IT Analyst Internship

1.1 Introduction

Computer as a revolution left no area of life untouched in the present world. It is of tremendous help in all field of life.  Hence, the knowledge of computer is a necessity for existence of everybody in this global village. The invention of computer has transformed our simple manual works to sophisticated life of automated works to meet the global demand for the higher productivity and increased efficiency with high precision.

Computer is increasingly becoming compulsory in nearly all fields of studies, not because of anything but its accuracy and versatility in processing data. Many tasks at home or office are being automated rapidly with computer. Thus it is becoming apparent that in whatever discipline or working sector, the computer is now a very vital tool for efficiency improvement and precision of job or task execution. 

This is designed to meet the prerequisite need of everybody that are interested and wish to know about computers science and computing in general.

A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory.

These instructions tell the machine what to do. The computer is capable of accepting data (input), processing data arithmetically and logically, producing output from the processing, and storing the results for future use.

Most computers that sit on a desktop are called Personal Computers (PCs).

The "computer" is an ensemble of different machines that you will be using to get your job done. A computer is primarily made of the Central Processing Unit (usually referred to as the computer), the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse. Other pieces of hardware are commonly referred to as peripherals.

In everyday life activities, we process data or encounter cases of data processing. A typical example of data processing is the generation of statement of student result from the marks score in an examination and continuous assessment. It is essential to know that information is as good as the data from which it is derived, and  the  transformation  process  which  they  are  subjected  to.  Meaningless data or inappropriate processing produces wrong information. Thus computer gives you results corresponding to what data you supply and how you process it (i.e. 'garbage- in, garbage-out').

Summarily, the intelligent performance of a computer depends on correctness of input data and the intelligence performance of the human being that drives it.

1.2 Generations Of Computers

The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing devices. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful, efficient and reliable devices. 

First Generation - 1940-1956: Vacuum Tubes

The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts. The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business client. It was used in the 1951 U.S. Bureau Census. 

Second Generation - 1956-1963: Transistors

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 50s. The transistor was a vast improvement  over the  vacuum  tube,  allowing  computers  to  become  smaller,  faster,  cheaper, more  energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.  Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology. The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry. 

Third Generation - 1964-1971: Integrated Circuits

The  development  of  the  integrated  circuit  was  the  hallmark  of  the  third  generation  of  computers.

Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.  Instead  of punched cards  and  printouts,  users  interacted  with  third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory.

Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors. 

Fourth Generation - 1971-Present: Microprocessors

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. In  1981  IBM  introduced  its  first  computer  for  the  home  user,  and  in  1984  Apple  introduced  the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors.  As  these  small  computers  became  more powerful,  they could be  linked  together to  form  networks,  which  eventually led  to the  development  of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices. 

Fifth Generation - Present and Beyond: Artificial Intelligence 

Fifth  generation  computing devices,  based on artificial  intelligence,  are still  in development,  though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

1.3 Anatomy Of Computer System

A typical computer system irrespective of its size, class or type consists of hardware and software, integrated and harmonized together to perform computational work (scientific or military) or data processing.

Computer Hardware

Hardware system: Computer hardware consists of the components that can be physically handled. It refers to the physical units or machine of functional units, which makes up the computer configuration which is done to suit the goals and objectives of the user. The function of these components is typically divided into three main categories: input, output, and storage. Components in these categories connect to microprocessors, specifically,  the  computer's  central  processing  unit  (CPU),  the  electronic  circuitry  that  provides  the computational  ability  and  control  of  the  computer,  via  wires  or  circuitry  called  a  bus.  Hardware may be classified into Central Processing Units (CPU) and the peripherals.  The CPU entails Control Unit (CU), Arithmetic  and  Logic  Unit  (ALU) and  the  Internal Memory  Unit  (IMU)  or main  memory.  The peripherals consist of the input, output and Auxiliary Storage Units.

Strictly speaking, computer is made up of five district elements to include:

1. A central processing unit (ALU and CU)

2. Input unit

3. Output unit

4. Storage unit (Internal and Auxiliary)

5. The communication network; "Bus" that links all the elements of the system, and connects the external world (Cables and Cords)

Motherboard: The motherboard is a printed circuit board that connects other components through the use of traces, or electrical pathways. The motherboard is indispensable to the computer and provides the main computing capability.  Personal  computers  normally  have  one  central  processing  unit  (CPU)  on  the motherboard.

The Central Processing Unit (Cpu)

This is the main brain of the computer that accepts data, performs operations on the data and sends out the result. Information from an input device or from the computer's memory is communicated via the bus to the Central Processing Unit (CPU), which is the part of the computer that translates commands and runs programs.

It consists of ALU and CU, and a single chip or series of chips that performs arithmetic and logical calculations and controls the operations of the other elements of the system.

Most CPU chips are composed of...