Types of Computer

 All the computers that are developed are not alike rather they have
different designs and features. Some computers have very high
capacity as well as working speed; however, some are slow.
 Depending upon the requirements, computers are being developed.

Types of Computer

Depending upon the internal structure and subsequent features and

applicability, computer system is categorized as follows −

1.Mainframe Computer

It is high capacity and costly computer. It is largely used by big

organizations where many people can use it simultaneously.

2.Super Computer

This category of computer is the fastest and also very expensive. A typical
supercomputer can solve up to ten trillion individual calculations per
second.

3.Workstation Computer

The computer of this category is a high-end and expensive one. It is

exclusively made for complex work purpose.
4.Personal Computer (PC)

It is a low capacity computer developed for single users.

5.Apple Macintosh (Mac)

It is a sort of personal computer manufactured by Apple company.

6.Laptop computer (notebook)

It is a handy computer that can be easily carried anywhere.

7.Tablet and Smartphone

Modern technology has advanced further. It has helped develop computers

that are pocket-friendly. Tablets and smartphones are the best examples of
such computer
HARDWARE:

Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer,

i.e. the components that can be seen and touched.
Examples of Hardware are the following −
 Input devices − keyboard, mouse, etc.
 Output devices − printer, monitor, etc.
 Secondary storage devices − Hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.
 Internal components − CPU, motherboard, RAM, etc.
Relationship between Hardware and Software
 Hardware and software are mutually dependent on each other. Both of
them must work together to make a computer produce a useful
output.
 Software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware.
 Hardware without a set of programs to operate upon cannot be
utilized and is useless.
 To get a particular job done on the computer, relevant software
should be loaded into the hardware.
 Hardware is a one-time expense.
 Software development is very expensive and is a continuing expense.
 Different software applications can be loaded on a hardware to run
different jobs.
 A software acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
 If the hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then the software
is its 'soul'. Both are complementary to each other.
Software

Software

Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined

function. A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a
particular problem.
There are two types of software −

 System Software
 Application Software

System Software

 The system software is a collection of programs designed to operate,

control, and extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself.
 System software is generally prepared by the computer
manufacturers. These software products comprise of programs written
in low-level languages, which interact with the hardware at a very
basic level.
 System software serves as the interface between the hardware and
the end users.
Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers,
Interpreter, Assemblers, etc.

most prominent features of a system software −

 Close to the system

 Fast in speed
 Difficult to design
 Difficult to understand
 Less interactive
 Smaller in size
 Difficult to manipulate
  Generally written in low-level language

Application Software

 Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need

of a particular environment. All software applications prepared in the
computer lab can come under the category of Application software.
 Application software may consist of a single program, such as
Microsoft's notepad for writing and editing a simple text.
 It may also consist of a collection of programs, often called a
software package, which work together to accomplish a task, such as
a spreadsheet package.
Examples of Application software are the following −

 Payroll Software
 Student Record Software
 Inventory Management Software
 Income Tax Software
 Railways Reservation Software

 Microsoft Word
 Microsoft Excel
 Microsoft PowerPoint

Features of application software:

 Close to the user

 Easy to design
 More interactive
 Slow in speed
 Generally written in high-level language
 Easy to understand
 Easy to manipulate and use
  Bigger in size and requires large storage space
Differences between Software and Hardware are sorted out below −

Sr.No Software Hardware

.

1 It is a It includes physical components of computer system.

collection of
programs to
bring
computer
hardware
system into
operation.

2 It includes It consists of electronic components like ICs, diodes,

numbers, registers, crystals, boards, insulators, etc.
alphabets,
alphanumeric
symbols,
identifiers,
keywords,
etc.

3 Software Hardware design is based on architectural decisions to

products make it work over a range of environmental conditions
evolve by and time.
adding new
features to
existing
programs to
support
hardware.

4 It will vary It is mostly constructed for all types of computer

as per systems.
computer
and its built-
 in functions
and
programming
language.

5 It is The hardware can understand only low-level language

designed and or machine language.
developed by
experienced
programmers
in high-level
language.

