COURSE CONTENTS

COS 101: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING SCIENCES: (3 Units C: LH 30; PH 45)

Brief history of computing. Description of the basic components of a computer/computing
device. Input/Output devices and peripherals. Hardware, software and human ware. Diverse
and growing computer/digital applications. Information processing and its roles in society. The
Internet, its applications and its impact on the world today. The different areas/programs of the
computing discipline. The job specializations for computing professionals. The future of
computing.
Lab Work: Practical demonstration of the basic parts of a computer. Illustration of different
operating systems of different computing devices including desktops, laptops, tablets, smart
boards and smart phones. Demonstration of commonly used applications such as word
processors, spreadsheets, presentation software and graphics. Illustration of input and output
devices including printers, scanners, projectors and smartboards. Practical demonstration of the
Internet and its various applications. Illustration of browsers and search engines. How to access
online resources.

Objectives
The specific objectives of this course are to:
1. Understand the history, classification and impact of computers.
2. Know the concept of computer hardware and software.
3. Understand features of a good program.
4. Understand the concept of Algorithms and flowcharting.
5. Understand the principles of designing algorithms for common programming problem.
6. Understand the concept of debugging and maintaining program.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. explain basic components of computers and other computing devices;
2. describe the various applications of computers;
3. explain information processing and its roles in the society;
4. describe the Internet, its various applications and its impact;
5. explain the different areas of the computing discipline and its specializations; and
6. demonstrate practical skills on using computers and the internet.

Text Book(s):
1. Goel, A. (2010). Computer fundamentals. Pearson Education India.

Course Writer/Developer: Dr. Femi E. AYO, Department of Computer Sciences, Olabisi

Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
E-mail: ayo.femi@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng
LESSON 1
DEFINITION OF COMPUTER
A computer is an electronic device that accepts data from the user, processes it, produces
results, displays them to the users, and stores the results for future usage.
In other words, a computer is basically defined as a tool or machine used for processing data
to give required information. It is capable of:
1. taking input data through the keyboard (input unit)
2. storing the input data in a diskette, hard disk or other medium
3. processing it at the central processing unit (CPU) and
4. giving out the result (output) on the screen or the Visual Display Unit (VDU).

Figure 1: Schematic diagram to define a computer

Data is a collection of unorganized facts & figures and does not provide any further
information regarding patterns, context, etc. Hence data means "unstructured facts and figures".
Information is a structured data i.e. organized meaningful and processed data. To process the
data and convert into information, a computer is used.
Methods of Data Processing
The following are the three major methods that have been widely used for data processing over
the years:
a. Manual method
b. Mechanical method and
c. Computer method.
Manual Method
The manual method of data processing involves the use of chalk, wall, pen, pencil etc. These
devices or tools facilitate human efforts in recording, classifying, manipulating, sorting and
presenting data or information. The manual data processing operations entail considerable
manual efforts. Thus, manual method is cumbersome, tiresome, boring, frustrating and time
consuming. Furthermore, the processing of data by the manual method is likely to be affected
by human errors. The manual method does not allow for the processing of large volume of data
on a regular and timely basis.
Mechanical Method
The mechanical method of data processing involves the use of machines such as typewriter,
adding machines and the like. These machines facilitate human efforts in recording, classifying,
manipulating, sorting and presenting data or information. The mechanical operations are noisy,
hazardous, error prone and untidy. The mechanical method does not allow for the processing
of large volume of data continuously and timely.
Computer Method
The computer method of carrying out data processing has the following major features:
a. Data can be steadily and continuously processed.
b. The operations are practically not noisy.
c. There is a store where data and instructions can be stored temporarily and permanently.
d. Errors can be easily and neatly corrected.
e. Output reports are usually very neat, decent and can be produced in various forms such as
adding graphs, diagrams, pictures etc.
f. Accuracy and reliability are highly enhanced.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMPUTER
The characteristics of the computer system are as follows –

Figure 2: Characteristics of computer

Speed
• Computer is a very fast device.
• It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.
• The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the picosecond.
• It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who will
spend many months to perform the same task.
Accuracy
• In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.
 • The calculations are 100% error free.
• Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that the input is correct.
Storage Capability
• Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.
• A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
• It can store large amount of data.
• It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio, etc.
Reliability
• A computer is a reliable machine.
• Modern electronic components have long lives.
• Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.
Automation
• Computer is an automatic machine.
• Automation is the ability to perform a given task automatically. Once the computer
receives a program i.e., the program is stored in the computer memory, then the program
and instruction can control the program execution without human interaction.
Reduction in paper work and cost
• The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to reduction in paper
work and results in speeding up the process.
• As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the problem of
maintenance of large number of paper files gets reduced.
• Though the initial investment for installing a computer is high, it substantially reduces
the cost of each of its transaction.
Diligence
• Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of
concentration.
• It can work continuously without any error and boredom.
• It can perform repeated tasks with the same speed and accuracy.
Versatility
• A computer is a very versatile machine.
• A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
• This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.
• At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very next
moment it may be playing a card game.
HISTORY OF COMPUTER
The history of computer can be classified into generations.
Initially, the generation term was used to distinguish between varying hardware technologies.
Nowadays, generation includes both hardware and software, which together make up an entire
computer system.
There are five computer generations known till date. Each generation has been discussed in
detail along with their time period and characteristics. Following are the main five generations
of computers.
First Generation Computers
The period of first generation was from 1946-1959. The computers of first generation used
vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing
Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of heat and the installations used to fuse
frequently. Therefore, they were very expensive and only large organizations were able to
afford it.
In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was used. Punch cards, paper
tape, and magnetic tape was used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation
used machine code as the programming language.
The main features of the first generation are:
• Vacuum tube technology
• Unreliable
• Supported machine language only
• Very costly
• Generated a lot of heat
• Slow input and output devices
• Huge size
• Need of AC
• Non-portable
• Consumed a lot of electricity
• Example is mainframe computer
Second Generation Computers
The period of second generation was from 1959-1965. In this generation, transistors were used
that were cheaper, consumed less power, more compact in size, more reliable and faster than
the first-generation machines made of vacuum tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores were
used as the primary memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks as secondary storage
devices.
In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming languages like FORTRAN,
COBOL were used. The computers used batch processing and multiprogramming operating
system.
The main features of second generation are:
• Use of transistors
• Reliable in comparison to first generation computers
 • Smaller size as compared to first generation computers
• Generated less heat as compared to first generation computers
• Consumed less electricity as compared to first generation computers
• Faster than first generation computers
• Still very costly
• AC required
• Supported machine and assembly languages
• Examples are IBM 1620 and IBM 7094

Third Generation Computers

The period of third generation was from 1965-1971. The computers of third generation used
Integrated Circuits (ICs) in place of transistors. A single IC has many transistors, resistors, and
capacitors along with the associated circuitry.
The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This development made computers smaller in size, reliable,
and efficient. In this generation remote processing, time-sharing, multiprogramming operating
system were used. High-level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1,
BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during this generation.
The main features of third generation are:
• IC used
• More reliable in comparison to previous two generations
• Smaller size
• Generated less heat
• Faster
• Lesser maintenance
• Costly
• AC required
• Consumed lesser electricity
• Supported high-level language
• Examples are IBM-360 series, Honeywell-6000 series and PDP (Personal Data
Processor).

Fourth Generation Computers

The period of fourth generation was from 1971-1980. Computers of fourth generation used
Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors and
other circuit elements with their associated circuits on a single chip made it possible to have
microcomputers of fourth generation.
Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable. As a
result, it gave rise to Personal Computer (PC) revolution. In this generation, time sharing, real
time networks, distributed operating system were used. All the high-level languages like C,
C++, Java, etc., were used in this generation.
The main features of fourth generation are:
• VLSI technology used
• Very cheap
• Portable and reliable
• Use of PCs
• Very small size
• Pipeline processing
• No AC required
• Concept of internet was introduced
• Great developments in the fields of networks
• Computers became easily available
• Example include Super Computers

Fifth Generation Computers

The period of fifth generation is 1980-till date. In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became
ULSI (Ultra Large-Scale Integration) technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor
chips having ten million electronic components.
This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence)
software. AI is an emerging branch in computer science, which interprets the means and
method of making computers think like human beings. All the high-level languages like C and
C++, Java, python, .Net etc., are used in this generation.
AI includes:
• Robotics
• Neural Networks
• Game Playing
• Development of expert systems to make decisions in real-life situations
• Natural language understanding and generation
The main features of fifth generation are:
• ULSI technology
• Development of true artificial intelligence
• Development of Natural language processing
• Advancement in Parallel Processing
• Advancement in Superconductor technology
• More user-friendly interfaces with multimedia features
• Availability of very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rates
• Some computer types of this generation are: Desktop, Laptop, NoteBook, UltraBook
and ChromeBook.
BASIC APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTER
Computers play a role in every field of life. They are used in homes, business, educational
institutions, research organizations, medical field, government offices, entertainment, etc.
Home
Computers are used at homes for several purposes like online bill payment, watching movies
or shows at home, home tutoring, social media access, playing games, internet access, etc. They
provide communication through electronic mail. They help to avail work from home facility
for corporate employees. Computers help the student community to avail online educational
support.
Medical Field
Computers are used in hospitals to maintain a database of patients’ history, diagnosis, Xrays,
live monitoring of patients, etc. Surgeons nowadays use robotic surgical devices to perform
delicate operations, and conduct surgeries remotely. Virtual reality technologies are also used
for training purposes. It also helps to monitor the foetus inside the mother’s womb.
Entertainment
Computers help to watch movies online, play games online; act as a virtual entertainer in
playing games, listening to music, etc. MIDI instruments greatly help people in the
entertainment industry in recording music with artificial instruments. Videos can be fed from
computers to full screen televisions. Photo editors are available with fabulous features.
Industry
Computers are used to perform several tasks in industries like managing inventory, designing
purpose, creating virtual sample products, interior designing, video conferencing, etc. Online
marketing has seen a great revolution in its ability to sell various products to inaccessible
corners like interior or rural areas. Stock markets have seen phenomenal participation from
different levels of people through the use of computers.
Education
Computers are used in education sector through online classes, online examinations, referring
e-books, online tutoring, etc. They help in increased use of audio-visual aids in the education
field.
Government
In government sectors, computers are used in data processing, maintaining a database of
citizens and supporting a paperless environment. The country’s defence organizations have
greatly benefitted from computers in their use for missile development, satellites, rocket
launches, etc.
Banking
In the banking sector, computers are used to store details of customers and conduct
transactions, such as withdrawal and deposit of money through ATMs. Banks have reduced
manual errors and expenses to a great extent through extensive use of computers.
Business
Nowadays, computers are totally integrated into business. The main objective of business is
transaction processing, which involves transactions with suppliers, employees or customers.
Computers can make these transactions easy and accurate. People can analyze investments,
sales, expenses, markets and other aspects of business using computers.
Training
Many organizations use computer-based training to train their employees, to save money and
improve performance. Video conferencing through computers allows saving of time and
travelling costs by being able to connect people in various locations.
Arts
Computers are extensively used in dance, photography, arts and culture. The fluid movement
of dance can be shown live via animation. Photos can be digitized using computers.
Science and Engineering
Computers with high performance are used to stimulate dynamic process in Science and
Engineering. Supercomputers have numerous applications in area of Research and
Development (R&D). Topographic images can be created through computers. Scientists use
computers to plot and analyze data to have a better understanding of earthquakes.

LESSON 2
COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER SYSTEM
Computer systems consist of three components as shown in below image: Central Processing
Unit, Input devices and Output devices. Input devices provide data input to processor, which
processes data and generates useful information that’s displayed to the user through output
devices. This is stored in computer’s memory.
Central Processing Unit
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is called “the brain of computer” as it controls operation
of all parts of computer. It consists of two components: Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), and
Control Unit.

