Slides for lesson 1 at JCU. Fall 2011. CS110-3

1. Microcomputer applications Fall semester 2011 Professor: Giuseppe Sindoni (gsindoni@johncabot.edu) CS110-3 Click on links to Wikipedia

2. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 2 This material is distributed under the “Creative Commons “Attribution – NonCommercial – Share Alike 3.0” , available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

3. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 3 Giuseppe Sindoni in a slide Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering at La Sapienza While also teaching IT in the private sector PhD in Medical Information Technology (Senior) technologist at Istat Adjunct professor at: Roma Tre (Economics, Humanities) Perugia (Engineering) Camerino (Engineering) National Expert at Eurostat

4. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 4 Course aims Develop essential skills in and knowledge of personal productivity software (office automation, internet tools) and the use of new Web 2.0 tools as a resource for professional business practice. Why is this important

5. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 5 Course content Principles of information and communication technology. Operating systems. File systems and file/folder management. Working in different environments: local PC, intranet servers, internet services, cloud computing, social networks. Personal productivity software: Office (Microsoft, OpenOffice, Google net suite). Simple integrated document management. Office automation: word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software: basic and advanced features. Technical and business perspective of the Web: servers and browsers; Web 2.0 resources.

6. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 6 Grading policy 15% Active attendance (see attendance requirements) 15 points, 0.5 deducted for each absence 30% Tests Three tests,10 points each 25% Midterm 25 points 30% Final 30 points

7. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 7 Assessment guidelines From the syllabus A: 93 – 100% B: 84 – 92.5% C: 75 – 83.5% D: 66 – 74.5% F: 0 – 65.5%

8. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 8 Tests and exams Quizzes: single/multiple response 10-line explanations or comments Practical exercises Managing documents Word processing Using spreadsheets to solve problems Building a hypermedia document Simple surveys Homework No marked individual assignments Example tests and exams

9. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 9 Course schedule

10. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 10 Principles of Information and Communication Technology

11. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 11 What is Information & Communication Technology (ICT)? Processes and technologies to create, gather, process, store, disseminate and share information. Definitions: Communication: the activity of conveying meaningful information. Information: an ordered sequence of symbols that records or transmits a message. Technology: application of science, especially in industry and business.

12. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 12 What is a Computer? An electronic device designed to receive and process data and display the results Computer = Electronic Digital Processer Processer: a machine able to store and process data following a sequence of instructions (program). Electronic: a computer uses electronic components. Digital: a computer processes and stores digital signals made of binary digits (0 and 1). Combinations of bits represent words, sounds, videos, etc. Decisive factors in the development and spread of computers: Miniaturization and reduction in price of electronic components Easier user interfaces Increasing popularity of Internet and the Web

13. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 13 Hardware and Software Hardware: the tangible part of a computer: all the magnetic, optical, mechanical and electronic parts enabling it to work. Software: the programs (instructions) enabling the hardware to perform its tasks.

14. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 14 Types of computers - Mainframe The first computers were very large, specialized, fast, and could control a lot of peripherals Mainframes are similar to today’s Servers

15. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 15 Types of computer Personal Computer Self-sufficient, single-user computer General Purpose: not for specific tasks, but mainly for personal productivity Basic/average performance Case: desktop and tower

16. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 16 Other types of computer Portable Computers - Notebook, Laptop Netbook, Tablet PC Palmtop, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) Smartphone, multimedia player

17. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 17 Main components of a PC In the case: Motherboard: printed circuit board containing: Central Processing Unit (CPU): the key component, which interprets and executes program instructions. Main memory: the memory used during processing (RAM) Support chips (ROM BIOS, Clock) Mass storage (permanent memory): hard disks Ports for connection to external devices Out of the case: Input devices providing instructions and data to be processed Output devices transferring results from computer to user. They allow users to see, listen to, and print the results

18. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 18 Central Processing Unit Central Processing Unit (CPU): microprocessor, the computer’s “brain” Executes instructions from programs loaded in the main memory (RAM) Two main manufacturers: Intel and AMD‏ Processor speed: Embeddedclocksmeasure the computer “heartbeats": a heartbeat corresponds to a cycle, approximately one processing step Measured in Hertz (cycles per second). 1 MegaHertz = 1 million cycles per second Today’s CPUs: thousands of Mhz (GigaHertz) Today’s PCs: 800 Mhz to 4 Ghz Comparability: CPU speed can only be compared among computers of the same type

19. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 19 Execution of instructions

20. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 20 Other main internal components RAM(Random Access Memory). The fastest memory, used for data processing. Contains data and instructions for the CPU. Expansion boards: Enable communication between external devices (e.g. video card or audio card) and the CPU. Ports: input to expansion boards. Connect case with input/output devices. Main types: USB (universal serial bus): most used, multipurpose; Other ports: Firewire, network, video. Disk Units: Hard Disk, CD/DVD. Power supply: to all components. One or more cooling fans

21. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 21 Input devices Keyboard: Alphanumeric, symbol and function keys. Number pad, direction keys. Special keys: Enter, Backspace, Del, Ins, Alt,‏ Ctrl, Shift, Tab. Mouse: Types: normal or optical, wireless or wired. Use: Left button: click, double click. Right button: context menu. Scroll wheel. Other pointing devices: trackball, trackpoint, touchpad Other input peripherals: scanner, webcam, microphone, joystick, camera, barcode reader

22. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 22 Output devices Monitor: main user interface. Size measured as the length in inches of the diagonal dimension. The most common size is currently 17”. Resolution: number of pixel (points). The most common resolution is currently 1024x768 pixels. The video card connects the computer to the screen. Its performance is very important. Monitor types: CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). Projectors. Printer: prints text and images in black & white or colour‏. Resolution: measured in DPI (dots per inch). Print speed: measured in pages per minute (ppm).‏ Most popular types: inkjet, laser. For most usual tasks. Other types: impact (dot matrix, needle), thermal transfer, sublimation. Other output devices: plotter, earphones, loudspeakers.

24. Unit of information is the BIT(Binary digIT), which can have 2 states: 0 or 1 (on/off)OFF ON An 8-bit group is a Byte, the conventional unit of measurement for data quantity. Byte multiples: 1 Kilobyte(Kbyte or Kb) = 210 Byte = 1,024 Bytes 1 Megabyte (Mbyte or Mb) = 210 Kbyte = 1,048,576 Bytes 1 Gigabyte (Gbyte or Gb) = 210 Mbyte = 1,073,741,824 Bytes 1 Terabyte (Tbyte or Tb) = 210 Gbyte = 1,099,511,627,776 Bytes

25. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 24 Data storage - 2 ASCII (American Standard Code Information Interchange) coding: a byte represents a number or a letter. Needed to represent characters (letters, numbers and symbols) using the binary system. Now being replaced by UNICODE, which uses at least 16 bits (2 bytes)

26. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 25 Main memory RAM (Random Access Memory): the memory used for data processing. Data and programs loaded into the RAM as they are used by the processor. Random access to memory cells, the most efficient way. RAM is temporary. When the computer is switched off, RAM is erased: very important to save current work. Current sizes: from 1 to 4 Gigabytes for PCs, but this can be expanded.

27. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 26 Mass storage Permanent devices where data are stored. The main storage device is the Hard Disk(HD): Sizes currently from Gigabytes to Terabytes. Contains the operating system, application programs, documents and personal data. Magnetic devices: organization. Formatting. Internal and external HDs. Other units (backup): tape units for server backups. Optical devices: Compact Disc (CD) and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) CD (up to 800 Mbyte), DVD (up to 17 times more). CD and DVD: ROM (read only memory), R (recordable) and RW (rewritable). CD/DVD drive needed to read contents. Burner needed to save (write) to CD/DVD. Rewritable memories (Flash): compact flash, USB drive, SD (Secure Digital), MMC (MultiMedia Card). Network disks (NAS: Network Attached Storage)

28. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 27 Comparison of storage devices

29. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 28 Computer performance Depends on many factors: Clock frequency (MegaHertz, GigaHertz). Comparable only between “families” of similar processors. Internal architecture: speed of motherboard and other parameters. Available RAM. Disk access speed and capacity. Video‏ card speed.

30. CS110 Microcomputer applications – G. Sindoni 29 Questions and (maybe) answers