6 It is The hardware works only on binary codes 1’s and 0’s.

represented
in any high-
level
language
such as
BASIC,
COBOL, C,
C++, JAVA,
etc.

7 The software The hardware consists of input devices, output devices,

is memory, etc.
categorized
as operating
system,
utilities,
language
processor,
application
software,
etc.
What is a programming language?

 A programming language defines a set of instructions that are

compiled together to perform a specific task by the CPU (Central
Processing Unit).

 The programming language mainly refers to high-level languages such

as C, C++, Pascal, Ada, COBOL, etc.

 Each programming language contains a unique set of keywords and

syntax, which are used to create a set of instructions.

 Thousands of programming languages have been developed till now,

but each language has its specific purpose.

 These languages vary in the level of abstraction they provide from the
hardware. Some programming languages provide less or no
abstraction while some provide higher abstraction. Based on the levels
of abstraction,

 they can be classified into two categories:

o Low-level language
o High-level language

 The image which is given below describes the abstraction level from
hardware. As we can observe from the below image that the machine
language provides no abstraction,

 assembly language provides less abstraction whereas high-level

language provides a higher level of abstraction.
Low-level language

 The low-level language is a programming language that provides no

abstraction from the hardware, and it is represented in 0 or 1 forms,
which are the machine instructions.

 The languages that come under this category are the Machine level
language and Assembly language.

Machine-level language

 The machine-level language is a language that consists of a set of

instructions that are in the binary form 0 or 1.

 computers can understand only machine instructions, which are in

binary digits, i.e., 0 and 1, so the instructions given to the computer
can be only in binary codes.

 Creating a program in a machine-level language is a very difficult task

as it is not easy for the programmers to write the program in machine
instructions.

 It is error-prone as it is not easy to understand,

 its maintenance is also very high.

  A machine-level language is not portable as each computer has its
machine instructions, so if we write a program in one computer will no
longer be valid in another computer.

 The different processor architectures use different machine codes,

for example, a PowerPC processor contains RISC architecture, which

requires different code than intel x86 processor, which has a CISC
architecture.

Assembly Language

 The assembly language contains some human-readable commands

such as mov, add, sub, etc.

 The problems which we were facing in machine-level language are

reduced to some extent by using an extended form of machine-level
language known as assembly language.

 Since assembly language instructions are written in English words like

mov, add, sub, so it is easier to write and understand.

 Computers can only understand the machine-level instructions, so we

require a translator that converts the assembly code into machine
code.

 The translator used for translating the code is known as an

assembler.

 The assembly language code is not portable because the data is stored
in computer registers, and the computer has to know the different sets
of registers.

 The assembly code is not faster than machine code because the
assembly language comes above the machine language in the
hierarchy, so it means that assembly language has some abstraction
from the hardware while machine language has zero abstraction.
Differences between Machine-Level language and Assembly
language

The following are the differences between machine-level language and

assembly language:

Machine-level language Assembly language

The machine-level language comes at the lowest The assembly language comes a
level in the hierarchy, so it has zero abstraction machine language means that it
level from the hardware. abstraction level from the hardw

It cannot be easily understood by humans. It is easy to read, write, and ma

The machine-level language is written in binary The assembly language is writte

digits, i.e., 0 and 1. English language, so it is easily u
by the users.

It does not require any translator as the In assembly language, the assem
machine code is directly executed by the convert the assembly code into m
computer.

It is a first-generation programming language. It is a second-generation progra

High-Level Language

 The high-level language is a programming language that allows a

programmer to write the programs which are independent of a
particular type of computer.

 The high-level languages are considered as high-level because they

are closer to human languages than machine-level languages.

 compiler is required to translate a high-level language into a low-level

language.

Advantages of a high-level language

 o The high-level language is easy to read, write, and maintain as it is
written in English like words.
o The high-level languages are designed to overcome the limitation of
low-level language, i.e., portability. The high-level language is
portable; i.e., these languages are machine-independent.

Differences between Low-Level language and High-Level language

The following are the differences between low-level language and

high-level language:

Low-level language High-level language

It is a machine-friendly language, i.e., the It is a user-friendly language as t

computer understands the machine language, written in simple English words, w
which is represented in 0 or 1. easily understood by humans.