Figure 3: Components of Computer System

Figure 4: Central Processing Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

Data entered into computer is sent to RAM, from where it is then sent to ALU, where rest of
data processing takes place. All types of processing, such as comparisons, decision-making and
processing of non-numeric information takes place here and once again data is moved to RAM.
Control Unit
As name indicates, this part of CPU extracts instructions, performs execution, maintains and
directs operations of entire system.
Functions of Control Unit
Control unit performs following functions:
• It controls all activities of computer
• Supervises flow of data within CPU
• Directs flow of data within CPU
• Transfers data to Arithmetic and Logic Unit
• Transfers results to memory
• Fetches results from memory to output devices
Memory Unit
This is unit in which data and instructions given to computer as well as results given by
computer are stored. Unit of memory is “Byte”. One byte is 8 bits.
Input Devices–Keyboard and Mouse
Input devices help to get input or data from user. Some of input devices are:
 Input device Characteristic
Keyboard • The keyboard was the first peripheral device to be used with
computers.
• It helps to input text and numbers into computer.
• It consists of 104 keys and 12 functional keys.
Mouse • A mouse is an input device which is also called as pointing
device because it helps to point data on screen.
• It also helps to select, highlight content and drag-drop controls.
Trackballs • A trackball is also a pointing device which will work like a
mouse. It is mainly used for gaming and entertainment
purpose.
Digital Pens • A digital pen is another input device which is mostly used with
tablets, PDAs, etc.
• A digital pen is also called as a Stylus which helps to write or
draw data over pad.
Scanners • Scanners transform printed material and photographs into a
digital representation.
• After scanning of printed material, page is represented in
memory as an array of pixels.
Barcode readers • Barcode reader helps to read information which is printed as
bars in back of goods or items.
• Barcode readers are most widely used input devices which we
can see in most of products in our day to day life.
Voice Recognition • Voice recognition system interprets or receives dictation or
System spoken commands to authorize user.
Touch screen • A touch screen is an input device which uses sensors to sense
touch of users to get input data.

KEYBOARD
Keyboard is the most common and very popular input device which helps to input data to the
computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter, although there are
some additional keys provided for performing additional functions.

Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now keyboards with 104 keys or 108
keys are also available for Windows and Internet.
The keys on the keyboard are as follows:
S/N Keys Description
These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digit keys (0-
1 Typing Keys 9) which generally give the same layout as that of
typewriters.
It is used to enter the numeric data or cursor movement.
Generally, it consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out
2 Numeric Keypad
in the same configuration used by most adding machines
and calculators.
The twelve function keys are present on the keyboard
which are arranged in a row at the top of the keyboard.
3 Function Keys
Each function key has a unique meaning and is used for
some specific purpose.
These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes
four directional arrow keys. Control keys also include
4 Control keys
Home, End, Insert, Delete, Page Up, Page Down,
Control(Ctrl), Alternate(Alt), Escape(Esc).
Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such as
Special Purpose
5 Enter, Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and
Keys
Print Screen.

Output Devices
Output device Characteristic
Monitor • A monitor is most common type of output device.
• It is also called as “Visual Display Unit”.
• The inputs given by keyboard or any other input devices will
get displayed on monitor.
• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and Flat panel display monitors are
commonly used monitors.
Printers • Printers are most common type of output devices which are
used to take a hard copy of any digital document.
• The two types of printers are impact and non-impact printers.
• Non-impact printers such as laser and inkjet printers are less
noisy, more reliable and faster and also offer high quality
compared to impact printers.
Sound Systems • Sound systems are output devices which are used to get
multimedia content such as voice, music, etc., as output. Some
of examples of sound systems are speakers, headphones, and
microphones.
PRINTERS
Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper.
There are two types of printers:
• Impact Printers
• Non-Impact Printers

IMPACT PRINTERS
Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed on
the paper.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:
• Very low consumable costs
• Very noisy
• Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
• There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image
These printers are of two types -
1. Character printers
2. Line printers

Character Printers
Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.
These are further divided into two types:
• Dot Matrix Printer (DMP)
• Daisy Wheel

Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer. These printers are popular
because of their ease of printing and economical price. Each character printed is in the form of
pattern of dots and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which come
out to form a character which is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.
Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Widely Used
• Other language characters can be printed
Disadvantages
• Slow Speed
• Poor Quality
Daisy Wheel
Head is lying on a wheel and pins corresponding to characters are like petals of Daisy (flower)
which is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are generally used for word-
processing in offices that require a few letters to be sent here and there with very nice quality.
Advantages
• More reliable than DMP
• Better quality
• Fonts of character can be easily changed
Disadvantages
• Slower than DMP
• Noisy
• More expensive than DMP

Line Printers
Line printers are the printers which print one line at a time.
These are of two types -
• Drum Printer
• Chain Printer

Drum Printer
This printer is like a drum in shape hence it is called drum printer. The surface of the drum is
divided into a number of tracks. Total tracks are equal to the size of the paper, i.e., for a paper
width of 132 characters, drum will have 132 tracks. A character set is embossed on the track.
Different character sets available in the market are 48-character set, 64 and 96 characters set.
One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum printers are fast in speed and can print 300 to 2000
lines per minute.
Advantages
• Very high speed
Disadvantages
• Very expensive
• Characters fonts cannot be changed

Chain Printer
In this printer, a chain of character sets is used, hence it is called Chain Printer. A standard
character set may have 48, 64, or 96 characters.
Advantages
• Character fonts can easily be changed.
• Different languages can be used with the same printer.
Disadvantages
• Noisy

NON-IMPACT PRINTERS
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print a
complete page at a time; thus, they are also called as Page Printers.
These printers are of two types -
• Laser Printers
• Inkjet Printers
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
• Faster than impact printers
• They are not noisy
• High quality
• Supports many fonts and different character size

Laser Printers
These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form
the characters to be printed on a page.
Advantages
• Very high speed
• Very high-quality output
• Good graphics quality
• Supports many fonts and different character size
Disadvantages
• Expensive
• Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing

Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new technology. They
print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality
output with presentable features.
They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of printing
modes available. Colour printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce
multiple copies of printing also.
Advantages
• High quality printing
• More reliable
Disadvantages
• Expensive as the cost per page is high
• Slow as compared to laser printer

COMPUTER MEMORY
Computer memory refers to storage area where data is stored. It is of two types:
• Primary Memory
• Secondary Memory
Primary Memory
Primary memory is the main memory of computer present in motherboard. Primary memory is
of two types as shown in the image below.
Random Access Memory
RAM is referred as temporary memory, in which, information stored is lost once computer is
turned off. It is a volatile memory. Instructions written in this memory can be modified; hence
it is also known as programmable memory. The two types of RAM are Static RAM (faster and
costlier) and Dynamic RAM.

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of primary memory

 Figure 6: Diagram of RAM

Functions of RAM
• It stores data till it gets processed.
• It stores instructions for data processing.
• It acts as a working space where data processing takes place and intermediate results
are stored.
• It stores processed data/results before it is sent to output devices.

Read Only Memory

ROM is referred as permanent memory, in which information stored is available even if
computer is turned off. Instructions stored in this memory can only be read and cannot be
modified. Mostly ROM has a start-up instruction which is executed every time when computer
is switched on. Types of ROM are PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), EPROM
(Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM) and flash memory.

Figure 7: Diagram of ROM

The below table summarized the major differences between RAM and ROM:
S/N RAM ROM
1. It is volatile memory. It is non-volatile memory.
2. The contents are temporary; data is lost The contents are permanent; data is not
when electricity supply is lost. lost even when power is switched off.
3. Available in small storage capacity. Available in high storage capacity.
4. Processing speed is high. Processing speed is low.
5. User-defined programs can be stored. Generally, operating system supporting
programs can be stored.
6. Cost is very high. Cost effective.
7. It is of two types, SRAM and DRAM. It comes in different types such as
PROM, EPROM, EEPROM and flash
memory.

Secondary Memory
Sometimes when data to be processed is large, it cannot fit in primary memory as it is limited,
in such cases, we use supplement memory or secondary memory. Secondary memory helps to
store information permanently and is non-volatile. Examples of secondary storage memory are
compact disk, floppy disk, pen drive, external hard drive, etc.

CONCEPT OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

The Computing System
The computing system is made up of the computer system, the user and the environment in
which the computer is operated.
The Computer System
The computer system is made up of the hardware and the software. The concept of hardware
and software is explained in detail below:
HARDWARE
The term hardware refers to mechanical device that makes up computer. Computer hardware
consists of interconnected electronic devices that we can use to control computer’s operation,
input and output. Examples of hardware are CPU, keyboard, mouse, hard disk, etc.
Hardware Components
Computer hardware is a collection of several components working together. Some parts are
essential and others are added advantages. Computer hardware is made up of CPU and
peripherals as shown in image below.
Figure 8: Diagram for hardware components

SOFTWARE
A set of instructions that drives computer to do stipulated tasks is called a program. Software
instructions are programmed in a computer language, translated into machine language, and
executed by computer. Software can be categorized into two types:
• System software
• Application software

System Software
System software operates directly on hardware devices of computer. It provides a platform to
run an application. It provides and supports user functionality. Examples of system software
include operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
Application Software
An application software is designed for benefit of users to perform one or more tasks. Examples
of application software include Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Oracle, etc.

Differences between Software and Hardware are sorted out below:

S/N Software Hardware
1. * It is a collection of programs to bring It includes physical components of
computer hardware system into computer system.
operation.
2. It includes numbers, alphabets, It consists of electronic components
alphanumeric symbols, identifiers, like
keywords, etc. ICs, diodes, registers, crystals, boards,
insulators, etc.
3. Software products evolve by adding Hardware design is based on
new features to existing programs to architectural decisions to make it work
support hardware.
 over a range of environmental
conditions and time.
4. It will vary as per computer and its It is mostly constructed for all types of
built-in functions and programming computer systems.
language.
5. It is designed and developed by The hardware can understand only low-
experienced programmers in high-level level language or machine language.
language.
6. t is represented in any high-level The hardware works only on binary
language such as BASIC, COBOL, C, codes
C++, JAVA, etc. 1’s and 0’s.
7. The software is categorized as The hardware consists of input devices,
operating system, utilities, language output devices, memory, etc.
processor, application software, etc.

Computer users
Computer users are the different categories of personnel that operates the computer. We have
expert users and casual users. The expert users could be further categorized into computer
engineers, computer programmers and computer operators.
The computing environment
The computing environment ranges from the building housing the other elements of the
computing system namely the computer and the users, the furniture, auxiliary devices such as
the voltage stabilizer, the Uninterruptible Power Supply System (UPS), the fans, the air
conditioners etc. The schematic diagram of the computing system is presented in Figure 9a to
Figure 9e.

Figure 9a: Schematic diagram of the computing system

Figure 9b: Computer hardware

Figure 9c: Computer software

Figure 9d: Computer users

Figure 9e: Computing environment

LESSON 3
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
The computer has passed through many stages of evolution from the days of the mainframe
computers to the era of microcomputers. Computers have been classified based on different
criteria. In this unit, we shall classify computers based on three popular methods.
Objectives
The objectives of this unit are to:
i. Classify computers based on size, type of signal and purpose.
ii. Study the features that differentiate one class of the computer from the others.

Categories of Computers
Although there are no industry standards, computers are generally classified in the following
ways:
Classification based on signal type
• Digital computer
• Analogue computer
• Hybrid computer
Classification by purpose
• Special purpose
• General purpose

Classification by capacity
• Mainframe
• Mini computers
• Micro computers

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SIGNAL TYPE

There are basically three types of electronic computers. These are the Digital, analogue and
Hybrid computers.
Digital Computer
Represent its variable in the form of digits. It counts the data it deals with, whether representing
numbers, letters or other symbols, are converted into binary form on input to the computer. The
data undergoes a processing after which the binary digits are converted back to alphanumeric
form for output for human use. Because of the fact that business applications like inventory
control, invoicing and payroll deal with discrete values; they are best processed with digital
computers. As a result of this, digital computers are mostly used in commercial and business
places today.
Analogue Computer
It measures rather than counts. This type of computer represents its variables in terms of
electrical voltage and sets up circuit analogue to the equation connecting the variables. The
answer can be either by using a voltmeter to read the value of the variable required, or by
feeding the voltage into a plotting device. They hold data in the form of physical variables
rather than numerical quantities.
In theory, analogue computers give an exact answer because the answer has not been
approximated to the nearest digit. Whereas, when we try to obtain the answers using a digital
voltmeter, we often find that the accuracy is less than that which could have been obtained
from an analogue computer.
It is almost never used in business systems. It is used by the scientist and engineer to solve
systems of partial differential equations. It is also used in controlling and monitoring of systems
in such areas as hydrodynamics and rocketry; in production.
Hybrid Computer
In some cases, the user may wish to obtain the output from an analogue computer as processed
by a digital computer or vice versa. To achieve this, he set up a hybrid machine where the two
are connected and the analogue computer may be regarded as a peripheral of the digital
computer. In such a situation, a hybrid system attempts to gain the advantage of both the digital
and the analogue elements in the same machine. This kind of machine is usually a special-
purpose device which is built for a specific task. It needs a conversion element which accepts
analogue inputs, and output digital value. Such converters are called digitizers. There is need
for a converter from analogue to digital also.
It has the advantage of giving real-time response on a continuous basis. Complex calculations
can be dealt with by the digital elements, thereby requiring a large memory, and giving accurate
results after programming. They are mainly used in aerospace and process control applications.
Examples are MODEM, SIM card etc.

