Introduction Of Computer-Characteristics -Bikram Adhikari

 Introduction Of Computer

The computer is the most powerful and reliable device that man has ever made. It has made a great impact on our everyday life. Consider this statement “Everything is on the computer.” Nowadays, everything  is  in  computer  means  almost  any  information  we  can  get  easily  with  the  help  of  computer  and  internet  technologies.  That’s  why  “Everything  is  in  computer”  and  as  a  result  “computer is everywhere”.

In  the  past  three  decades,  technology  has  been  transferred  from  developed  countries  to  developing  countries  like  Nepal  as  well.  As  a  result,  most  of  the  citizens  and  the  organizational  business  companies  of  Nepal  have  been  using  the  computer  these  days.  We  use  a  computer  because  of  its  influence  on  professional  endeavours  in  daily  life.  With  the  invention  of  the  computer,  all  science, accounting,  financial,  cultural,  art,  historical,  medical,  engineering,  and  other  disciplines  are  required  to  change  with  the  base  of  the  computer  or  computing  environment.  No  discipline  shall  survive for a long time without the use of their studies through the computer. 

Our past generation was referred to as illiterate as they were not capable of writing a letter to their children  and  their  dears.  In  addition  to  this,  these  days  the  people  would  be  treated  as  illiterate  because   of   their   incapability   to   send   a   message   through   e-mail.   Nowadays,   the   computing   environment  is  really  very  interactive  and  has  also  reduced  distance  a  lot.  Now,  the  world  has  turned  into  a  global  village  due  to  Computer  and  Information  Technology.  So,  we  can  get  information easily on any part of the earth in less than a second. 

Definition of Computer 

The  development  of  the  computer  is  not  one  day’s  invention.  In  fact,  it  began  with  civilization  and  computing instructions on devices. The word “computer” comes from the Latin word “computare” (compute in English), which means to calculate. The word “calculate” means to find out the result of some operation on numeric and non-numeric values. So, a computer is normally considered to be a  calculating  device  at  high  speed.  Moreover,  the  computer  is  defined  in  the  oxford  dictionary  as  “An  automatic  electronic  apparatus  of  making  calculations  or  controlling  operations  that  are  expressible in numerical or logical terms.”

Some Other Definitions of Computer  

A computer  can  be  defin
ed  as  a  multipurpose, programmable, electronicdata  processingdevice that is capable of accepting input, processing it, and producing information as output at enormous speed. 

A computer   may   be   defined   as   a   machine   that   can   solve   problems   by   accepting   data,   performing   certain   operations,   and   presenting   results   of   those   operations   in   sequential   instructions. Such a set of sequenced instructions, which cause a computer program to perform particular operations, is called a program.

A computer  can  be  defined  as  a  programmable  digitalautomatic  machine,  which  takes  input  from  the  user,  processes  it,  and  gives  the  output  (information)  in  the  desired  form  to  the  user  and stores it if necessary. 

A computer is an electronic device, which can perform computation as well as logical action at enormous speed.

Characteristics (Features) of Computer 

Some  factors  that  might  lead  people  to  use  a  computer  are  speed,  accuracy,  word  length,  automation,  diligence, reliability, versatility, and storagecapacity.

1.     Speed:

The data processing speed of the electronic computer is very fast because the signals can pass at the speed of electricity which is near to that of the speed of light i.e. 2.997 × 108 m/sec. Thus   millions   of   calculations   can   be   done   in   a   second.   Such   speeds   are   beyond   the   comprehension of the human brain. 

2. Accuracy: 

The accuracy of a computer is consistently high, and every calculation is performed with the same accuracy i.e. almost 100% accurate results are always the same as per design. The degree of accuracy of a particular computer depends upon its design.  Accordingly,  software  needs  to  be  designed  properly,  and  proper  checks  and  controls  are  necessary  for  the  program  and  data.  Errors  can  occur  in  a  computer  system  due  to  inaccurate  data or instructions fed by humans or end-users. 

3.    Word      length:

Digital computer operates on binary digits (bit), a combination of 1 (one or high) and 0 (zero or low), which means all data or information are kept in a computer or its memory in  terms  of  0’s  and  1’s.  8  bits  is  equal  to  one  byte.  The  number  of  bits  that  a  computer  can  process at a time in parallel is called its word length. Commonly used word lengths are 8, 16, 32, or 64. Longer the word length, the faster the computer is

4.      Automation:  

A  computer  is  an  automatic  machine,  capable  of  functioning  automatically,  once  the  appropriate  set  of  instructions  (program)  and  data  are  provided  to  the  computer.  Once  a  task is initiated in a computer, it can proceed automatically.

5.      Diligence: 

The computer can perform repetitive tasks without being bored and never gets tired. Diligence means being constant and earnest in effort and application. It can continuously work for  several  hours  or  days  after  the  data  and  programs  are  fed  in  it.  Unlike  human  beings,  a  computer is free from tiredness, weakness, lack of concentration and monotony. If one work is repeated  many  times,  a  human  being  suffers  from  physical  and  mental  tiredness,  but  the  computer  can  perform  the  repeated  task  with  the  same  speed  and  accuracy.  Because  of  this  reason, human beings are getting a high level of benefit.

6.      Reliability: 

The computer system is particularly master a lot of work without any mistakes and tiredness. That’s why they are widely used everywhere because of their reliability. On the other hand, Unreliable can occur if the end-user feeds incorrect data and instructions, or faulty instructions for processing the data automatically lead to faulty results. This is known as GIGO,  i.e.  Garbage  iEn  Garbage  Out  (GIGO).  Errors  may  occur  in  the  results,  but  due  to  the  increased efficiency of error-detecting techniques, they can be minimized. Thus, the probability of errors in a computer is negligible.  

7.      Versatility: 

Computer can perform different tasks depending upon the different program fed to it, is known as versatility. It has a wide range of application areas i.e. it can do many types of jobs.  It  can  perform  operations  ranging  from  simple  mathematical  calculations  to  highly  complex  and  logical  manipulations.  Some  of  the  applications  areas  of  computers  are  in  education,   business,   office-automation,   bank,   medical   diagnosis,   science   and   technology,   communications, and astronomy, so it is versatile in nature. 

8.      Storage      capacity: 

A computer can store a huge amount of data. It has a data storage area, called memory. Any data stored in the memory can be retrieved at any time and at a very fast speed. The memory can be divided into primary memory and secondary storage. Primary memory is the working  memory  of  the  computer  and  is  capable  of  sending  and  retrieving  data  at  very  high  speed, whereas secondary storage is long-term memory and operates more slowly but capable of  storing  large  amounts  of  data.  Example:  floppy  disk,  hard  disk,  magnetic  tape,  magnetic  disks, and the optical disk. The storing capacity of a computer is measured in terms of byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte. A binary number either 0 or 1 is called a bit (binarydigit). 4 bits are equal to 1 nibbleand 8 bits are equal to 1 byte or a character. One kilobyte is equal to 210 that equal to 1024 bytes. 


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