Information and Communication Technology (Zambak)

CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Computers
What is a Computer?......................................................8
HOW COMPUTERS WORK..............................................8
Booting Up Your Computer..............................................8
Data Flow in a Computer.................................................8
TYPES OF COMPUTERS...............................................10
Mainframe Computers...................................................10
Minicomputers..............................................................11
Supercomputers...........................................................11
Microcomputers............................................................11
THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS....................................12
The Main Periods in the History of Computers...............13
1. Vacuum Tubes (1930–1958)........................................13
2. Transistors (1959)........................................................13
3. Integrated Circuits (1965).............................................13
4. Microprocessors (1971)...............................................14
5. Personal Computer (1981)...........................................14
Important Inventions in the History of Computers..........14
COMPUTERS IN EVERYDAY LIFE.................................18
Communication.............................................................18
Education......................................................................18
Astronomy and Space Technology................................19
Press and Publishing....................................................19
Entertainment...............................................................20
Engineering, Architecture, and Design...........................20
Finance and Accounting................................................20
Banking........................................................................20
Biology and Medicine....................................................21
Military Services...........................................................21
MEASURING DATA (BITS AND BYTES).........................21
Understanding Data.......................................................21
Decimal and Binary Number Systems...........................22
Converting a Decimal Number to Its Binary Equivalent..23
Converting a Binary Number to Its Decimal Equivalent..23
Octal Numbers and Hexadecimal Numbers ...................24
TAKING CARE OF THE COMPUTER...............................25
Clean Out the Dust........................................................25
Monitor Cleaning..............................................................25
Keyboard Cleaning............................................................25
Mouse Cleaning................................................................26
Case Cleaning..................................................................26
Keep Your PC Cool........................................................26
Buy Quality Hardware....................................................27
Get Power Protection....................................................27
Get an Anti-Virus Program.............................................27
Scan for Other Malware................................................27
Run the Defragmenter Utility..........................................27
Clean Up Old Files.........................................................27
HEALTHY COMPUTER USE...........................................28
Make Yourself Comfortable...........................................28
Take a Break.................................................................28
Eyes and Eyesight ........................................................28
BUYING A COMPUTER.................................................29
Your Needs...................................................................29
Windows vs. Mac.........................................................29
Desktop vs. Laptop.......................................................29
When Choosing a Laptop..................................................30
Hardware......................................................................30
CPU..................................................................................30
Memory (RAM)................................................................31
Hard Disk.........................................................................31
Monitor.............................................................................31
Disk Drives.......................................................................31
Sound and Video..............................................................31
Software.......................................................................31
Service, Support and Warranty.....................................32
Introduction..................................................................38
CHAPTER 2: Hardware
The System Unit.......................................................38
Chassis (Case).............................................................38
Power Supply...............................................................40
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)..................................40
Mainboard....................................................................42
The ROM-BIOS.................................................................43
System Buses..................................................................45
The Bus Arbitration (Chipset)............................................46
Expansion Slots................................................................47
ATA and ATAPI Interfaces..................................................49
Peripheral Connectors.......................................................50
Internal Speaker............................................................51
Central Processing Unit (CPU).......................................52
Inside a CPU.....................................................................53
32-Bit and 64-Bit Architectures.........................................54
Single and Multi-Core Processors.....................................54
Intel Corporation ..............................................................55
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).......................................56
VIA Technologies..............................................................56
Memory (RAM).............................................................56
Memory Hierarchy............................................................57
Static RAM (SRAM)..........................................................58
Dynamic RAM (DRAM).....................................................59
Memory Latency..............................................................61
Expansion Cards...........................................................62
Some Types of Expansion Cards.......................................62
Video Card (Display Adapter, Graphics Card)....................63
Sound Card (Audio Card)..................................................66
Network Interface Card (NIC)............................................67
Modem (Modulator/Demodulator).....................................69
TV Card............................................................................70
PC Card and ExpressCard.................................................71
SCSI Card........................................................................71
Input Devices...........................................................73
Keyboard......................................................................73
Touch Screen................................................................78
Light Pen......................................................................79
Graphics Tablet (Pen Tablet)..........................................79
Concept Tablet and Concept Keyboard..........................79
Webcam.......................................................................80
Scanner........................................................................80
PC Microphone.............................................................81
Joystick........................................................................82
Mouse..........................................................................83
Output Devices........................................................85
Monitor.........................................................................85
Printer...........................................................................87
Laser Printers...................................................................88
Impact (dot-matrix) Printers..............................................88
Plotter...........................................................................89
Speakers and Headphones............................................90
Speaker............................................................................90
Headphone.......................................................................90
Data Storage Devices.............................................91
Hard Disk Drive.............................................................92
Solid-State Drive (SSD).................................................94
Floppy Diskette (FDD)...................................................95
Magnetic Tape..............................................................95
Zip Disk........................................................................96
CD ROM Disk ..............................................................96
DVD Disk......................................................................97
Blu-Ray Disk.................................................................97
CHAPTER 3: Software
Introduction................................................................106
Operating Systems......................................................106
Interface.........................................................................107
Single or Multi-User........................................................108
Stand Alone or Network..................................................108