CLASSIFICATION BY PURPOSE
Depending on their flexibility in operation, computers are classified as either special purpose
or general purpose.
Special Purpose Computers
A special purpose computer is one that is designed to solve a restricted class of problems. Such
computers may even be designed and built to handle only one job. In such machines, the steps
or operations that the computer follows may be built into the hardware. Most of the computers
used for military purposes fall into this class. Other example of special purpose computers
include:
• Computers designed specifically to solve navigational problems.
• Computers designed for tracking airplane or missiles.
 • Computers used for process control applications in industries such as oil refinery,
chemical manufacture, steel processing and power generation.
• Computers used as robots in factories like vehicles assembly plants and glass industries.
Attributes of Special Purpose Computers
1. Special purpose computer are usually very efficient for the tasks for which they are
specially designed.
2. They are very much less complex than the General-Purpose Computers. The simplicity
of the circuiting stems from the fact that provision is made only for limited facilities.
3. They are very much cheaper than the General-Purpose type since they involve less
components and are less complex.
General-Purpose Computers
General-Purpose computers are computers designed to handle wide range of problems.
Theoretically, a general-purpose computer can be adequate by means of some easily alterable
instructions to handle any problems that can be solved by computation. In practice however,
there are limitations imposed by memory size, speed and the type of input/output devices.
Examples of areas where the general purpose are employed include the following:
• Payroll
• Banking
• Billing
• Sales analysis
• Cost accounting
• Manufacturing scheduling
• Inventory control

Attributes of General-Purpose Computers

1. General-Purpose computers are more flexible than special purpose computers.
2. They can handle a wide spectrum of problems.
3. They are less efficient than the special-purpose computers due to such problems as;
4. Inadequate storage;
5. Low operating speed;
6. Coordination of the various tasks and subsection may take time.
7. General Purpose Computers are more complex than the special purpose ones.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS ACCORDING TO CAPACITY

In the past, the capacity of computers was measured in terms of physical size. Today, however,
the physical size is not a good measure of capacity because the modern technology has made
it possible to achieve compactness.
A better measure of capacity today is the volume of work that computer can handle. The
volume of work that a given computer handles is closely tied to the cost and to the memory
size of computer. Therefore, most authorities today accept the price of rental price as the
standard for ranking computers.
Here, both memory size and cost shall be used to rank (classify) computer into three main
categories as follows:
(a)Microcomputers
(b)Medium/Mini/Small Computers
(c)Large Computer/Main Frames.
Micro Computers
Microcomputers, also known as single board computers, are the cheapest class of computers.
In the microcomputer, we do not have a Central Processing Unit (CPU) as we have in the larger
computers rather we have a microprocessor chip as the main data processing unit. They are the
cheapest smallest and can operate under normal office condition. Examples are IBM, APPLE,
COMPAQ, Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell, Toshiba, etc.
Different Types of Personal Computers (Micro Computers)
Desktop personal computers
Normally, personal computers are placed on table desk hence they are referred to as desktop
personal computers. Still other types are available under the categories of personal computers.
They are:
Laptop Computers
These are small size types that are battery-operated. The screen is used to cover the system
while the keyboard is installed flatly on the system unit. They could be carried about like a box
when closed after operation and can be operated in vehicles while on a journey.
Notebook Computer
This is like laptop computers but smaller in size. Though small, it comprises all the components
of a full system.
Palmtop Computer
Palmtop computer is far smaller in size. All the components are complete as any of the above
but made smaller so that it can be held on the palm.
Uses of Personal Computers
Personal computers can perform the following functions:
• Can be used to produce documents like memos, reports, letters and briefs.
• Can be used to calculate budget and accounting tasks
• It can analyze numeric function
• It can create illustrations
• Can be used for electronic mails
• Can help in making schedule and plan projects.
• It can assist in schedules and plan projects.
• It can assist in searching for specific information from lists or from reports.
Advantages of Personal Computers
• Computer is versatile; it can be used in any establishment.
 • Has faster speed for processing data.
• Can deal with several data at a time
• Can attend to several users at the same time, thereby able to process several jobs at a
time.
• Capable of storing several data.
• Operating of Computer is less fatigue
• Network possible, that is linking of two or more computers together.
Disadvantages of Personal Computers
• Computer is costly to maintain.
• It is very fragile and complex to handle
• It requires special skill to operate
• With the invention and innovation every day, computer suffers from being obsolete.
• It can lead to unemployment when used mostly in less Developed Countries.
• Some computers cannot function properly without the aid of cooling system e.g. air-
condition or fan in some locations.
Mini Computers
The Mini Computers have memory capacity in the range 128K bytes to 256 Kbytes and are
also not expensive but reliable and smaller in size compare to mainframe. It was first introduced
in 1965; when DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) built the Personal Data Processor (PDP
– 8). Other Mini Computer includes WANG VS.
Mainframe
The Main Frame Computers often called number crunches have memory capacity of the order
of 4 Kbytes and they are very expensive. They can execute up to 100MIPS (Meanwhile
Instructions Per Second). They have large systems and are used by many people for a variety
of purpose.

LESSON 4
INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
Learning Objectives
• To understand the concept of Problem solving
• To understand steps involved in algorithm development
• To understand the concept of Algorithm
• Develop Algorithm for simple problem
• To understand the concept of Flowchart development
• Draw the symbols used in Flowcharts
INTRODUCTION
A computer is a very powerful and versatile machine capable of performing a multitude of
different tasks, yet it has no intelligence or thinking power. The intelligence of a computer
depends on the human intelligence.
In order to instruct a computer correctly, the user must have clear understanding of the problem
to be solved. A part from this he should be able to develop a method, in the form of series of
sequential steps, to solve it. Once the problem is well-defined and a method of solving it is
developed, then instructing the computer to solve the problem becomes relatively easier task.
Thus, before attempt to write a computer program to solve a given problem. It is necessary to
formulate or define the problem in a precise manner. Once the problem is defined, the steps
required to solve it, must be stated clearly in the required order.
PROCEDURE (STEPS INVOLVED IN PROBLEM SOLVING)
A computer cannot solve a problem on its own. One has to provide step by step solutions of
the problem to the computer. In fact, the task of problem solving is not that of the computer. It
is the programmer who has to write down the solution to the problem in terms of simple
operations which the computer can understand and execute.
In order to solve a problem by the computer, one has to pass though certain stages or steps.
They are:
1. Understanding the problem
2. Analyzing the problem
3. Developing the solution
4. Coding and implementation.
1. Understanding the problem: Here we try to understand the problem to be solved totally.
Before with the next stage or step, we should be absolutely sure about the objectives of the
given problem.
2. Analyzing the problem: After understanding thoroughly the problem to be solved, we look
at different ways of solving the problem and evaluate each of these methods. The idea here is
to search an appropriate solution to the problem under consideration. The end result of this
stage is a broad overview of the sequence of operations that are to be carried out to solve the
given problem.
3. Developing the solution: Here the overview of the sequence of operations that was the result
of analysis stage is expanded to form a detailed step by step solution to the problem under
consideration.
4. Coding and implementation: The last stage of the problem solving is the conversion of the
detailed sequence of operations into a language that the computer can understand. Here each
step is converted to its equivalent instruction or instructions in the computer language that has
been chosen for the implementation.
ALGORITHM
Definition
A set of sequential steps usually written in Ordinary Language to solve a given problem is
called Algorithm.
It may be possible to solve to problem in more than one ways, resulting in more than one
algorithm. The choice of various algorithms depends on the factors like reliability, accuracy
and easy to modify. The most important factor in the choice of algorithm is the time
requirement to execute it, after writing code in High-level language with the help of a computer.
The algorithm which will need the least time when executed is considered the best.
Steps involved in algorithm development
An algorithm can be defined as “a complete, unambiguous, finite number of logical steps for
solving a specific problem “.
Step1. Identification of input: For an algorithm, there are quantities to be supplied called input
and these are fed externally. The input is to be identified first for any specified problem.
Step2: Identification of output: From an algorithm, at least one quantity is produced, called for
any specified problem.
Step3 : Identification the processing operations : All the calculations to be performed in order
to lead to output from the input are to be identified in an orderly manner.
Step4 : Processing Definiteness : The instructions composing the algorithm must be clear and
there should not be any ambiguity in them.
Step5 : Processing Finiteness : If we go through the algorithm, then for all cases, the algorithm
should terminate after a finite number of steps.
Step6 : Possessing Effectiveness : The instructions in the algorithm must be sufficiently basic
and in practice they can be carries out easily.
An algorithm must possess the following properties
1. Finiteness: An algorithm must terminate in a finite number of steps
2. Definiteness: Each step of the algorithm must be precisely and unambiguously stated
3. Effectiveness: Each step must be effective, in the sense that it should be primitive easily
convert able into program statement) can be performed exactly in a finite amount of time.
4. Generality: The algorithm must be complete in itself so that it can be used to solve problems
of a specific type for any input data.
5. Input/output: Each algorithm must take zero, one or more quantities as input data produce
one or more output values. An algorithm can be written in English like sentences or in any
standard representation sometimes, algorithm written in English like languages are called
Pseudo Code.

Example
1. Suppose we want to find the average of three numbers, the algorithm is as follows
Step 1 Read the numbers a, b, c
Step 2 Compute the sum of a, b and c
Step 3 Divide the sum by 3
Step 4 Store the result in variable d
Step 5 Print the value of d
Step 6 End of the program

2. Write an algorithm to calculate the simple interest using the formula. Simple interest = P*N*
R/100.
Where P is principle Amount, N is the number of years and R is the rate of interest.
Step 1: Read the three input quantities’ P, N and R.
Step 2 : Calculate simple interest as
Simple interest = P* N* R/100
Step 3: Print simple interest.
Step 4: Stop.
3. Area of Triangle: Write an algorithm to find the area of the triangle.
Let b, c be the sides of the triangle ABC and A the included angle between the given sides.
Step 1: Input the given elements of the triangle namely sides b, c and angle between the sides
A.
Step 2: Area = (1/2) *b*C* sin A
Step 3: Output the Area
Step 4: Stop.
4. Write an algorithm to find the largest of three numbers X, Y,Z.
Step 1: Read the numbers X,Y,Z.
Step 2: if (X > Y)
Big = X
else BIG = Y
Step 3 : if (BIG < Z)
Step 4: Big = Z
Step 5: Print the largest number i.e. Big
Step 6: Stop.
FLOW CHART
A flow chart is a step-by-step diagrammatic representation of the logic paths to solve a given
problem. Or A flowchart is visual or graphical representation of an algorithm.
The flowcharts are pictorial representation of the methods to be used to solve a given problem
and help a great deal to analyze the problem and plan its solution in a systematic and orderly
manner. A flowchart when translated in to a proper computer language, results in a complete
program.
Advantages of Flowcharts
1. The flowchart shows the logic of a problem displayed in pictorial fashion which felicitates
easier checking of an algorithm.
2. The Flowchart is good means of communication to other users. It is also a compact means
of recording an algorithm solution to a problem.
3. The flowchart allows the problem solver to break the problem into parts. These parts can be
connected to make master chart.
4. The flowchart is a permanent record of the solution which can be consulted at a later time.
Differences between Algorithm and Flowchart
Algorithm Flowchart
1. A method of representing the step-by-step 1. Flowchart is diagrammatic representation
logical procedure for solving a problem of an algorithm. It is constructed using
different types of boxes and symbols.
2. It contains step-by-step English 2. The flowchart employs a series of blocks
descriptions, each step representing a and arrows, each of which represents a
particular operation leading to solution of particular step in an algorithm
problem
3. These are particularly useful for small 3. These are useful for detailed
problems representations of complicated programs
4. For complex programs, algorithms prove 4. For complex programs, Flowcharts prove
to be Inadequate to be adequate

SYMBOLS USED IN FLOW CHARTS

The symbols that we make use while drawing flowcharts as given below are as per conventions
followed by International Standard Organization (ISO).
a. Oval: Rectangle with rounded sides is used to indicate either START/ STOP of the program.

b. Input and output indicators: Parallelograms are used to represent input and output operations.
Statements like INPUT, READ and PRINT are represented in these Parallelograms.
c. Process Indicators: - Rectangle is used to indicate any set of processing operation such as for
storing arithmetic operations.

d. Decision Makers: The diamond is used for indicating the step of decision making and
therefore known as decision box. Decision boxes are used to test the conditions or ask questions
and depending upon the answers, the appropriate actions are taken by the computer. The
decision box symbol is

e. Flow Lines: Flow lines indicate the direction being followed in the flowchart. In a Flowchart,
every line must have an arrow on it to indicate the direction. The arrows may be in any direction

f. On- Page connectors: Circles are used to join the different parts of a flowchart and these
circles are called on-page connectors. The uses of these connectors give a neat shape to the
flowcharts. Ina complicated problems, a flowchart may run in to several pages. The parts of
the flowchart on different pages are to be joined with each other. The parts to be joined are
indicated by the circle.
SIMPLE PROBLEMS USING FLOW CHART
Draw the Flowchart for the following
1. Draw a flowchart to find out the biggest of the three unequal positive numbers.

