FIRST TERM SCHEME OF WORK
WEEK TOPIC
1-2 INTRODUCTION TO DATA PROCESSING
3 DIGITALIZATION OF DATA
4-5 DATA AND INFORMATION
6 HISTORY OF COMPUTERS 1
7 MID TERM
8 HISTORY OF COMPUTERS 2
9-10 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
11-12 EXAMINATION AND MARKING
TOPIC: INTRODUCTION TO DATA PROCESSING
DEFINITION OF DATA
The term data means any basic fact which may be input
to some processing system. A processing system is one
where computations, comparisons and general
manipulation of data are done. The processing may
be people or machine e.g the computer.Information on the
other hand, is the end-result of a processing system. The
information is needed by management for decision
making.
WHAT IS DATA PROCESSING?
Data processing is the task of using a collection of basic
facts to produce information, usually it has no value in
itself until it is subjected to analysis, validations and
comparisons with other data to produce result
(information), for example a collection of weights of
individuals do not turn useful information for decision
making. However when the set of data is processed such
as searching for individual with a maximum or
minimumweight or the weight of all concerned in the
study, information is produced
PROPERTIES OF DATA
1. Collected/Captured
2. Prepared
3. Presented
4. Precise
5. Complete
6. Accurate
7. Purposeful
8. Assigned
DATA PROCESSING CYCLE
The data processing cycle describes the stages of data
processing. It involves the following stages:
1. Data gathering
2. Data collation
3. Input stage
4. Processing stage
5. Storage stage
6. Output stage
DATA PROCESSING ACTIVITIES
Data processing activities involve the following:
1.INPUT: This involves three steps; collection,
verification/validation and coding
2.PROCESSING: This involves classification, sorting,
calculating, converting and storing.
3.OUTPUT:This involves retrieving, converting and
communication.
TOPIC: DIGITALIZATION OF DATA
Digitalization is the process of converting information into
digital format. This information may represent an object,
image, sound, document or a signal (usually an analog
signal) organized into discrete set of its points or samples.
This is the binary data that computers and many devices
with computing capacity (such as digital camera and
digital hearing aids) can process.Digitalization can also be
defined as the integration of digital technologies into
everyday life.
BENEFITS OF DIGITALIZATION
1. Long term preservation of documents
2. Orderly archiving of documents
3. Easy and customized access to information
4.Easy information dissemination through images and
text, CD-ROM, Internet, Intranet and extranets.
TECHNOLOGY OF DIFFERENT AGES
The ages are:
1. Stone age
2. Iron age
3. Middle age
4. Industrial age
5. Electronic age
EARLY COUNTING DEVICES
In the early days of man’s existence on earth, counting
and simple arithmetic were performed using different
parts of the body and some other counting aids. The
following are device used by people of ancient times.
1.Fingers and Toes
2.Stone
3.Sticks
4.Pebbles
5.Cowries
DISADVANTAGES OF EARLY COUNTING DEVICES
1. They are difficult to carry about.
2. Counting and calculation takes a lot of time.
3. They are prone to mistakes.
4. They cannot be used to count or calculate arge
numbers.
5. Their results cannot be easily remembered.
6. They have no storage facilities.
COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM
Acomputer system consists of three main parts otherwise
called components. They are :
1. Hardware
2. Software
3. People ware
HARDWARE COMPONENT
The computer hardware could be defined as the
physical parts of the computer that we see, feel and
handle. It consists of device for input, processing, storage,
output and communications.Hardware can be divided into
two sections:
1.System Unit
2.The peripherals
CPU/SYSTEM UNIT
The CPU is the brain of computer system and it can
subdivided into:
1.Control Unit
2. Arithmetic and Logic Unit
3. Memory Unit
CONTROL UNIT
This is the unit of the computer system that fetches
instructions from the main storage, interpret them
andissue all the necessary signals to the components
making up the system.
ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC UNIT
This part of the CPU is where all arithmetic operations are
carried out in the computer. This unit is alsoinvolved in
decision making. Logic functions such as less than (<),
equal (=), greater than (>) etc which areoperations of
comparisons are used for decision making.
MEMORY UNIT
The memory or primary storage unit is the place in the
computer where the program and the data are stored.The
computer memory is divided into two namely:
1.Random Access Memory (RAM)
2.Read Only Memory (ROM)
PERIPHERALS
The peripherals are devices outside the CPU but function
under the control of the CPU e.g mouse, keyboard, printer
etc.
SOFTWARE
Software is the set of instructions that is used to direct
the computer hardware to perform its tasks. That is, itis a
set of instructions that makes the users to do work and
allow the computer to operate. Software is
basically programs i.e another name for software
is program.Program is the sequence of instructions given
to computer to solve a given problem or accomplish a
given task. There are two main classes of software which
are:
1.System software
2.Application software
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
These are programs written by the manufacturer to
control the smooth running of the computer.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
These are programs written by programmers to instruct
the computer to perform a particular task.
