R. Craig Collins >Common
> How To: Terms
R. Craig Collins >Common
> How To: Terms
How To: Terms/Big Picture © R. Craig Collins, 2004/6
The Big Picture is below.
The following is a list of terms. The meanings are below, and will help as you begin reading the class textbooks...
Glossary
BIOS
Bit
Boot
Byte
CPU
Disk
Giga...
Hardware
Hertz
Input
Kilo...
Mega...
Monitor
Output
Peripheral
RAM
ROM
Software
Zip
Below are my definitions, which are explained a
little differently than your books do. Hopefully the combination of my definitions,
and the book definitions will help you master the terms. The Big Picture is below.
| Access | Random access, like disks or memory, is like a music, CD,
you may skip to a favorite song; Sequential Access, like backup tapes, is like a music cassette, you have to go through songs to get to your favorite |
| Bandwidth | Transmission capacity, often incorrectly referred to as transmission speed |
| BIOS | Basic Input/Output System, a ROM chip used especially at boot up, when the OS loads |
| Bit | Binary Digit, a 1 or a 0, the only item a computer can understand |
| Byte | Binary Term, usually 8 bits, enough information to represent a typed character |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit, the brains of the computer a type of Microprocessor made up of the Control Unit and the Arithmetic Logic Unit |
| Computer Proficiency | In order to use a computer, you don't have to be an expert, just proficient... Being able to do basic functions with a computer |
| CRT | Cathode Ray Tube, a TV style monitor |
| Data | Facts that can be processed into useful information, input (the user communicating with the computer, such as entering items on the keyboard) |
| Desktop | The metaphor used in a Windows computer to show what files and programs you may use, and how they are organized; also a kind of computer design, along with tablet, laptop, and PDA or UMPC (ultra mobile PC) |
| DOS | Disk Operating System, a command line OS that came before Windows |
| File | In databases, a collection of related records; in computers in general, the name given to a collection of data or instructions |
| Hard Disk | Long memory that keeps content even when the computer is turned off Auxiliary or Secondary Storage |
| Hardware | The part of the computer you can touch, if it connects to the CPU, it is a 'peripheral' |
| Hertz | Repetitions, or cycles; often related as cycles per second, as in megahertz , about a million cycles |
| Icon | A graphical element on a desktop that represents an object, such as a file or program |
| I/O | Input/Output, typically a used as a hardware term. |
| Information | Data that has been processed info something useful; output (the computer communicating with the user, such as results displayed on a monitor) |
| Kilo... | about 1000, exactly 1024; can be used with bits, bytes, or hertz |
| Mega... | about a million, exactly 10242; can be used with bits, bytes, or hertz |
| Microprocessor | another name for CPU |
| O/S | Operating System; a subset of system software, the OS provides the interface between the hardware, application software, and the user; ie DOS or Windows |
| Program | A file that contains instructions, such as a word processor |
| RAM | Random Access Memory, perhaps should have been called Read Write Memory Main Memory Short term Memory that can hold new information RAM is erased when the computer is turned off |
| ROM | Read Only Memory, memory that holds unchanging information |
| Sector/Tracks | Hard Drives are organized into tracks and sectors. Bad sectors can be repaired with the error checking tool |
| Software | Recorded instructions or info; the part of the computer you can't touch; includes system software (coordinates activities between user, applications, and hardware) and application software (does something useful for the user, such as word processing) |
| User Interface | How the user interacts with the system software; Windows is a Graphical UI |
| www | World wide web; the area of the Internet that uses http protocol to transfer
files files written in html; also, the normal host name assigned to a web site, such as the www in http://www.templejc.edu |
| Zip | A file that can contain multiple files, or more importantly, a file that is compressed to take up less space; |
The COMPUTING SYSTEM
¯
|
|-----------------†----------------|
Hardware Software User
| | |
(The COMPUTING MODEL) | †®Data
¯ |
| |
|---------†----------| |
Input Process Output |
(Data) >>>> (Information)|
Keyboard CPU Monitor |
|
|
|-------†-------|
System Application
| |
|---------------†-----| †®Word Processing
Operating System Utilites †®Spreadsheet
| | †®Presentation Graphics
Windows XP |
|
†®Disk Repair
†®Backup
†®etc.
Note: Many people consider the Computer model to include 4 functions:
input®process ®output
and store