2. Draw a flowchart for adding the integers from 1 to 100 and to print the sum.

PSEUDO CODE
The Pseudo code is neither an algorithm nor a program. It is an abstract form of a program. It
consists of English like statements which perform the specific operations. It is defined for an
algorithm. It does not use any graphical representation. In pseudo code, the program is
represented in terms of words and phrases, but the syntax of program is not strictly followed.
Advantages: * Easy to read, * Easy to understand, * Easy to modify.
Example: Write a pseudo code to perform the basic arithmetic operations.
Read n1, n2
Sum = n1 + n2
Diff = n1 – n2
Mult = n1 * n2
Quot = n1/n2
Print sum, diff, mult, quot
End.

LESSON 5
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology, which is a technology that allows
us to search for information and to communicate with each other. In the past few decades, ICT
offers society with a huge array of new communication capabilities, such as home and domestic
activities, employment, education, health, commerce, banking, and social networking websites.
We are now actually in the digital age so the numbers of ICT gadgets such as computers,
laptops, internet, mobile phones, tablets, etc., are available into our lives. People catch ups the
most recent trends and move up in life with the use of ICT. In the last few decades, ICT has
become the necessity rather than the exception.
What is ICT?
Information and communications technology (ICT) is often used as an extended synonym for
information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified
communications. ICT provides access to information through telecommunications. It is similar
to Information Technology (IT), but concentrates mostly on communication technologies such
as the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other communication mediums. ICT
includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cell
phones, computer, laptops, tablets, and network hardware and software, etc. ICT also provides
the various services online and applications associated with them.
Effects of ICT in our Everyday Life
ICT has affected lives by improving timely distribution of information through the media and
improved communications in homes and work places through social networks, emails, etc. ICT
has extremely enhanced the quality of human life. For examples, writing a letter could take few
days to arrive to the receiver but by writing an e-mail reach in just a minute. ICT affects various
fields of daily life some of them are discussed below:
As Home and Domestic Activities
We can connect and controls domestic equipment (such as washing machine, refrigerator, cell-
phones, laptops etc.). Carry out net banking, online shopping, read newspapers online, watch
TV programs, learn online and connects ourselves to our family, friends, or relatives while we
are at long distance by using the e-mail, messenger, call-conference, or video-conference.
As Social Networking
There are many social networking sites that are available like FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and
LINKEDIN which allows users to communicate and stay connected with each other across the
globe regularly. All these sites have helped to narrow the physical distances between people.
Social Networking provides facilities such as faster communication speed, effective sharing of
information, paperless environment, etc.
As Education/E-Learning
E-Learning is an electronic learning, in which the learner uses a computer to learn a task, skill,
or process at a given time online. Students can learn by watching videos, e-books, discussion
groups, bulletin boards, blogs and e-learning in a collaborate environment. Students can also
ask question to their teacher using emails. Educational institutes uses projector to teach
students.
As Health
When we get sick, we don't like to go outside even to visit the doctors. Today, people can get
online solution to health issues through the use of ICT gadgets or connect to their doctor online
to describe their problems. It is helpful to medical students to learn about disease, medicines,
and surgeries. Doctors can demonstrate major surgical operations to medical students by the
use of ICT. Doctors can operate critical patient in guidance of many specialist surgeons through
video-conferencing.
As Shopping/Commerce
Online shopping involves E-commerce. It draws on such technologies as electronic funds
transfer, online transaction processing, Inventory management system and automated data
collection systems. It makes buying and selling activities easier, more efficient and faster by
using computers, internet and shared software. We can pay for the items on the internet with a
safe internet payment option. Product advertising is also possible through ICT.
As Banking
Banking helped us to buy things using E-commerce. It carries out electronic transactions
through Debit/Credit cards, net banking and Air/Rail tickets booking at any place at any time
with the use of the same banking account. We can save our time, access accounts for loan
applications, transactions and update our cash flow at any time. Banking is facilitated with
virtual money so it introduces an Eco-friendly world.
As Employment/Jobs
ICT increases the number of employments in our society. People can work as Web developer,
IT network administrator, etc. who have skills in ICT. It gives new job opportunities for many
people to become successful self-employer to work from their home.

Advantages of ICT
Daily routine Management
We can store and manage our daily schedule information using ICT gadgets. We can also
integrate ICT with domestic equipment for use and control. We can also use net banking, online
payments and online trading for purchasing daily needed items. It will save our time to go to
the market and purchase things.
Social Relationship
ICT provides the facility to make contacts and maintain relationships with people around the
world in our daily routine. With the use of Internet and communication channel, we can connect
people via e-mail, social networking websites and cell phones. It saves time and it is less
expensive.
Information Sharing
Now information is just right on our fingertips. We can access any information anywhere and
anytime. Information, news, views, etc. can be shared by people all around the globe with the
use of e-mail, discussion groups on the Internet such as Google Groups, Yahoo! Groups etc.
By the sharing of information, it develops global awareness such as cultures, religions,
ideologies and lifestyles. These create an environment of openness and increases mutual
respect.
Communication
We can communicate each other without boundaries. It becomes quicker because we can send
an instant message in a fraction of time which saves costs and man power for delivery. For that
E-mail, teleconferencing, and video-conferencing are available. By the use of video
conferencing technique, we can get the feeling of communicating with someone face to face.
Entertainment
ICT can be used as access to entertainment. We can play games, launch of digital TV, Chatting,
watch videos on NETFLIX, listen to songs, watch or listen to the news, and many more.
Education
New ways of learning are possible through ICT such as e-learning, distance learning, on-line
materials, virtual learning and interactive multi-media. Students can be part of these various
learning and teaching from all over the world. For the impossible experiments, we can use
simulations and virtual reality.
Self-Employment
We can create our own business shops without the heavy overheads of place, purchase of items
and make use of social media for advertising our business. This has increased sales and
encourages the small businesses.
Paperless Environment
ICT can be used to store and retrieve information instead of paper. Use of ICT involved less
papers, thus it saves the trees and makes our environment healthy.
Developing Health Literacy
With the immediate feedback from doctors, we become well sooner. Health literacy deals with
the need for people to access and use high quality information about disease and medicines
through internet health care services available in ICT gadgets.
Disadvantages of ICT
Reduced face-to-face interaction
Nowadays, people like online communication rather than real conversations; so, people tend
to become more individualistic and introvert. Other limitation is that we are not able to express
our feeling or what we actually want to say by the use of e-mail or social networking sites.
Thus, we required face to face communication with them to express our real feeling.
Social Disconnect
Although the internet has reduced physical distances between people, but that doesn’t mean
they brought everyone closer together. Emotional distance has increased in some aspects.
People are always busy with their own virtual world and thus forget the real world with family
and friends. Children too are spending more time in virtual world and they adopt wrong
thoughts thus leading to cybercrimes and extra marital affairs with the use of ICT gadgets.
Reduced physical activity/Health Problems
Users may accept a more sitting lifestyle by the use of ICT gadgets. This can lead to health
problems such as headache, fatness, heart disease, diabetes, repetitive strain injury or eyestrain,
wrong posture/position, neck pain, physical and mental stress, etc. because of continuous use
of the computer. In this kind of lifestyle there is lack of physical exercise, and thus increases
health risk.
Cost
Many ICT gadgets are expensive. Poor students cannot get the benefits of e-learning due to the
educational to the expensive nature of some ICT gadgets.
Job loss
Job losses may occur because of manual operations being replaced by automation.
Security/loss of privacy
Each ICT gadgets are integrated to use Internet connections. The connections must be secured
from virus attacks to secure personal data. Use of social networking website can lead to risk of
loss of personal data. When we use Net banking, online payment then there is a risk of losing
our money to fraud. They can transfer our money to their account.

LESSON 6
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNET
The concept of the Internet
The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks
that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP).
It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business,
and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as
electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of
the World Wide Web (WWW).
It is a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 1000 countries are linked
into exchanges of data, news and opinions. Unlike online services, which are centrally
controlled, the Internet is decentralized by design. Each Internet computer, called a host, is
independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to use and local services to make
available to the global Internet community.
History of Internet
The United States started the Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as ARPA in
February 1958 to regain a technological lead and as a way for government researchers to share
information.
In 1969, ARPA, a part of the Department of Defence (DOD), awarded a contract to construct
a computer network. The network was used to link researchers at universities with defense
contractors, researchers, scientists and military contractors so that they can share information
and resources. This network was called the ARPANET. It was a communications network
which allowed computers at distant locations to "talk" with each other in order to exchange
military and national security data.
In 1973, ARPA was changed to the Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) and the
resulting network to DARPANET. An important task for this newly named agency was to begin
a project called “the interneting project”, which would start the process of linking different
networks together.
Between 1969 and 1983, minicomputers, mainframes and super computers made up the
networks. This network had file transfer capabilities, electronic mail and mailing list services.
ARPANET ultimately evolved into what we now know as the Internet.

INTRANET AND EXTRANET

Intranet
• An Intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise.
• It is a private computer network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity
to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees.
• The same concepts and technologies of the Internet such as clients and servers running
on the Internet protocol suite are used to build an intranet. HTTP and other Internet
protocols are commonly used as well, such as FTP.
• Briefly, an intranet can be understood as "a private version of the Internet," or as a
version of the Internet confined to an organization.
• The term first appeared in print on April 19, 1995, in Digital News & Review in an
article authored by technical editor Stephen Lawton.
• It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the
wide area network.
• Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to
the outside Internet.
• The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing
resources among employees.
• An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.
 • An intranet uses TCP/IP, HTTP, and other Internet protocols and in general looks like
a private version of the Internet. With tunneling, companies can send private messages
through the public network, using the public network with special
encryption/decryption and other security safeguards to connect one part of their intranet
to another.
• Typically, larger enterprises allow users within their intranet to access the public
Internet through firewall servers that have the ability to screen messages in both
directions so that company security is maintained.
• When part of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, or others
outside the company, that part becomes part of an extranet.

Advantages of Intranets
• Workforce productivity: Intranets can help users to locate and view information faster
and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. With the help of a web
browser interface, users can access data held in any database the organization wants to
make available, anytime and - subject to security provisions - from anywhere within
the company workstations, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster,
more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. It also helps
to improve the services provided to the users.
• Time: With intranets, organizations can make more information available to employees
on a "pull" basis (i.e., employees can link to relevant information at a time which suits
them) rather than being deluged indiscriminately by emails.
• Communication: Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an
organization, vertically and horizontally.
• Web publishing allows 'cumbersome' corporate knowledge to be maintained and easily
accessed throughout the company using hypermedia and Web technologies. Examples
include: employee manuals, benefits documents, company policies, business standards,
news feeds, and even training, can be accessed using common Internet standards
(Acrobat files, Flash files, CGI applications). Because each business unit can update
the online copy of a document, the most recent version is always available to employees
using the intranet.
• Cost-effective: Users can view information and data via web-browser rather than
maintaining physical documents such as procedure manuals, internal phone list and
requisition forms.
• Promote common corporate culture: Every user is viewing the same information within
the Intranet.
• Enhance Collaboration: With information easily accessible by all authorized users,
teamwork is enabled.
• Cross-platform Capability: Standards-compliant web browsers are available for
Windows, Mac, and UNIX.
Extranet
• Intranets differ from "Extranets" in that the former are generally restricted to employees
of the organization while extranets can generally be accessed by customers, suppliers,
or other approved parties.
• An extranet is a private network that uses Internet protocols, network connectivity, and
possibly the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an
organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or
other businesses.
• An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's Intranet that is extended to users
outside the company (e.g.: normally over the Internet).
• It has also been described as a "state of mind" in which the Internet is perceived as a
way to do business with a pre-approved set of other companies’ business-to-business
(B2B), in isolation from all other Internet users. In contrast, business-to-consumer
(B2C) involves known server(s) of one or more companies, communicating with
previously unknown consumer users.
• An extranet requires security and privacy. These can include firewalls, server
management, the issuance and use of digital certificates or similar means of user
authentication, encryption of messages, and the use of virtual private networks (VPNs)
that tunnel through the public network.

