale. Used by corporations or governments needing centralized data; processing; and management.
• Supercomputers: Extremely fast computers for complex tasks such as modeling weather patterns or simulating nuclear explosions.
• Microcontroller: A specialized microprocessor that is integrated into machines that need that particular functionality.

Data Representation Basics

• Data representation: Data format in storage, processing, and transmission. Can be digital (discrete) or analog (continuous).
• Digital data in computers represents text, numbers, visuals, sound or video.
• Character data is letters, symbols, numerals; not used in arithmetic.
• Codes represent character data (ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode).
• Images use binary numbers.
• Sound is represented by samples or discrete values, from continuous waves.

Quantifying Bits and Bytes

• Bit: Smallest unit of data (0 or 1).
• Byte: 8 bits. Larger units for storage measurement include kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes etc..

Circuits and Chips

• Bits are represented by electrical states (high-low voltages).
• Integrated Circuit (IC): Super-thin slice holding many components like wires, transistors, capacitors, logic gates, resistors.
• Packaging varies in shape and size, (e.g. DIP, PGA)

Circuits and Chips - System Board Details

• Electronic components are mounted on a main board.
• Houses all essential chips and provides connections between them
• Examples include processors, memory, input, and output devices.

Program and Instruction Sets

• Computer programs direct how computers operate. Programs are developed in high level programming languages (e.g. C, Java, BASIC).
• High level programming languages use command words.
• These statements are converted into a series of 0s and 1s that a computer can understand.

How does source code get converted?

• Compiler: Converts source code into machine code (a series of instructions) in a single batch/process and placed into a new file.
• Interpreter: Converts and executes source code statement by statement, as it runs the code.
• Machine language instructions consist of operation codes and operands. Op codes indicate instructions such as add, compare, or jump and the operands indicate the data to be manipulated.

What happens inside a computer chip?

• ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit): Performs arithmetic and logical operations.
• Control Unit: Fetches instructions from program; manages computer operations.

Instruction Cycle

• Step by step process in which a computer executes a single instruction. Steps involve fetching, interpreting, execution, and pointing the next instruction.

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