Friday, November 19, 2021

What is computer?

Definition

A computer is a programmable machine designed to perform arithmetic and logical operations automatically and sequentially on the input given by the user and gives the desired output after processing. Computer components are divided into two major categories namely hardware and software. Hardware is the machine itself and its connected devices such as monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. Software are the set of programs that make use of hardware for performing various functions.

Definition

A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory. These instructions tell the machine what to do. The computer is capable of accepting data (input), processing data arithmetically and logically, producing output from the processing, and storing the results for future use.

Definition

A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a finite set of arithmetic or logical operations. Or other words you can say Computers are machines that performs tasks or calculations according to a set of instructions, or programs.

 

The word computer is derived from the word compute. Compute means to calculate. The computer was originally defined as a super-fast calculator. It had the capacity to solve complex arithmetic and scientific problems at very high speed. But nowadays in addition to handling complex arithmetic computations, computers perform many other tasks like accepting, sorting, selecting, moving, comparing various types of information. They also perform arithmetic and logical operations on alphabetic, numeric and other types of information. This information provided by the user to the computer is data.

The information in one form which is presented to the computer is the input information or input data.

Information in another form is presented by the computer after performing a process on it.

This information is the output information or output data.

The set of instructions given to the computer to perform various operations is called as the computer program. The process of converting the input data into the required output form with the help of the computer program is called as data processing. The computers are therefore also referred to as data processors. Therefore a computer can now be defined as a fast and accurate data processing system that accepts data, performs various operations on the data, has the capability to store the data and produce the results on the basis of detailed step by step instructions given to it.

 

More accurately, we can define a computer as a device that operates upon data. Data can be anything like bio-data, hence computer is used for short listing candidates for recruiting; marks obtained by students in when used for preparing results; details (name, age, sex, etc.) of passengers when used for or railway reservations: or number of different parameters when used for solving scientific problems, etc.

Hence, data comes in various shapes and sizes depending upon the type of computer application. A computer can and retrieves data as and when desired. The fact that computers process data is so fundamental that have started calling it a data processor.

The name data processor is more inclusive because modern computers not only compute in the usual sense but also perform other functions with data that flows to and from them. For example, data processors may gather data from various incoming sources, merge (process of mixing or putting together) them all, sort (process of arranging in some of sequence— ascending or descending) them in the desired order, and finally print them in desired format.

Notice that none of these operations involves arithmetic computations in the usual sense but a computer is the most suitable device for performing them.

People usually consider a computer to be a calculating device that can perform arithmetic operations at high speed. It is also known as a data processor because it not only computes in the usual sense but also performs other functions with the data.

The activity of processing data using a computer is called data processing. Data processing consists of three sub-activities: capturing input data, manipulating the data, and managing output results. As used in data processing, information is data arranged in an order and form that is useful to people receiving it. Hence, data is raw material used as input to data processing and information is processed data obtained as output of data processing.

 

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In this post we covered what is computer in detail. If more detailed information is needed please browse or search the internet for above terms.

Keywords: Computer, Data processing.

…till next post, bye-bye and take care.

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