Advantages of Extranet
• Exchange large volumes of data using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
• Share product catalogs exclusively with wholesalers or those "in the trade".
• Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts.
• Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies.
• Provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies,
such as an online banking application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated
banks.
• Share news of common interest exclusively.

Disadvantages of Extranet
• Extranets can be expensive to implement and maintain within an organization (e.g.:
hardware, software, employee training costs) — if hosted internally instead of via an
ASP.
• Security of extranets can be a big concern when dealing with valuable information.
System access needs to be carefully controlled to avoid sensitive information falling
into the wrong hands.
 • Extranets can reduce personal contact (face-to-face meetings) with customers and
business partners. This could cause a lack of connections made between people and a
company, which hurts the business when it comes to loyalty of its business partners and
customers.
Differences between Internet, Intranet and Extranet
Criteria Internet Intranet Extranet
A private network that shares
Publicly A private network that is part of an organization's
Accessibility Accessible contained within an information or operations with
World-Wide enterprise. suppliers, vendors, partners,
customers or other businesses.
Privacy Limited Privacy No privacy Provides privacy.
Requires only a network Complex requiring
Simplicity Very Complex
cable Servers/Routers/Switches
Ease of Set-up Not Applicable Very easy to setup Difficult to set up
Cost Not Applicable Inexpensive-Cheap Expensive
Security Limited Minimal security Security maintained
Require a staff to ensure
Maintenance Not Applicable Easy to Maintain
efficient operation.
Size Global Small in scope Larger in scope

BENEFITS OF THE INTERNET

This can be discussed under the following headings: economics, social, political, education,
and cultural:
The economic benefits of the Internet
• The economies of the world are increasingly powered by the creation, use and
transmission of information and entertainment content in digital format.
• The deployment of Internet infrastructure impacts the economy both directly and
indirectly.
• The effects of broadband technology on the economy are much more far-reaching than
the direct benefit created by capital investment in deployment and the manufacturing
of the components such a network requires.
• The most significant economic benefits do not come from the deployment of the
technology, but in its use.
• As Internet penetration increases, there will be resulting demand for computer and
home network equipment, software applications, wireless devices and other equipment.
 • Like all infrastructure investment, the economic impacts of Internet will also include
the increased productivity and innovation that it fosters.
• The full economic impact of widespread Internet deployment and adoption cannot be
captured in even the most sophisticated econometric modelling.
• The Internet provides increases in employment and economic activity.
• The wide-ranging deployment of Internet infrastructure will have the direct effect of
employing thousands of people: to manufacture, sell, purchase, install, manage, and
maintain the equipment and facilities, as well as the resulting services.
• The Internet makes the world smaller. The ability to communicate and exchange
information instantaneously and across vast distances has enabled more individuals and
businesses to participate in the economy, regardless of their location.
• Large companies can connect with employees, suppliers, and partners around the globe,
and small businesses can find their customers anywhere in the world.
• Businesses can hire knowledge workers almost regardless of where they are, greatly
expanding employment opportunities for people in the United States, and giving
developing nations the ability to become economic powerhouses by providing
information technology services to the rest of the world.
• The Internet, along with other computer technologies, is literally enabling some
developing countries to "leapfrog" the industrial revolution and jump straight to the
Internet Age.

The social benefits of the Internet

• The Internet brings people closer together. Before the Internet, it was possible to keep
in touch with relatives and friends across the country or around the world--but it was
also expensive.
• Today, communicating with a friend in Japan is as easy and cheap as communicating
with a friend across town, and families regularly use the Internet to keep in touch with
far-flung relatives.
• Millions of people with shared interests--no matter how obscure--exchange information
and build communities through Web sites, email and instant-messaging software.
• Using innovative accessibility aids, people with disabilities can use the Internet to help
overcome barriers that prevent them from leading more productive and fulfilling lives.
• Telemedicine and e-Health are broadly defined as the application of electronic
communication technologies to the provision of healthcare, health education and health
services.
• Telemedicine applications can use Internet to transmit detailed medical images, as well
as for videoconferencing to connect healthcare clinics in remote rural locations with
experts and specialists located primarily in urban centers.
 • In this way, rural clinics and hospitals can have access to the same medical expertise
that is available in the most sophisticated urban hospitals.
• Telemedicine applications can allow health care professionals to monitor a patient’s
health remotely and, using videoconferencing technologies can have access to critically
needed specialists.
The political benefits of the Internet
• Many political organizations and individuals have established Web pages.
• At their simplest, Web pages provide information about the group or individual's
policies, contact details and some brief biographical information, and perhaps link to
related pages.
• More sophisticated Web pages provide interactive facilities so that the user of the page
can provide feedback about the content of the page, express opinions about the policies
or issues, offer assistance through donations or volunteering, download software, and
use specifically designed programs to find detailed information.
• The following list summarizes some of the facilities that are found on political Web
sites:
- Policies, platforms, rules and other organisational details
- Biographical details about key people, and links to their home pages
- Statements about achievements
- News items and press releases
- Links to stories at news Web sites that support their point of view
- Listings of mistakes made by opponents, or details about social ills they blame on opponents
- Registration forms for potential volunteers or interns
- Guest books, so that visitors can leave their comments, and/or user surveys that can be used
to improve the site
- Links to sites belonging to organizations they support
- Subscription forms for e-mail distribution lists
- Links to how opponents have voted on issues
- Links to pages that denigrate opponents
- Spreadsheets that can be used to calculate the effect of an opponent's policies
- Interactive 'chat rooms' where citizens can share and debate ideas and where politicians can
participate in question and answer sessions
- Links to audio or video resources
- Calendars of events and chronologies that may be searchable
- Links to Federal/State/Local governments
- Free software that can enable the user's browser to access extra resources (i.e. Real Video
technology).
- Screen savers consisting of images of key individuals, slogans, etc.
- Games which reinforce their political messages
- Sales of fundraising merchandise
- Forms to solicit donations.
• Internet voting is a type of voting, embracing electronic means of casting a vote. It can
also involve transmission of ballots and votes via the Internet.
• Internet voting technology can provide improved accessibility for disabled voters.
However, there has been contention, especially in the United States, that Internet voting
especially could facilitate electoral fraud.
• Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government
elections and referendums in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland as well as
municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and
France.

The educational benefits of the Internet

• The internet provides a powerful resource for learning, as well as an efficient means of
communication. Its use in education can provide a number of specific learning benefits,
including the development of:
- independent learning and research skills, such as improved access to subject learning across
a wide range of learning areas, as well as in integrated or cross-curricular studies;
- Communication and collaboration, such as the ability to use learning technologies to access
resources, create resources and communicate with others.
• Access to resources: The internet is a huge repository of learning material. As a result,
it significantly expands the resources available to students beyond the standard print
materials found in school libraries. It gives students access to the latest reports on
government and nongovernment websites, including research results, scientific and
artistic resources in museums and art galleries, and other organisations with information
applicable to student learning. The internet can be used for undertaking reasonably
sophisticated research projects.
• The internet is also a time-efficient tool for teachers that expands the possibilities for
curriculum development.
• Communication and collaboration: The internet is a powerful tool for developing
students’ communication and collaboration skills.
• Above all, the internet is an effective means of building language skills. Through email,
chat rooms and discussion groups, students learn the basic principles of communication
in the written form. This gives teachers the opportunity to incorporate internet-based
 activities into mainstream literacy programs and bring diversity to their repertoires of
teaching strategies.
• For example, website publishing can be a powerful means of generating enthusiasm for
literacy units, since most students are motivated by the prospect of having their work
posted on a website for public access.
• Accessibility to Learning Opportunities & Resources: One of the primary advantages
of the Internet is that it can make learning more accessible. It can remove the physical
boundaries of classrooms, reduce class scheduling restraints, and offer easy access to
searchable databases and a vast array of other world-wide resources.
• The Web is playing an increasingly important role in the area of distance education.
Web-based learning can supplement or replace traditional distance educational
opportunities which have been provided in the past via postal correspondence, printed
materials, audio or video cassettes, and television.
• According to Bates (1995), "Access is usually the most important criterion for deciding
on the appropriateness of a technology for open or distance learning".
• The Internet's great strength is that it can make instruction time-independent and
location independent; it is able to reach students whenever and wherever they find it
convenient to learn (in their homes, at work, etc.).

The cultural benefits of the Internet

Culture is defined as shared behaviors, ideas, and artifacts that create a way of life passed from
one generation to another. The cultural benefits of the Internet are as stated below:
• Cultural Advancement: With the easy accessibility of information, cultures have been
able to advance in many ways. Education is a way in which advancement of cultures
has occurred. People can now learn about anything using the internet as a means of
information.
• Cultures have also advanced economically because the internet allows for marketing
and sales transactions. Marketers now have a whole new way of advertising and selling
products or services. They can now post something on the internet and anyone,
anywhere at any point in time can see that add. This leads to an increase in business.
Businesses are also growing because the internet allows for businesses to be internet
based.
• Exploration of Cultures: Cultures can more easily explore other cultures now that the
internet is available. To learn about a culture one can just use a search engine and
quickly access information about the desired culture. Prior to the internet, a person
would have had to either travel to where the culture was at or find a book which entailed
information about that culture. Both of these ways are time consuming and have the
potential to be very expensive.
• Another benefit to using the internet for cultural information is that one can learn about
the beliefs of that culture before experiencing it if he/she is interested in going there.
An example is learning what that culture finds offensive so that he/she does not make
 the mistake of acting or speaking in a way that offends the people of that culture. This
helps with business transactions and any kind of intercultural travel.
• Homogenization of Cultures: With the newfound exploration of cultures, cultural
uniqueness has decreased because people see there are other possible ways of living
life. A person of one culture may like the way another culture does something and then
start to do that something themselves. This can spread throughout the culture and soon
the two cultures will contain fewer differences. An easy example of this is cultural food.
In the United States, we have Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, and Thai restaurants.
This is because we have learned about the different foods from these cultures, liked it
and started eating it ourselves. The internet makes this process very easy by providing
recipes from these cultures online.
• Increased Cultural Communication: The internet allows information to freely flow from
one network to another. Cultural communication is easier now because information
from one culture can be posted on the internet and looked at by another culture. This
can be through journals, websites and anything else included with the internet. Cultural
trends include using Facebook, instant messaging, Myspace, blogs, and other devices
like these to communicate. Cultures can directly communicate with other cultures
through these services.

INTERNET SERVICES
The various Internet services include:
• E-commerce
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying
and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other
computer networks.
• WWW (World Wide Web)
The Internet consists of many services. What most people hear about however is the World
Wide Web (WWW). This is a graphical environment that allows text and pictures to be
displayed on your screen, via software called Web browsers (such as Microsoft Internet
Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla etc.). In addition, sound and movies are also supported on
the WWW.
• E-mail (Electronic Mail)
Email is available over the Internet enabling you to send and receive messages on a global
basis. Even better, you can communicate globally for the cost of a local phone call. The reason
for this is that you connect to the Internet via your ISP (Internet Service Provider) by dialling
a local number. Once connected to the Internet, you can send and receive emails with someone
in the same room or on the other side of the world - It makes no difference to your phone bill.
In the same way you can browse Web pages globally, also at local call rates.
• Newsgroups
Newsgroups are included in the Internet. They can be accessed via your Web browser and
enable you to take part in discussions of interest to you with like-minded people from around
the world. Typically, a newsgroup is focused on a particular topic. Some newsgroups allow the
posting of messages on a wide variety of themes, regarding anything a member chooses to
discuss as on-topic, while others keep more strictly to their particular subject, frowning on off-
topic postings.
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is simply a way of transferring files to and from the Internet. Often
this is done using your browser, or you may obtain specialist FTP software programs. FTP sites
are typically used for uploading and downloading files to a central server computer, for the
sake of file distribution.
• Bulletin Board services
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to
connect and login to the system using a terminal program.
Originally BBS were accessed only over a phone line using a modem, but by the early 1990s
some BBS allowed access via a Telnet or packet radio connection.
Once a user logged in, they could perform functions such as downloading or uploading
software and data, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users. Many BBS also
offered on-line games, in which users could compete with each other, and BBS with multiple
phone lines often offered chat rooms, allowing users to meet each other.
Today, Internet forums occupy much of the same social and technological space as BBS did.
Today the term BBS is often used to refer to any online forum or message board.
• Audio Video Communication
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a general term for a family of transmission technologies
for delivery of voice communications over the Internet or other packet-switched networks.
• Digital Library
A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to
print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers. The digital content may be
stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of
information retrieval system.
• Telnet
Telnet (Telecommunication network) is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area
network (LAN) connections.