Single or Multi-Tasking....................................................109
MS-DOS ....................................................................109
Most Common MS-DOS Commands...............................110
Microsoft Windows Family .........................................111
Windows 98...................................................................111
Windows NT ..................................................................112
Windows Server Family .................................................112
Windows XP ..................................................................112
Windows Vista ..............................................................113
Windows 7 ....................................................................113
Mac OS......................................................................113
Unix ...........................................................................114
Linux..........................................................................114
Novell NetWare...........................................................115
BeOS and Haiku .........................................................116
Mobile Operating Systems .........................................116
Symbian OS...................................................................116
Google Android...............................................................117
Mobile Linux...................................................................117
BlackBerry OS................................................................117
iPhone OS......................................................................117
APPLICATION PROGRAMS.........................................119
Word Processor..........................................................119
Spreadsheet................................................................120
Presentation Software.................................................121
Database Management Software.................................121
CAD/CAM...................................................................122
Painting and Drawing..................................................123
Vector Graphics..............................................................123
Raster Graphics..............................................................123
Major Graphic File Formats.............................................124
Raster Formats...............................................................124
Vector Formats...............................................................126
Page Layout and Desktop Publishing...........................127
Animation Programs...................................................128
Multimedia Applications..............................................128
Games........................................................................129
Educational Software..................................................129
Courseware....................................................................129
Classroom Aids..............................................................129
Edutainment...................................................................129
Educational software on custom platforms.....................129
Online Applications.....................................................130
UTILITY programs..................................................132
What are Utilities?.......................................................132
Disk Defragmenters.....................................................133
Disk Checkers ............................................................133
Disk Cleaners .............................................................133
Disk Space Analyzers .................................................133
Disk Partitions............................................................133
Disk Compression Utilities .........................................133
Registry Cleaners .......................................................134
System Monitors and Profilers....................................134
Antivirus Software......................................................134
Network Utilities .........................................................135
Backup Utilities...........................................................135
File Managers ............................................................136
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES....................................137
Introduction................................................................137
Compiling and Interpretation........................................137
General-Purpose and Special-Purpose Languages.......137
Web Programming......................................................138
High-Level and Low-Level Languages.........................138
Some of the Popular Programming Languages............139
Assembly.......................................................................139
Fortran...........................................................................140
BASIC.............................................................................141
COBOL...........................................................................141
Pascal and Object Pascal................................................142
C, C++ and C# (C Sharp)............................................144
Java...............................................................................145
Visual BASIC..................................................................145
Pyhthon..........................................................................146
Java Script.....................................................................146
Dart................................................................................146
ASP / ASP.NET ...............................................................147
PHP................................................................................147
Cold Fusion....................................................................147
Ruby on Rails.................................................................148
CHAPTER 4: Networking
Understanding Computer Networks.............................152
Advantages of Networks.................................................152
Drawbacks of Networks..................................................152
Communication between Computers...............................153
Network Types............................................................153
LAN (Local Area Network)..............................................154
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)...................................155
WAN (Wide Area Network)..............................................156
Comparing LAN, MAN and WAN.....................................157
Network Components..................................................157
Media.............................................................................157
Network Devices.............................................................159
Network Protocols......................................................161
Intranet, Extranet, and Internet.....................................163
Intranet...........................................................................163
Extranet..........................................................................163
The Internet ...................................................................164
Internet Connection Types...............................................165
Wi-Fi..............................................................................166
The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets...........................167
WWW (World Wide Web)............................................167
Web 2.0.........................................................................167
Internet and WWW Tools.............................................168
E-Mail.............................................................................168
IRC Chat and Instant Messaging.....................................169
FTP (File Transfer Protocol).............................................169
Cloud Computing............................................................171
Internet Telephony..........................................................171
Video Conference...........................................................172
Telnet.............................................................................173
Discussion Boards and Newsgroups...............................173
Social Media...................................................................174
Networking Models and Standards..............................175
The OSI Model................................................................175
TCP/IP Model.................................................................177
Network Topologies.....................................................179
Bus Topology..................................................................179
Ring Topology................................................................179
Star Topology.................................................................180
Tree Topology.................................................................181
Mesh Topology...............................................................181
Logical Topologies......................................................182
Logical Token Ring Topology..........................................182
Logical Ethernet Bus Topology........................................182
IP Addressing.............................................................183
Understanding IP Addressing..........................................183
Types of IP Addresses....................................................183
Versions of IP Addresses................................................184
Network Management.................................................185
Network Management Administrator...............................185
Network Security.........................................................185
Different Network Security Threats..................................185
Blocking Threats with a Firewall......................................186
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