Computers Anatomy
Since computers are changing the world, it’s important to know how they work and how information is represented inside a computer. It’s also useful to know the different parts of a computer and how Code and Software control Hardware.
How computers work?
In order for a computer to work, it needs to input the information, store it, then process it and after that output the result.
- Input: Things you do with keyboard, mouse,…etc to tell the computer what to do.
- Storage and Processing: Given inputs are stored in the memory, then the computer’s processer takes these informationand changes it using series of commands then sends it back and stores it memory again.
- Output: It depends on what the computer is designed to do. For example, a computer display can show Text, Photos, Games, …etc.
# Hardware and Software.
- Hardware: The stuff you see inside a computer, like Circuits, Chips, Wires, Speakers, and Plugs.
- Software: The things you don’t see inside the device, like the computer programs or codes that run on it. Such as Apps, Games, Websites, Maps…etc.
How Hardware and Software iteract with each other?
Acomputer contains something called CPU which is the master chip that controls all the other parts of a computer.
CPU needs to do different things. So inside, it has smaller parts to handle different tasks, like circuits to do math and logic and others to send and receive information to and from different parts of a computer. The CPU receives a simple command (Binary Command) that tells what circuits to use to do a specific task. These binary commands are stored in memory and the CPU handles them one after the other. These binary codes are what we call Software which controls all the Hardware of a computer.
Nowadays, software like PYTHON, RUBY, BLOCKLY are mostly used. These programing languages let us type in commands using something similer to English.
To run multiple tasks, the CPU gets some help from what’s called the Operating System of a computer which is the master program that manages how software uses the hardware of a computer. The operating system quickly switches between programs in a small part of a second.