LESSON 7
DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORK
Data communication
Data communications simply refers to a set of computer system that uses telecommunications
for the exchange of data or information.
Data communications are the exchange of data between two devices via some form of
transmission medium such as a wire cable. For data communications to occur, the
communicating devices must be part of a communication system made up of a combination of
hardware (physical equipment) and software (programs).
It is clear from the above that data communication involves an interconnectivity of various
computer hardware in a special way which can be describes as (topology), coupled with some
laid down set of rules and regulation which guides the initiation of data transmission
(protocols). The data transmission process is a function of the medium (communication
channels), speed, direction and mode which is called transmission characteristics.
The data communication architecture is made up of both hardware and software components.
The hardware components include the following: keyboard, modem, Network Interface Card
(NIC), routers, bridges, and intelligent PC while the software component comprises of the
following: network protocols and operating systems which guides the conversion of digital
codes to electronic signals and vice versa.
Communication channels
Communications channels unite data communication hardware and provide a physical pathway
for the exchange of data. This physical medium is the most critical link in the data
communication system. If the link is broken, the message dies.
Communication channels are built on four basic principles: physical medium, transmission
characteristics, protocol and topology.
Transmission characteristics
The transmission characteristics of the communication channels determine the system’s
performance. These computers can be divided into three functional groups: transmission speed,
transmission direction and transmission mode.
Transmission speed
The transmission speed of a communication channel determines how much data can be
transmitted over the physical medium in a given period of time. This rate is usually measured
in bits per second or bps.
Transmission direction
The transmission direction of a communication channel refers to the ability of the media to
handle simultaneous transmission.
Simplex
In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one of the
two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive. Keyboards and traditional
monitors are examples of simplex devices. The keyboard can only introduce input; the monitor
can only accept output. The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel to send
data in one direction.
Figure 10a. Simplex

Half-Duplex
In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time. When
one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa.
The half-duplex mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both directions. When cars
are traveling in one direction, cars going the other way must wait. In a half-duplex transmission,
the entire capacity of a channel is taken over by whichever of the two devices is transmitting
at the time. Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band) radios are both half-duplex systems.
The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for communication in both
directions at the same time; the entire capacity of the channel can be utilized for each direction.

Figure 10b. Half-duplex

Full-Duplex
In full-duplex (also called duplex), both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. One
common example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network. When two people
are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.
The full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is required all the time.
The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided between the two directions.

Figure 10c. Full-duplex

Transmission mode
The transmission mode of a communication channel refers to the bit-level organization of the
data and the way it is transmitted over the physical medium. The two common modes of
transmission are asynchronous and synchronous transmissions.
Asynchronous transmission
An asynchronous transmission involves the sending of one character (or byte) at a time. To
separate the characters, a start bit and one or more stop bits are added to each end of the
individual 8-bit character code. This mode of transmission is slow and wasteful because the
system must support 11 bits per byte instead of the standard 8 bits.
Synchronous
A synchronous transmission involves the sending of organized blocks of characters, sometimes
called frames or packets. These packets of data are carefully synchronized so that the sending
and receiving devices can distinguish the boundaries of each character. This mode is faster and
more efficient.

Components
A data communications system has five components.

Figure 11. Components of data communication system

1. Message. The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of

information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.
2. Sender. The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
3. Receiver. The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.
4. Transmission medium. The transmission medium is the physical path by which a
message travels from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include
twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.
5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents an
agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two devices may
be connected but not communicating.
Data Representation
Information today comes in different forms such as
• Text
• Numbers
• Images
• Audio, and
• Video

Types of networks
There are 3 main types of networks
1. Local Area Network (LAN): A LAN is usually privately owned and links the devices
in a single office, building, or campus.

Figure 12. An isolated IAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

2. Wide Area Network. A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission
of data, image, audio, and video information over large geographic areas that may
comprise a country, a continent, or even the whole world.
3. Metropolitan Area Networks. A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network with a
size between a LAN and a WAN. It normally covers the area inside a town or a city. It
is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity, normally to the Internet,
and have endpoints spread over a city or part of city. A good example of a MAN is the
part of the telephone company network that can provide a high-speed DSL line to the
customer. Another example is the cable TV network that originally was designed for
cable TV, but today can also be used for high-speed data connection to the Internet.
Interconnecting devices
LANs, WANs, and MANs each speak their own language; the process of connecting multiple
dissimilar systems requires very flexible advanced interconnecting devices, these devices
include:
a. Repeater: Repeaters are simple interconnecting devices that connect two identical
cabling segments of a LAN. A repeater accepts weak signals and electrically
regenerates them and then sends the messages back on their way.
b. Bridges: Bridges are more intelligent than repeaters, they go beyond simply
regenerating weak signals. Bridges process network signals and ensure smooth passage
from LAN to LAN and from LAN to WAN.
c. Routers: Routers contain advanced algorithms that allow them to make intelligent
decisions about where a message should go and what path to use for greater efficiency.
d. Gateways: Gateways approach interconnectivity from a completely different angle.
These devices use more of software translation than hardware routing. They are
required when network messages travel between two entirely different systems.

Protocols
In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in different systems. An entity
is anything capable of sending or receiving information. However, two entities cannot simply
send bit streams to each other and expect to be understood. For communication to occur, the
entities must agree on a protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is
communicated.
The sole purpose of protocol is to provide guidance to the communication channels and to
promote harmonious connectivity between the many network components. Protocols work on
the electronic level. They are initiated and controlled by advanced subroutines built into each
NIC.
LANs commonly use one of three communications protocols: CSMA, polling and token
passing.

CSMA
CSMA stands for Carrier Sense Multiple Access. CSMA relies on a share trunk of cabling; the
trunk is a single run of cabling that extends throughout the topology of the LAN. Here is how
the protocol works:
1. Workstation A has a message for workstation B. Workstation A listens to the trunk and
waits until all is clear (Carrier Sensing).
2. When A detects that the trunk is clear, the workstation marks the message with a
destination address and sends it over the trunk. All other workstations continually
monitor the trunk for a message with their address (multiple access).
 3. Workstation B finds a match, accepts the message and returns an acknowledgement of
receipt.

Polling
Polling refers on a central controlling node (workstation or file server). The central node polls
each station to determine whether there is a message to be sent. When a sending workstation is
ready, the central node reserves the network channel and the message is sent. Polling is
typically used in a centralized system because this type of protocol relies exclusively on the
intelligence and dexterity of the central controlling node.
Token passing
In the token-passing method, the stations in a network are organized in a logical ring. In other
words, for each station, there is a predecessor and a successor. The predecessor is the station
which is logically before the station in the ring; the successor is the station which is after the
station in the ring. The current station is the one that is accessing the channel now. The right to
this access has been passed from the predecessor to the current station. The right will be passed
to the successor when the current station has no more data to send.
But how is the right to access the channel passed from one station to another? In this method,
a special packet called a token circulates through the ring. The possession of the token gives
the station the right to access the channel and send its data. When a station has some data to
send, it waits until it receives the token from its predecessor. It then holds the token and sends
its data. When the station has no more data to send, it releases the token, passing it to the next
logical station in the ring. The station cannot send data until it receives the token again in the
next round. In this process, when a station receives the token and has no data to send, it just
passes the data to the next station.

TYPES OF TOPOLOGIES
Type of Connection
A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a communications
pathway that transfers data from one device to another.
Point-to-Point
A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire capacity
of the link is reserved for transmission between those two devices.

Figure 13a. Point-to-point

Multipoint
A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specific devices
share a single link.

Figure 13b. Multipoint

Mesh
In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device. The
term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it connects. To
find the number of physical links in a fully connected mesh network with n nodes, we first
consider that each node must be connected to every other node.
Advantages
• First, the use of dedicated links guarantees that each connection can carry its own data
load, thus eliminating the traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by
multiple devices.
• Second, a mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not
incapacitate the entire system.
• Third, there is the advantage of privacy or security. When every message travels along
a dedicated line, only the intended recipient sees it.
• Finally, point-to-point links make fault identification and fault isolation easy.

Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of a mesh are related to the amount of cabling and the number of I/O
ports required.
• First, because every device must be connected to every other device, installation and
reconnection are difficult.
• Second, the sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space (in walls,
ceilings, or floors) can accommodate.
• Finally, the hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be
prohibitively expensive.
One practical example of a mesh topology is the connection of telephone regional offices in
which each regional office needs to be connected to every other regional office.

Figure 14. Mesh

Star Topology
In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller,
usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another.
Advantages
• Less expensive than a mesh topology.
• Easy to install and reconfigure.
• Far less cabling needs to be housed, and additions, moves, and deletions involve only
one connection: between that device and the hub.
• Robustness. If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other links remain active.
This factor also lends itself to easy fault identification and fault isolation.
Disadvantages
• The dependency of the whole topology on one single point, the hub. If the hub goes
down, the whole system is dead.
• Often more cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies (such as ring or
bus).
• The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs). High-speed LANs often use
a star topology with a central hub.

Figure 15. Star

Bus Topology
The preceding examples all describe point-to-point connections. A bus topology, on the other
hand, is multipoint. One long cable act as a backbone to link all the devices in a network. Nodes
are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps. A drop line is a connection running
between the device and the main cable. A tap is a connector that either splices into the main
cable or punctures the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core.
As a signal travels along the backbone, some of its energy is transformed into heat. Therefore,
it becomes weaker and weaker as it travels farther and farther. For this reason, there is a limit
on the number of taps a bus can support and on the distance between those taps.
Advantages
• Ease of installation.
• Redundancy is eliminated. Only the backbone cable stretches through the entire facility.
Disadvantages
• Difficult reconnection and fault isolation.
• A fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission, even between devices on the
same side of the problem.
Bus topology was the one of the first topologies used in the design of early local area networks.

Figure 16. Bus

Ring Topology
In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only the two
devices on either side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to
device, until it reaches its destination. Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater. When a
device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater regenerates the bits and passes
them along.
Figure 17. Ring

Advantages
• Relatively easy to install and reconfigure.
• Fault isolation is simplified. Generally, in a ring, a signal is circulating at all times. If
one device does not receive a signal within a specified period, it can issue an alarm.
The alarm alerts the network operator to the problem and its location.
Disadvantages
• Unidirectional traffic.
• In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the entire
network. This weakness can be solved by using a dual ring or a switch capable of
closing off the break.

Hybrid Topology
A network can be hybrid. For example, we can have a main star topology with each branch
connecting several stations in a bus topology.

Figure 18. Hybrid

LESSON 8
OFFICE APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Microsoft Excel
Introduction
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program designed by Microsoft Corporation for spreadsheet
analysis. The spreadsheet is made of columns and rows similar to accounting worksheets. This
program is generally used by all managers, accountants, bankers, cashiers etc. This enables
them to adequately process and manage their daily generated data.
Some of the functions of spreadsheet packages include:
• Ability to perform calculation, with automatic summation facility.
• Ability to update formula cells
• Various formatting facilities to format workbook
• Input data validation strategies
• Chart creations
• Auditing worksheets etc.
Features of MS Excel
• Workbook- A workbook is the file equivalent of the spreadsheet package on which
work is performed and data are stored. The workbook is made up of several worksheets,
which allows various kinds of related information to be organized in a single workbook.
• Active sheet-The active sheet is the worksheet where you are currently working on in
a workbook. The sheet tab of the active sheet is highlighted on the worksheet bar.
• Cell- A cell is the intersection of a row and column. A cell is addressed by using its cell
address e.g., B1, C5, H2 etc.
• Cell address or Reference- The columns in a worksheet are labelled with alphabetic
characters A, B, C, ……, while the rows are labelled with numeric values 1, 2, 3, 4…..
A cell is addressed or referenced by using the column letter with its corresponding row
value e.g. B1, C5, K4, etc.
• Range- A range is a rectangular block of cells. A range can consist of a single cell,
some selected cells, an entire worksheet or all the worksheets in a workbook.
• Range address- A range is identified by its address. A range address or reference
consists of the top left and bottom right cells in the range, separated by two periods or
colon e.g. A1..H20, B2:K4, C5:D8 etc.
• Chart- Charts are used to graphically present data. Reports presented with the aid of
charts are always brief and comparison can easily be made among grouped data. Charts
are of different types (Bar, Pie, Area, Line, etc.) and the choice of any of the chart is
greatly influenced by the type of report to present.
• Chart sheet- This is a sheet in a workbook that contains only a chart. This sheet is
labelled with Chart1, Chart2, Chart3 etc. to distinguish it from worksheets. Chart sheets
are linked to their respective worksheet data and they are updated automatically
whenever changes are made to the source data.
• Formula- Formula is written to perform arithmetic operations such as addition (+),
subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/). The formula is written once and
 copied to other cells in return. A formula is preceded by a formula indicator, a symbol
such as “=” e.g., = SUM (E4:F8), =(D4*4)-E2 etc.
• Formula Bar- The formula bar appears at the top of a spreadsheet window; it can be
used to enter or edit values or formulas in cells. In general, content of the active cell is
displayed on the formula bar.
• Operators- Operators are used in a formula to indicate action to be performed on the
arguments (operands). Basic operators in excel include addition (+), subtraction (-),
multiplication (*), division (/) and exponentiation (^).
• Functions- Functions are pre-written (in-built) formulas use to perform some standard
computations. Examples of functions are sum, product, average, maximum, minimum,
sin, standard deviation etc. For example, = SUM(C3:D8) will return the result of
addition of the contents of cell C3 to D8, =SIN(30) return the sin of an angle 30.

