hard ware:- you can touch it
Software, you can't
2006-07-10 22:17:50
·
answer #1
·
answered by REAPER_ENTERPRISES 5
·
0⤊
0⤋
Computer Systems uses mathematics, science, and economics along with technological knowledge and skill in the application of programming languages, computer hardware, operating systems, and networking to design, analyze, implement, and test systems that integrate hardware and low-level software. The Computer Hardware concentration is designed to provide students with an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in the broad area of digital systems, computer hardware, and computer network applications.
Software = The programs, routines, and symbolic languages that control the functioning of the hardware and direct its operation.
Software instructs a computer what to do. (The computer's physical components are called hardware.) Computer software is the general term for a variety of procedures and routines that harness the computational power of a computer to produce, for example, a general operating system that coordinates the basic workings of the computer or specific applications that produce a database, a financial spreadsheet, a written document, or a game. Computer programmers use different types of programming languages to create the intricate sets of instructions that make computing possible
2006-07-10 22:24:44
·
answer #2
·
answered by Joe_Young 6
·
0⤊
0⤋
Try the following books--
1) Software for dummies
2)hardware for dummies
3) computers for dummies
2006-07-13 17:46:13
·
answer #3
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
the BASIC information about hardware and software would fill a few books.
2006-07-10 22:18:56
·
answer #4
·
answered by nickipettis 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
hardware is like your brain
software is like thinking
software can do nothing without hardware
hardware needs software to do any woorks
software like our brains need some thing to start or use
2006-07-10 22:41:27
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
hardware is what is in ur computer and software is the programs that run it, and if u want information on it, ur gona be studying at harvard for a cuople of years
2006-07-10 22:21:36
·
answer #6
·
answered by mathiasmj2003 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
u will get better information along with the pics if u can search thru the google
cheers
babu
2006-07-10 23:18:33
·
answer #7
·
answered by babu_iiit 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
Computer Hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. The hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, in comparison with software and data, which are "soft" in the sense that they are readily created, modified or erased on the computer. Firmware is a special type of software that rarely, if ever, needs to be changed and so is stored on hardware devices such as read-only memory (ROM) where it is not readily changed (and is therefore "firm" rather than just "soft").
Most computer hardware is not seen by normal users. It is in embedded systems in automobiles, microwave ovens, electrocardiograph machines, compact disc players, and other devices. Personal computers, the computer hardware familiar to most people, form only a small minority of computers (about 0.2% of all new computers produced in 2003) Market statistics.
Personal computer hardware:
--------------------------------------
A typical personal computer consists of a case or chassis in desktop or tower shape and the following parts:
* Motherboard or system board with slots for expansion cards and holding parts including:
o Central processing unit (CPU)
o Random Access Memory (RAM) - for program execution and short term data storage, so the computer doesn't have to take the time to access the hard drive to find something. More RAM can contribute to a faster PC. RAM is normally removable by being in slots on the motherboard.
o Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) or Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) in newer computers
o Buses :
+ PCI bus
+ PCI-E or AGP bus
+ ISA bus (outdated)
+ EISA bus (outdated)
+ USB
* Power supply - a case that holds a transformer, voltage control and fan
* Storage controllers of IDE, SATA, SCSI or other type, that control hard disk, floppy disk, CD-ROM and other drives; the controllers sit directly on the motherboard (on-board) or on expansion cards
* Video display controller that produces the output for the computer display
* Computer bus controllers (parallel, serial, USB, FireWire) to connect the computer to external peripheral devices such as printers or scanners
* Some type of a removable media writer:
o CD - the most common type of removable media, cheap but fragile.
+ CD-ROM Drive
+ CD Writer
o DVD
+ DVD-ROM Drive
+ DVD Writer
+ DVD-RAM Drive
o Floppy disk
o Zip drive
o USB Flash Drive
o Tape drive - mainly for backup and long-term storage
* Internal storage - keeps data inside the computer for later use.
o Hard disk - for medium-term storage of data.
o Disk array controller
* Sound card - translates signals from the system board into analog voltage levels, and has terminals to plug in speakers.
* Networking - to connect the computer to the Internet and/or other computers
o Modem - for dial-up connections
o Network card - for DSL/Cable internet, and/or connecting to other computers.
* Other peripherals
In addition, hardware can include external components of a computer system. The following are either standard or very common.
* Input or Input devices
o Text input devices
+ Keyboard
3-button mouse
Enlarge
3-button mouse
*
o Pointing devices
+ Mouse
+ Trackball
o Gaming devices
+ Joystick
+ Gamepad
+ Game controller
o Image, Video input devices
+ Image scanner
+ Webcam
o Audio input devices
+ Microphone
* Output or Output devices
o Image, Video output devices
+ Printer
+ Monitor
o Audio output devices
+ Speakers
+ headset
SOFTWARE
***************
Computer Software (or simply software) is the programs and procedures required to enable a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (hardware). This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to perform a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run properly, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.
The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. The concept of reading different sequences of instructions into the memory of a device to control computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference engine. The theory that is the basis for most modern software was first proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem.
Relationship to the Hardware
-------------------------------------
software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. In computers, software is loaded into RAM and executed in the central processing unit. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions (object code), which change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is generally written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.
2006-07-10 22:38:55
·
answer #8
·
answered by Enigma 2
·
0⤊
0⤋