Basics of Computers - Online Education

I was wondering that it has been more than 100 days and we are in a lock down mode, schools yet closed and children are studying online, so it came in my mind of why not make an article with education information for kids and children all around the world. That is why am writing this article with some information on COMPUTERS.

In this article I will cover some topics related to the basics of computer, because I feel that is the base which every children should know. So the topics which I will cover are:

1. What is a Computer.
2. Who is an User.
3. Uses of Computers.
4. Application of Computers.
5. Parts of a Computer.
6. Block Diagram of a Computer.
7. Starting UP and Shutting DOWN a Computer.

What is a Computer.

Computer is a man made mechanical and electronic device, which has the ability to store, retrieve, process various data, do arithmetic operations and perform logical functions as desired or instructed by the user.

As per structure of computers, they are of 3 (three) types:

1. Analog Computer
2. Digital Computer &
3. Hybrid Computer

Who is an User.

An User could be anyone, a person or a machine or an automated program. We all who use computers for some or the other work are users of computer.

Uses of Computers.

Computer has a wide variety of use today, ranging from school students to scientist, everybody is using computer today.

1. It is used in home for personal use like listening to songs, playing games or for study.
2. It is used in schools for teaching various subjects in a more easy way to students.
3. It is used in work place / offices where different users use it as per their needs and work requirement.

Even NASA uses computers.

Today, use of computer is so wide and huge that it is used for Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), making robots, writing programming languages, coding programs for various purpose.

Application of Computers.

Computer has a huge usage in every field. It is needed for almost everything. Some common application of computers are written below.

1. Personal
2. Gaming
3. Entertainment
4. Communication
5. Business Application
6. Accounting
7. Education
   
8. Banks
9. Engineering
10. Medicine
11. Book Publishing
12. Scientific Research
13. Data Science
14. Artificial Intelligence
15. Machine Learning
16. Programing & Coding

Parts of a Computer.

A computer consist of few major parts.

1. The Central Processing Unit (CPU)
2. The Input Devices
3. The Memory
4. The Storage Devices
5. The Hardware and
6. The Software

The Central Processing Unit or CPU is the brain of the computer. All processes are processed in the CPU.

Input Devices are those with which an user can give command and instructions to the computer. Examples of input devices are : Keyboard, Mouse.

Output Devices are those which are used by the computer to show the result or display information to the user. Example of output device is : Monitor.

The memory is the part of computer where the operating system is stored.

We will discuss in-depth about each part in our next few articles, which will be published in some time.

Block Diagram of a Computer.

The block diagram represented by the picture shows us how the computer functions.

As you can see, Control or Control Unit (CU), Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) along with the Main Memory are the part contained inside the CPU. Using an input device instructions are send to the main memory which is then processed by the ALU and sent back to the main memory and then displayed using the output device.

Here the control section controls the processing and checks if the instruction or data is to be sent to an output device or stored in a storage system or storage device. The control section as per commands from the user can even fetch information or data stored in the storage device send it to the main memory which will send it to the ALU for performing required action and then back to main memory and output. The Control Unit (CU) also controls the input and output devices.

Starting UP & Shutting DOWN a Computer.

Computers as we know is an electronic device, hence it needs to be started up to perform various tasks. On the other hand once the tasks are performed and a desired output is derived then the computer needs to be shut down.

To start up a computer, first switch on the main power supply then simply press the power button on the CPU tower. The computer will start up, during the starting up process, the CPU first checks all hardware present and connected, then it loads the BOOT STRAP file or the boot loader which in turn loads the operating system. Once the operating system loads up then we can see the Graphical User Interface or the GUI on our monitor screen.

Similarly, when we shut down our computer, which is basically a command that we give by clicking the shutdown option under the windows tab, the CPU performs all checks, this time checking whether all software are closed or not and then turns off all running processes.

Apart from START UP and SHUT DOWN we also have an option known as RE-START, which when used, shuts down the computer temporarily and starts it back again.

Next Topic: History of Computers.