HANDS-ON
The students should be introduced to practical in MS Excel such as Formulas, SUM,
Percentage, IF, Nested IF, AND, OR functions etc.

Microsoft Word/Word Processor

Definition of Microsoft Word
This is an application package designed for typing of document and for graphical designing.
Microsoft word belongs to a family called the Microsoft office.
Microsoft office is a program designed by micro-soft companies and has Microsoft attached to
their names. E.g. Microsoft word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access
Etc.
In other words, a word processor is a device or computer program that provides for input,
editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.

Creating a Document
When a new document is created it has to be formatted to look attractive and presentable. This
determines how the document will look like when finished and printed. The author of the
document could decide to format the document before or after typing.
Steps to Create a blank document
1. Open Word. Or, if Word is already open, select File > New.
2. Select Blank document.
Exercise 1: Type the following passage
New rules to Rationale management;
Foremost: Rationale is the justification of decisions. Rationale models represents the
reasoning that leads to the decisions, including its functionality- and its implementation.
Rationale is critical in two areas: It supports the decisions making and it supports the capture
of knowledge. Rationale includes:
• The issues that were addressed
• The alternatives that were considered
• The decisions that were made to resolve the issues
• The criteria that were used to guide decisions
In the context of decision making the rationale improves the quality of decisions by making
decision elements, such as criteria, priorities, and arguments, explicit. In the context of
knowledge capture, the rationale is the most important information in the development process.

Saving a Document
It is good to cultivate the habit of saving one’s work periodically while typing to avoid loss of
information in case of an interrupted power supply.
To save, follow the steps below:
1. Select File from the Menu
2. Select Save As. A dialogue box appears as shown below:

3. Select the location to save e.g. desktop, documents etc.

 4. Give a name to the document and click the Save button

Some Important Terminology

Soft Return
As you are typing in the document, the moment the cursor gets to the end of the line it
automatically moves to the next line.
Hard Return
This is when the cursor manually moved to the beginning of the next line by pressing the
ENTER key.
Word Art
Use text art to change words in your documents into designs. Word Art designs are graphic
images. They are contained in a graphics box in MS word.

How to Insert WordArt

Word Art is designed to allow you make your text more attractive; you can format your text to
make it look like a picture and enhance its appearance in different ways. The steps to insert
WordArt are given below;
o Place the cursor where you want to insert WordArt
o Select the Insert tab
o In Text group click the 'WordArt' button
o WordArt menu appears;
o Select the desired WordArt style
o 'Edit WordArt Text' dialog box appears
 o Type the text in text area and click OK

How to create Drop Cap

A
drop cap (dropped capital) is a large capital letter used as a decorative element at the
beginning of a paragraph or section. The size of a drop cap is usually two or more
lines.
Add a drop cap
1. Select the first character of a paragraph.
2. Go to INSERT > Drop Cap.
3. Select the drop cap option you want.
• To create a drop cap that fits within your paragraph, select Dropped.
• To create a drop cap that is in the margin, outside of your paragraph, select In
margin.
Remove a drop cap
1. Highlight the large drop cap letter.
2. Go to INSERT > Drop Cap, and select None.

MAIL MERGE
Mail merge is an MS word feature that lets you create letters for a number of people without
typing the original letter more than once. The letter is saved in a separate file called form file.
A letter form file contains all the formatting information, text, and graphics you want to be
common to each other. Next you create the data file that contains all the names and addresses
that should go with the letter. Finally, in order to create the complete letters, you merge the
form file with the data file.
Steps to create Mail Merge
1. In a blank Microsoft Word document, click on the Mailings tab, and in the Start Mail
Merge group, click Start Mail Merge.
2. Click Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard
3. Select your document type. In this demo we will select Letters. Click Next: Starting
document.
4. Select the starting document. In this demo we will use the current (blank) document.
Select Use the current document and then click Next: Select recipients.
5. Select recipients. In this demo we will create a new list, so select Type a new list and
then click Create.
• Create a list by adding data in the New Address List dialog box and clicking
OK.
• Save the list.
• Note that now that a list has been created, the Mail Merge Wizard reverts to Use
an existing list and you have the option to edit the recipient list.
• Selecting Edit recipient list opens up the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box,
where you can edit the list and select or unselect records. Click OK to accept
the list as is.
• Click Next: Write your letter.
6. Write the letter and add custom fields.
• Click Address block to add the recipients' addresses at the top of the document.
• In the Insert Address Block dialog box, check or uncheck boxes and select
options on the left until the address appears the way you want it to.
• Note that you can use Match Fields to correct any problems. Clicking Match
Fields opens up the Match Fields dialog box, in which you can associate the
fields from your list with the fields required by the wizard.
7. Press Enter on your keyboard and click Greeting line to enter a greeting.
8. In the Insert Greeting Line dialog box, choose the greeting line format by clicking the
drop-down arrows and selecting the options of your choice, and then click OK.
9. Note that the address block and greeting line are surrounded by chevrons (« »). Write a
short letter and click Next: Preview your letters.
LABORATORY EXERCISE
1. The tutor should guide the students in the computer Laboratory on how to generate and
insert automatic table of contents in MS word.

LESSON 9
INTRODUCTION TO FORTRAN
FORTRAN is the programming language that gave birth to many scientific computer languages
available today. The name FORTRAN means FORmula TRANslation. The language was
developed by a team led by John Backus in 1954. The language is one of the earliest high-level
languages. The language was released officially in April 1957 and by 1958, more than 50% of
all IBM 704 computer programs were written in FORTRAN. There are a lot of problems with
the initial FORTRAN such as no subroutines, limited number of statement types. These
problems were addressed in FORTRAN II and it was released towards the end of 1958.
In 1962 FORTRAN IV was released which is a major improvement to FORTRAN II.
FORTRAN IV was used for almost 15 years before the release of FORTRAN 77 IN 1977. The
next major update after FORTRAN 77 was FORTRAN 90 which was followed by FORTRAN
95, FORTRAN 2003 and FORTRAN 2008, respectively.
For this course, FORTRAN 95 and FORTRAN 2003 will be the focus in COS 101 and two
language variants will be referred to as FORTRAN 95/2003.
INSTALL FTN95 PERSONAL EDITION
• Search for Silverfrost FTN5 personal edition or click this link
http://www.silverfrost.com/32/ftn95/ftn95_personal_edition.aspx.
• Download and install the software accepting all the defaults.

YOUR FIRST PROGRAMMING SESSION

• Locate and double click the Plato icon

• Click File, New
• Select Free Format Fortran File
• Click File, Save As
• Create a directory called fortranprograms and open it
• Type first.f95
Plato is a "programming environment". Within Plato, you can create and edit programs and get
them to run. Plato's editor is special – it understands the syntax of various programming
languages. We tell Plato which language we are using when we create our empty file and save
it with a .f95 (FORTRAN 95) extension. Provided you have given your file the appropriate
extension, Plato's editor will be able to check the syntax of the program, highlighting the
various keywords that it knows about using a colour code to distinguish between the various
elements of the language. Always ensure that your program files have a .f95 extension

RUNNING YOUR FIRST FORTRAN 95 PROGRAM

Exercise 1.1
• Type in the following exactly as shown:
!My first program
program first
print *, 'This is my first program'
end program first

FORTRAN ─ BASIC SYNTAX

A FORTRAN program is made of a collection of program units like a main program, modules,
and external subprograms or procedures. Each program contains one main program and may
or may not contain other program units. The syntax of the main program is as follows:
program program_name
implicit none
! type declaration statements
! executable statements
end program program_name

A SIMPLE PROGRAM IN FORTRAN

Let’s write a program that adds two numbers and prints the result:
program addNumbers
! This simple program adds two numbers
implicit none
! Type declarations
real :: a, b, result
! Executable statements
a = 12.0
b = 15.0
result = a + b
print *, 'The total is ', result
end program addNumbers
When you compile and execute the above program, it produces the following result:
The total is 27.0000000
Please note that:
• All FORTRAN programs start with the keyword program and end with the keyword
end program, followed by the name of the program.
• The implicit none statement allows the compiler to check that all your variable types
are declared properly. You must always use implicit none at the start of every program.
• Comments in FORTRAN are started with the exclamation mark (!), as all characters
after this (except in a character string) are ignored by the compiler.
• The print * command displays data on the screen.
• Indentation of code lines is a good practice for keeping a program readable.
• FORTRAN allows both uppercase and lowercase letters. FORTRAN is case-
insensitive, except for string literals.

Basics
The basic character set of FORTRAN contains:
• the letters A ... Z and a ... z
• the digits 0 ... 9
• the underscore (_) character
• the special characters = : + blank - * / ( ) [ ] , . $ ' ! " % & ; < > ?
Tokens are made of characters in the basic character set. A token could be a keyword, an
identifier, a constant, a string literal, or a symbol.
Program statements are made of tokens.
Identifier
An identifier is a name used to identify a variable, procedure, or any other user-defined item.
A name in FORTRAN must follow the following rules:
• It cannot be longer than 31 characters.
• It must be composed of alphanumeric characters (all the letters of the alphabet, and the
digits 0 to 9) and underscores (_).
• First character of a name must be a letter.
• Names are case-insensitive-
Keywords
Keywords are special words, reserved for the language. These reserved words cannot be used
as identifiers or names.
The following table, lists the FORTRAN keywords:
Non-I/O keywords
allocatable allocate assign assignment block data
call case character common complex
contains continue cycle data deallocate
double
default do else else if
precision
 end block end
elsewhere end do end if
data function
end end
end interface end module end select
program subroutine
end type end where entry equivalence exit
external function go to if implicit
in inout integer intent interface
intrinsic kind len logical module
namelist nullify only operator optional
out parameter pause pointer private
program public real recursive result
return save select case stop subroutine
target then type type() use
Where While

I/O related keywords

backspace close endfile format inquire
pen print read rewind Write

FORTRAN ─ DATA TYPES

FORTRAN provides five intrinsic data types, however, you can derive your own data types as
well. The five intrinsic types are:
• Integer type
• Real type
• Complex type
• Logical type
• Character type

Integer Type
The integer types can hold only integer values. The following example extracts the
largest value that can be held in a usual four-byte integer:
program testingInt
implicit none
integer :: largeval
print *, huge(largeval)
end program testingInt

When you compile and execute the above program it produces the following result:
2147483647
Note that the huge() function gives the largest number that can be held by the specific integer
data type. You can also specify the number of bytes using the kind specifier. The following
example demonstrates this:
program testingInt
implicit none
!two byte integer
integer(kind=2) :: shortval
!four byte integer
integer(kind=4) :: longval
!eight byte integer
integer(kind=8) :: verylongval
!sixteen byte integer
integer(kind=16) :: veryverylongval
!default integer
integer :: defval
print *, huge(shortval)
print *, huge(longval)
print *, huge(verylongval)
print *, huge(veryverylongval)
print *, huge(defval)
end program testingInt

When you compile and execute the above program, it produces the following result:
32767
2147483647
9223372036854775807
170141183460469231731687303715884105727
2147483647

Real Type
It stores the floating point numbers, such as 2.0, 3.1415, -100.876, etc.
The following example shows the use of real data type:
program division
implicit none
! Define real variables
real :: p, q, realRes
! Define integer variables
integer :: i, j, intRes
! Assigning values
p = 2.0
q = 3.0
i=2
j=3
! floating point division
realRes = p/q
intRes = i/j
print *, realRes
print *, intRes
end program division

When you compile and execute the above program it produces the following result:
0.666666687
Complex Type
This is used for storing complex numbers. A complex number has two parts, the real part and
the imaginary part. Two consecutive numeric storage units store these two parts.
For example, the complex number (3.0, -5.0) is equal to 3.0 – 5.0i
Logical Type
There are only two logical values: .true. and .false.
Character Type
The character type stores characters and strings. The length of the string can be specified by
len specifier. If no length is specified, it is 1.
For example,
character (len=40) :: name
name = “Zara Ali”
The expression, name(1:4) would give the substring “Zara”.