PEOPLE WARE
These are people who make and use the computer. They
range from professional users to operational users. Auser
could also be anyone who makes use of computer.
Without people, the computer cannot work. There
twomain classes of people ware:
1.Computer professionals.
2.Computer users.
PERIPHERALS
Peripherals are in three categories:
1.Input Devices
2.Output Devices
3.Auxiliary Storage Devices
TOPIC: DATA AND INFORMATION
Data is raw, unorganized or unprocessed facts that need
to be processed. Data can be something simple
andseemingly random and useless until it is organized
TYPES OF DATA
1. Qualitative data: is a descriptive information (it
describes something).
2. Quantitative data: is a numerical information.
CLASSIFICATION OF QUANTITATIVE DATA
Continuous data
Discrete data
EXAMPLES OF DATA
1.Numbers
2. Name of thing, place or animal
3. Words
4. Measurements Descriptions of things
SOURCES OF DATA
1.Television
2. Internet
3. Articles
4. Government documents
5. Newspapers and Magazines
6. Textbooks
INFORMATION
Information can be defined as a processed data that is
meaningful to the user. Information can be used in
thedecision making process.
EXAMPLES OF INFORMATION
1.Student ID card
2.Weather report
3.Student’s Report card
4.National passport
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
1.Internet
2.Database
3.Magazine/Newspaper
4.Document
5.Census Board
WAYS OF HANDLING DATA
1.Electronic Methods
2. Non– Electronic Methods
TOPIC: HISTORY OF COMPUTING
EARLY MECHANICAL COUNTING/CALCULATING
DEVICES
1. Abacus
2. Slide rule
EARLY ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COUNTING DEVICES
1. John Napier bone
2. Blaize Pascal machine
3. Gottfried Leitbnitz machine
4. Joseph Jacquard Loom
5. Charles Babbage analytical machine
EARLY ELECTRONIC COUNTING DEVICES:
1. Herman Hollerith punch card
2. John Von Neumann machine
Man has put in every effort to have better methods of
calculations. As a result of man’s search for fast and
accurate calculating devices, the computer was
developed. Essentially, there are three kinds of calculating
devices:manual, mechanical and automatic.
ABACUS
The first calculating device was the Abacus. The Chinese
invented it. It is still in use in some countries because of
its simple operation. It is made up of a frame divided into
two parts by a horizontal bar and vertical threads. Each
thread contains some beads. It was used to calculate
simple addition and subtraction.
NAPIER’S BONE
The need for a better calculating device was felt as time
passed. John Napier, a Scottish mathematician,invented a
set of eleven rods, with four sides each which was used as
a multiplication tool. These rods were made from bones
and this was the reason why they were called Napier
Bones. The rods had numbers marked in such a way that,
by placing them side by side, products and quotients of
large numbers can be obtained.
PASCALINE
The first mechanical calculating machine was invented in
1642, by Blaize Pascal, a French
mathematician. Numbers were entered by dialling a series
of numbered wheels in this machine. A sequence of
wheels transferred the movements to a dial, which
showed the result.Through addition and subtraction were
performed the normal way, the device could perform
division by repeated subtraction and multiplication by
repeated addition.
LEIBNITZ CALCULATING MACHINE
Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibnitz invented a computer that
was built in 1694. It could add and after changingsome
things around. it could multiply. Leibnitz invented a
special stepped gear mechanism for introducing theadded
digits and this is still being used.
JACQUARD’S LOOM
Jacquard’s loom was one of the first machines that were
run by a program. Joseph Jacquard changed the weaving
industry by creating a loom that controlled the raising of
the thread through punched cards. Jacquard’s Loom used
lines of holes on a card to represent the weaving pattern.
PUNCHED CARD
During the years 1920 and 1930, the punched card
system developed steadily. A standard card was
dividedinto 80 columns and 12 rows. Only one character
could be represented in the 80 columns, thus providing
amaximum of 80 characters per card. Punching one, two
or three holes in any one column represented acharacter.
Holes were punched into a blank card by a punch machine
whose keyboard resembled that of a typewriter.
NUMBER SYSTEM
To effectively use the computer, it is therefore necessary
to know how data is represented and communicatedto.
There are different ways of representing data in the
number system, namely:
1.Decimal System
2.Binary System
3.Octal System
4.Hexadecimal Number System.
TOPIC: HISTORY OF COMPUTERS (2)
Sub-topic: Generations of Computers
The history of computer development is often referred to
in reference to the different generations of computing
devices. We have five generations of computers.A
generation refers to the state of improvement in the
product development process. With each new generation,
the circuitry has gotten smaller or miniaturized hence
speed, power, and computer memory has proportionally
increased leading to new discoveries in the tech
world that affect the way we live, work and play.
