How a Computer Works?
A Computer is a machine or device that performs processes, calculations and operations based on instructions provided by a software or hardware program. It has the ability to accept data (input), process it, and then produce outputs. Computers can also store data for later uses in appropriate storage devices, and retrieve whenever it is necessary.
Modern computers are electronic devices used for a variety of purposes ranging from browsing the web, writing documents, editing videos, creating applications, playing video games etc.
They are designed to execute applications and provide a variety of solutions by combining integrated hardware and software components. The earliest digital electronic device that could be defined as the first modern computer is the Colossus. Built in 1943-44, the Colossus was devised to crack the Lorenz SZ 40/42, a German encryption machine used to support military communications during World War II. The device used 2,400 vacuum tubes to perform multiple boolean logical operations to decode encrypted data.
Modern computers come in all shapes and sizes to perform a broad range of different functions. Although the first ones that come to mind are desktop and laptop computers, many other less-assuming devices such as grocery scanners, ATMs and smart TVs are computers as well. The diffusion of smartphones, game consoles, wearables and smart appliances made computers much more readily available in our daily life. A computer is made up of multiple parts and components that facilitate user functionality.
A computer has two primary categories:
- Hardware
- Software
Hardware: Physical structure that houses a computer's processor, memory, storage, communication ports and peripheral devices. Each of these components (called devices) have a different purpose, which may be either accepting inputs, storing data or sending outputs.
For example, a mouse and a microphone are input devices used to record user activities and transform them into data that is transmitted to the system unit. A hard disk is a storage unit where data is stored and accessed by other devices.
A monitor or a speaker are output devices that transform processed data into (respectively) video and audio signals.
Usually, the core components that represent the bare minimum that allow a computer to function are:
- Processor (CPU)
- Motherboard
- Memory (RAM)
- Storage device
- Power supply unit
Software: All parts of a computer that are not strictly physical, such as: data, programs, applications, protocols etc. are broadly defined as software. Although software has no material form, it is no less critical to receive information, encode, store and process it.
Computer software includes all executable and non-executable data, such as documents, digital media, libraries and online information. A computer’s Operating System (OS) and all its applications are software as well. ,br>A computer works with software programs that are sent to its underlying hardware architecture for reading, interpretation and execution.
Computers are classified according to computing power, capacity, size, mobility and other factors as personal computers (PC), desktop computers, laptop computers, minicomputers, handheld computers and devices, mainframes or supercomputers.