GNDU B.Com (Bachelor of Commerce)

Chapter 3: Computer Hardware, Software and Programming Languages

Summary

A computer system has two essential parts. Hardware refers to the physical, tangible components of the computer, such as the processor, memory, input and output devices and storage units. Software is the set of programs and instructions that tell the hardware what to do; without software the hardware cannot perform any useful task. Software is broadly of two types. System software manages and controls the computer's resources and provides a platform for other programs; it includes the operating system, language translators (assemblers, compilers and interpreters) and utility or service software that performs maintenance tasks such as antivirus scanning and backup. Application software is designed to help the user perform specific tasks, such as word processing, spreadsheets, accounting and database management. Computers understand instructions written in programming languages, which fall into levels. Machine language is the lowest level, written in binary (0s and 1s) and directly understood by the machine, but it is difficult for humans. Assembly language uses short symbolic codes (mnemonics) instead of binary and needs an assembler to translate it. High-level languages are close to human language, are easier to write and are machine-independent, but they need a compiler or interpreter to convert them into machine code. The unit also distinguishes data, which are raw, unprocessed facts, from information, which is processed, meaningful and useful data produced after processing.

Key terms

Important questions

Practice quiz