FIRST GENERATION
Electronic machine which was distinct from mechanical
computers evolved about 1945. UNIVAC is a good example
of this generation of computers.
FEATURES
1. They used Vacuum tubes.
2. They were very large and expensive.
3. They were very bulky.
4.They had a low retentive memory.
5. They generated a lot of heat.
SECOND GENERATION
Second generation computers were the replacement of
vacuum tubes. Second generation computers utilized
primary discrete TRANSISTORS. They had limited
capability but were more advanced than the first
generation computers.
FEATURES
1.They were more reliable than the first generation.
2.They could perform calculations.
3.They had a more efficient storage facility.
4.They generated lesser heat compared with the first
generation computers.
THIRD GENERATION
Third generation computers utilized INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
[ICs] technology, Small Scale Integration[SSI] with more
sophisticated software capability like multi-programming,
multi-processing and operating systems as resource
managers.
FEATURES
1.Faster input and output.
2.Increased storage capability
3.Increased process capability
4.Ability to display pictures and musical sound
FOURTH GENERATION
Fourth generation computers appeared at about 1975.
The technologies that characterized these machines were
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION (LSI) and VERY LARGE SCALE
INTEGRATION (VLSI). The computers produced at this
period were of a higher capability in terms of speed,
storage and of superior performance over their
counterparts of the third generation.
FIFTH GENERATION
These generations of computers made use of ARTFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE (AI). This category of computers was built
around the following objectives.
1.To build super computer i.e computers which could
perform operation in the range of 10 billion instructions
per seconds.
2. They were designed to have capacities like sight and
hearing as well as capability to stimulate human thoughts
e.g robots.
TOPIC: CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER I
Computers can be classified based on the following:
1.Type
2.Size
3.Functionality/purpose
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER BY TYPE (Type of
Data):
Computers can be classified by types into THREE major
types. They are:
1. DIGITAL COMPUTER
2. ANALOGUE COMPUTER
3. HYBRID COMPUTER
DIGITAL COMPUTER
This is the most common type of computer today. It
measures physical quantities by counting. Examples
arecalculator,digital wrist watches, digital fuel dispenser
etc.
ANALOGUE COMPUTER
This type of computer is used to measure and process
continuous data such as speed, temperature,
heartbeatetc. Examples are speedometer, thermometer
etc.
HYBRID COMPUTER
This type of computer combines the features of
digital and analogue computers together. It is a
combinationsof digital and analogue computers.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER BY FUNCTIONALITY
Classification of computer according to purpose can be
grouped into two (2), namely:
1.General purpose computers
2.Special purpose computers
SPECIAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
These are computers designed solely to solve a restricted
class of problems e.g computer for medical diagnosis,
weapon guidance, traffic control, weather study and
forecast etc.
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTERS
These are computers designed solely to solve a vast
variety of prpoblems e.g it can be used for Word
processing and at the same time used for graphics,
database, spreadsheet etc.
TOPIC: CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS II
Sub-Topic: Classification of Computers by Size
Computers can be generally categorized into four,
namely:
1.Super computers
2.Mainframe computers
3.Mini computers
4.Micro computers
SUPER COMPUTER
These are the largest, fastest and most expensive
computers. The cost is several millions of dollars and the
speed isbetween 600 million to 900 million instructions
per second (MIP).Another name for super compuyrt is
MONSTER. Scientists in weather forecasting, exploration
make use of super computers. It can also be udsed for
complex calculations e.g CRAY, X-MP etc.
MAINFRAME COMPUTERS
A mainframe computer is a large computer in terms of
price, size of internal memory and speed. It has avariety
of peripheral devices such as printers, plotters etc more
than those found with small computers, exceptsmall
computers with large amount of external
storage.Mainframe computers usually need a specialized
environment to operate, with dust, temperature and
humiditycarefully controlled. They are used n large
establishments e.g banks, airports etc. Examples of
Mainframecomputers are IBM 360/370,NCR-V 8800.
MINI COMPUTERS
Mini computers were developed in the 1970s for
specialized tasks (i.e they are special purpose
computers).They are smaller and less powerful and less
expensive than mainframes.Mini computers, as they are
called, are easier to install and operate e.g PDP II, VAX
750/6000, NCR 9300,DEC, HP 3000 etc.
MICRO COMPUTERS
A microcomputer is a computer whose central processing
unit (CPU) is based on a microprocessor.Micro computers
are at present the most popular of computers. They are
very small. The capability is generallynot as many and not
as complex as mini computers or Mainframe computers.
They are easy to use. Anothername for microcomputer is
Personal Computer (PC).
REASONS WHY MICRO COMPUTERS ARE WIDELY
USED
1.They are cheap.
2.They have small sizes.
3.They do not require special environment for their
operations.
4.They can be used anywhere.