The low-level language takes more time to It executes at a faster pace.

execute.

It requires the assembler to convert the It requires the compiler to conve

assembly code into machine code. language instructions into machin

The machine code cannot run on all machines, The high-level code can run all th
so it is not a portable language. it is a portable language.

It is memory efficient. It is less memory efficient.

Debugging and maintenance are not easier in a Debugging and maintenance are
low-level language. level language.

Computer Network Types

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that
enables the computer to communicate with another computer and share
their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer

network is mainly of four types:

o LAN(Local Area Network)

o PAN(Personal Area Network)
o MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
o WAN(Wide Area Network)

LAN(Local Area Network)

o Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in
a small area such as building, office.
o LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a
communication medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
o It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs,
network adapters, and ethernet cables.
o The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area
Network.
o Local Area Network provides higher security.
PAN(Personal Area Network)
o Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual
person, typically within a range of 10 meters.
o Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer devices of
personal use is known as Personal Area Network.
o Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to bring the idea
of the Personal Area Network.
o Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.
o Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal area
network are the laptop, mobile phones, media player and play
stations.
There are two types of Personal Area Network:

o Wired Personal Area Network

o Wireless Personal Area Network

Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area Network is

developed by simply using wireless technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth. It
is a low range network.

Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area Network is created by

using the USB.
Examples Of Personal Area Network:
o Body Area Network: Body Area Network is a network that moves
with a person. For example, a mobile network moves with a person.
Suppose a person establishes a network connection and then creates a
connection with another device to share the information.
o Offline Network: An offline network can be created inside the home,
so it is also known as a home network. A home network is designed
to integrate the devices such as printers, computer, television but they
are not connected to the internet.
o Small Home Office: It is used to connect a variety of devices to the
internet and to a corporate network using a VPN

MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)

o A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger
geographic area by interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger
network.
o Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and private
industries.
o In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone
exchange line.
o The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay,
ATM, ISDN, OC-3, ADSL, etc.
o It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).
Uses Of Metropolitan Area Network:
o MAN is used in communication between the banks in a city.
o It can be used in an Airline Reservation.
o It can be used in a college within a city.
o It can also be used for communication in the military.

WAN(Wide Area Network)

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large
geographical area such as states or countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans
over a large geographical area through a telephone line, fibre optic
cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business,
government, and education.
Geometric representation of how the computers are connected to each other
is known as topology. There are five types of topology – Mesh, Star, Bus,
Ring and Hybrid.

Client Server Computing

In client server computing, the clients requests a resource and the server
provides that resource. A server may serve multiple clients at the same time
while a client is in contact with only one server. Both the client and server
usually communicate via a computer network but sometimes they may
reside in the same system.
An illustration of the client server system is given as follows −
Characteristics of Client Server Computing
The salient points for client server computing are as follows:

 The client server computing works with a system of request and

response. The client sends a request to the server and the server
responds with the desired information.
 The client and server should follow a common communication protocol
so they can easily interact with each other. All the communication
protocols are available at the application layer.
 A server can only accommodate a limited number of client requests at
a time. So it uses a system based to priority to respond to the
requests.
 Denial of Service attacks hinder a servers ability to respond to
authentic client requests by inundating it with false requests.
 An example of a client server computing system is a web server. It
returns the web pages to the clients that requested them.

Advantages of Client Server Computing

The different advantages of client server computing are −

 All the required data is concentrated in a single place i.e. the server.
So it is easy to protect the data and provide authorization and
authentication.
 The server need not be located physically close to the clients. Yet the
data can be accessed efficiently.
  It is easy to replace, upgrade or relocate the nodes in the client server
model because all the nodes are independent and request data only
from the server.
 All the nodes i.e clients and server may not be build on similar
platforms yet they can easily facilitate the transfer of data.

Disadvantages of Client Server Computing

The different disadvantages of client server computing are −

 If all the clients simultaneously request data from the server, it may
get overloaded. This may lead to congestion in the network.
 If the server fails for any reason, then none of the requests of the
clients can be fulfilled. This leads of failure of the client server
network.
 The cost of setting and maintaining a client server model are quite
high.