Implicit Typing
Older versions of FORTRAN allowed a feature called implicit typing, i.e., you do not have to
declare the variables before use. If a variable is not declared, then the first letter of its name
will determine its type.
Variable names starting with i, j, k, l, m, or n, are considered to be for integer variable and
others are real variables. However, you must declare all the variables as it is good programming
practice. For that you start your program with the statement:
implicit none
This statement turns off implicit typing.

FORTRAN ─ VARIABLES
A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can manipulate.
Each variable should have a specific type, which determines the size and layout of the variable's
memory; the range of values that can be stored within that memory; and the set of operations
that can be applied to the variable.
The name of a variable can be composed of letters, digits, and the underscore character.
A name in FORTRAN must follow the following rules:
• It cannot be longer than 31 characters.
• It must be composed of alphanumeric characters (all the letters of the alphabet, and the
digits 0 to 9) and underscores (_).
• First character of a name must be a letter.
• Names are case-insensitive.

Variable Declaration
Variables are declared at the beginning of a program (or subprogram) in a type declaration
statement.
Syntax for variable declaration is as follows:
type-specifier :: variable_name

The following example demonstrates variable declaration, assignment and display on screen:
program variableTesting
implicit none
! declaring variables
integer :: total
real :: average
complex :: cx
logical :: done
character(len=80) :: message ! a string of 80 characters
!assigning values
total = 20000
average = 1666.67
done = .true.
message = "A big Hello from Tutorials Point"
cx = (3.0, 5.0) ! cx = 3.0 + 5.0i
Print *, total
Print *, average
Print *, cx
Print *, done
Print *, message
end program variableTesting

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
20000
1666.67004
(3.00000000, 5.00000000 )
T
A big Hello from Tutorials Point

FORTRAN ─ CONSTANTS
The constants refer to the fixed values that the program cannot alter during its execution. These
fixed values are also called literals.
Constants can be of any of the basic data types like an integer constant, a floating constant, a
character constant, a complex constant, or a string literal. There are only two logical constants
: .true. and .false.
The constants are treated just like regular variables, except that their values cannot be modified
after their definition.
There are two types of constants:
 • Literal constants
• Named constants
A literal constant have a value, but no name.
A named constant has a value as well as a name.
Named constants should be declared at the beginning of a program or procedure, just like a
variable type declaration, indicating its name and type. Named constants are declared with the
parameter attribute. For example,
real, parameter :: pi = 3.1415927
Example
The following program calculates the displacement due to vertical motion under gravity.
program gravitationalDisp
! this program calculates vertical motion under gravity
implicit none
! gravitational acceleration
real, parameter :: g = 9.81
! variable declaration
real :: s ! displacement
real :: t ! time
real :: u ! initial speed
! assigning values
t = 5.0
u = 50
! displacement
s = u * t - g * (t**2) / 2
! output
print *, "Time = ", t
print *, 'Displacement = ',s
end program gravitationalDisp

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
Time = 5.00000000
Displacement = 127.374992
FORTRAN ─ OPERATORS
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical
manipulations. FORTRAN provides the following types of operators:
• Arithmetic Operators
• Relational Operators
• Logical Operators
Let us look at all these types of operators one by one.
Arithmetic Operators
Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by FORTRAN. Assume variable
A holds 5 and variable B holds 3 then:

Operator Description Example

+ Addition Operator, adds two operands. A + B will give 8
Subtraction Operator, subtracts second operand
- A - B will give 2
from the first.
* Multiplication Operator, multiplies both operands. A * B will give 15
Division Operator, divides numerator by de
/ A / B will give 1
numerator.
Exponentiation Operator, raises one operand to the
** A ** B will give 125
power of the other.

Example
Try the following example to understand all the arithmetic operators available in Fortran:
program arithmeticOp
! this program performs arithmetic calculation
implicit none
! variable declaration
integer :: a, b, c
! assigning values
a=5
b=3
! Exponentiation
c = a ** b
! output
print *, "c = ", c
! Multiplication
c=a*b
! output
print *, "c = ", c
! Division
c=a/b
! output
print *, "c = ", c
! Addition
c=a+b
! output
print *, "c = ", c
! Subtraction
c=a-b
! output
print *, "c = ", c
end program arithmeticOp

When you compile and execute the above program, it produces the following result:
c = 125
c = 15
c=1
c=8
c=2

Relational Operators
Following table shows all the relational operators supported by FORTRAN. Assume variable
A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator Equivalent Description Example

Checks if the values of two operands are
(A == B) is
== .eq. equal or not, if yes then condition becomes
not true.
true.
Checks if the values of two operands are
(A != B) is
/= .ne. equal or not, if values are not equal then
true.
condition becomes true.
 Checks if the value of left operand is greater
(A > B) is
> .gt. than the value of right operand, if yes then
not true.
condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is less
(A < B) is
< .lt. than the value of right operand, if yes then
true.
condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is greater
(A >= B) is
>= .ge. than or equal to the value of right operand, if
not true.
yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is less
(A <= B) is
<= .le. than or equal to the value of right operand, if
true.
yes then condition becomes true.

Example
Try the following example to understand all the logical operators available in Fortran:
program logicalOp
! this program checks logical operators
implicit none
! variable declaration
logical :: a, b
! assigning values
a = .true.
b = .false.
if (a .and. b) then
print *, "Line 1 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 1 - Condition is false"
end if
if (a .or. b) then
print *, "Line 2 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 2 - Condition is false"
end if
! changing values
a = .false.
b = .true.
if (.not.(a .and. b)) then
print *, "Line 3 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 3 - Condition is false"
end if
if (b .neqv. a) then
print *, "Line 4 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 4 - Condition is false"
end if
if (b .eqv. a) then
print *, "Line 5 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 5 - Condition is false"
end if
end program logicalOp

When you compile and execute the above program it produces the following result:
Line 1 - Condition is false
Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - Condition is true
Line 4 - Condition is true
Line 5 - Condition is false

Logical Operators
Logical operators in FORTRAN work only on logical values .true. and .false.
The following table shows all the logical operators supported by FORTRAN. Assume variable
A holds .true. and variable B holds .false. , then:

Operator Description Example

Called Logical AND operator. If both the
.and. operands are non-zero, then condition becomes (A .and. B) is false.
true.
 Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two
.or. operands is non-zero, then condition becomes (A .or. B) is true.
true.

Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to reverses the

.not. logical state of its operand. If a condition is true !(A .and. B) is true.
then Logical NOT operator will make false.

Called Logical EQUIVALENT Operator. Used to

.eqv. (A .eqv. B) is false.
check equivalence of two logical values.

Called Logical NON-EQUIVALENT Operator. Used

.neqv. (A .neqv. B) is true.
to check non-equivalence of two logical values.

Example
Try the following example to understand all the logical operators available in Fortran:
program logicalOp
! this program checks logical operators
implicit none
! variable declaration
logical :: a, b
! assigning values
a = .true.
b = .false.
if (a .and. b) then
print *, "Line 1 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 1 - Condition is false"
end if
if (a .or. b) then
print *, "Line 2 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 2 - Condition is false"
end if
! changing values
a = .false.
b = .true.
if (.not.(a .and. b)) then
print *, "Line 3 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 3 - Condition is false"
end if
if (b .neqv. a) then
print *, "Line 4 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 4 - Condition is false"
end if
if (b .eqv. a) then
print *, "Line 5 - Condition is true"
else
print *, "Line 5 - Condition is false"
end if
end program logicalOp

When you compile and execute the above program it produces the following result:
Line 1 - Condition is false
Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - Condition is true
Line 4 - Condition is true
Line 5 - Condition is false

Operators Precedence in FORTRAN

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects how an
expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the
multiplication operator has higher precedence than the addition operator.
For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has higher
precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.
 Category Operator
Logical NOT and negative sign .not. (-)
Exponentiation **
Multiplicative */
Additive +-
Relational < <= > >=
Equality == !=
Logical AND .and.
Logical OR .or.
Assignment =

FORTRAN ─ CONTROL STRUCTURE

Control structures are used to direct the flow of program execution. It require that the
programmer specify one or more conditions to be evaluated or tested by the program, along
with a statement or statements to be executed, if the condition is determined to be true, and
optionally, other statements to be executed if the condition is determined to be false.
Fortran provides the following types of control constructs.

FORTRAN SELECTION STATEMENTS

If…then Construct
An if… then statement consists of a logical expression followed by one or more statements and
terminated by an end if statement. It is used for single selection.
Syntax
The basic syntax of an if… then statement is:
if (logical expression) then
statement
end if

If the logical expression evaluates to true, then the block of code inside the if…then statement
will be executed. If logical expression evaluates to false, then the first set of code after the end
if statement will be executed.
Example 1
program ifProg
implicit none
! local variable declaration
integer :: a = 10
! check the logical condition using if statement
if (a < 20 ) then

! if condition is true then print the following

print*, "a is less than 20"
end if

print*, "value of a is ", a

end program ifProg

If… then… else Construct

An if… then statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when
the logical expression is false.
Syntax
The basic syntax of an if… then… else statement is:
if (logical expression) then
statement(s)
else
other_statement(s)
end if

Flow Diagram

Example 2
program ifElseProg
implicit none
! local variable declaration
integer :: a = 100
! check the logical condition using if statement
if (a < 20 ) then

! if condition is true then print the following

print*, "a is less than 20"
else
print*, "a is not less than 20"
end if
print*, "value of a is ", a
end program ifElseProg

if...else if...else Statement

An if statement construct can have one or more optional else-if constructs. When the
ifcondition fails, the immediately followed else-if is executed. When the else-if also fails, its
successor else-if statement (if any) is executed, and so on.
The optional else is placed at the end and it is executed when none of the above conditions hold
true.
• All else statements (else-if and else) are optional.
• else-if can be used one or more times
• else must always be placed at the end of construct and should appear only once.
Syntax
The syntax of an if...else if...else statement is:
[name:]
if (logical expression 1) then
! block 1
else if (logical expression 2) then
! block 2
else if (logical expression 3) then
! block 3
else
! block 4
end if [name]
Example
program ifElseIfElseProg
implicit none
! local variable declaration
integer :: a = 100
! check the logical condition using if statement
if( a == 10 ) then

! if condition is true then print the following

print*, "Value of a is 10"
else if( a == 20 ) then

! if else if condition is true

print*, "Value of a is 20"

else if( a == 30 ) then

! if else if condition is true

print*, "Value of a is 30"
else
! if none of the conditions is true
print*, "None of the values is matching"
end if
print*, "exact value of a is ", a
end program ifElseIfElseProg

Select Case Construct

A select case statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. Each
value is called a case, and the variable being selected on is checked for each select case.

Syntax
The syntax for the select case construct is as follows:
[name:] select case (expression)
case (selector1)
! some statements
... case (selector2)
! other statements
...
case default
! more statements
...
end select [name]

Example
program selectCaseProg
implicit none
! local variable declaration
character :: grade = 'B'
select case (grade)

case ('A')
print*, "Excellent!"

case ('B')
case ('C')
print*, "Well done"

case ('D')
print*, "You passed"
case ('F')
print*, "Better try again"

case default
print*, "Invalid grade"
end select
print*, "Your grade is ", grade
end program selectCaseProg

FORTRAN REPETITION STATEMENTS

A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple times.
• do loop: This construct enables a statement, or a series of statements, to be carried out
iteratively, while a given condition is true.
• do while loop: Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is
true. It tests the condition before executing the loop body.
• nested loops: You can use one or more loop construct inside any other loop construct.
do loop:

Example
This program calculates the factorials of numbers 1 to 10:
program factorial
implicit none
! define variables
integer :: nfact = 1
integer :: n

! compute factorials
do n = 1, 10
nfact = nfact * n
! print values
print*, n, " ", nfact
end do
end program factorial

do while loop:

Example
program factorial
implicit none
! define variables
integer :: nfact = 1
integer :: n = 1

! compute factorials
do while (n <= 10)
nfact = nfact * n
n=n+1
print*, n, " ", nfact
end do
end program factorial