THE ROLE OF

COMPUTERS IN
DIFFERENT FIELDS

-SARJOON
AHAMED-

INTRODUCTION
Computer are used in so many fields in our daily
life. From engineers to doctor, student,
government organization they all use computers
to performed particular tasks.
Computer have made our life easier. Computer
can do many task in a short time, which if done
manually would take a long period.

In general:
Computer are mainly used in the fields
mentioned below.

Business Industry
Publication field
Government organization
Science field
Entertainment field
Medical fields

Business & industry

Computer technology is used in business in many
ways. Many business tasks are performed more
quickly and efficiently. Computer also help them
to reduce the overall cost of their business

Marketing
An organization can use computers for marketing
their products. Marketing application provides
information about the product to customer.
Computer is also used to advertising and selling
activities.

Stock exchange
Most stock exchange use computers to conduct
bids. Stockbrokers perform all trading activities
electronically.
CAD/ CAM

Computer aided design software are used to help

engineers to create and design plan easily.
Computer aided manufacture software helps
industrialists
to
monitor
and
control
constructions.
MIS, DSS, TIS
Management information system allow managers
to control managerial operation Decision support
system allow executive to take decision easily
with help of the systems. Transaction operating
system allows smooth running of day to day
operation.

Publication field
Now many authors tend to write their books in
their pc rather than on paper so it is easier to
print them too.

Ebooks
Most publishers upload electronic versions of
books because online reading is very popular
nowadays

ISBN
International standard book number is a unique
numeric commercial book identifier based upon
the nine digit code which contain detail about
publisher title etc.

Government organisations
The
government
now
display
essential
information online to be viewed by public
We can read the parliament hanzards in the
parliament.
Websites
We can read news in various government
websites.

Institutions
such
as
department
of
immigration and emigration and registration
of modern week old have fully computerized
system.
Now people can e-mail organisation to get
information rather than visiting them.

Field of science
Geographical imaging system
Satellite images which allow weather forecasting
department to identify approach of monsoon or
other environmental changes

Space exploration

NASA and other big organisations you really

complex computer system to analyse our space
and discover new space objects

Scientific system
Scientists all around the world use advanced IT to
help them in their investigations. They conduct
experiments with the help of computers sensors
actuators etc.

Entertainment field
Computer games
GTA, IGI and online games like candy crush are
extremely popular among people. Now most of
the people use computer and Internet to play
game as it is very relaxing.

Social networking sites

Websites like Facebook and google + are very
popular in Sri Lanka. People use this sites to chat
with others, make new friends, and keep in
contact with relatives abroad and to play games.

Medical field
CT scanning
Computer axial tomography are used to identify
tumours and other medical problems

MRI scanner

Magnetic resonance imaging uses large magnets

and computer to phone 3 d images of various
body parts

expert system

Medical expert system help doctors to come to

conclusion about various diseases about patients.
If they input the symptoms they can get what is
the disease. Expert system have a knowledge
base and inference engine.

Hospital management system

Hospitals store patient records and doctor details

in a computerised system. They also process
appointment and payment using this system.

Generations

Of
Computers

-SARJOON AHAMED-

FIRST GENARATION
Computer designed using vacuum tubes
Were known as first generation computers.
A vacuum tube is a sealed glass tube
Contain a near vacuum which allow the

Free passage electronic current.

Cost to buildAround $1 million were spend to complete this
Task. Ex- Univac-$930,000
Univac-1103-$895,000

SECOND GENERATION
The
period
of
second
generation was 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
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.

THIRD GENERATIONS

The period of third

generation was 19651971. The computers of
third generation used
integrated circuits (IC's) 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, multi-programming operating
system were used. High-level languages
(FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC,
ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during this generation

FORTH GENERATION
The period of fourth generation was 19711980. The computers of fourth generation used
Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI
circuits having about 5000 transistors and other

circuit elements and 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++, DBASE etc., were used in
this generation.

FIFTH GENERATION
The period of fifth generation is 1980-till date. In
the fifth generation, the VLSI technology became

ULSI
(Ultra
Scale
Integration)
technology,
resulting
in
the
production of

Large

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 means and
method of making computers think like human
beings. All the high-level languages like C and C+
+, Java, .Net etc., are used in this generation. AI
includes: Robotics Game Playing Development of
expert systems to make decisions in real life
situations. Natural language understanding and
generation.

The Computer
Timeline

STORAGE
DEVICES

-SARJOON AHAMEDWhat are Storage devices?

Storage Devices are the data storage

devices that are used in the computers to
store the data. The computer has many
types of data storage devices. Some of them
can be classified as the removable data
Storage Devices and the others as the non
removable data Storage Devices.
The memory is of two types; one is
the primary memory and the other one is
the secondary memory.
The primary memory is the volatile memory
and the secondary memory is the nonvolatile memory. The volatile memory is the
kind of the memory that is erasable and the
non-volatile memory is the one where in the
contents cannot be erased. Basically when
we talk about the data storage devices it is
generally assumed to be the secondary
memory.
The secondary memory is used to store the
data permanently in the computer. The
secondary storage devices are usually as
follows: hard disk drives this is the most
common type of storage device that is used
in almost all the computer systems. The
other ones include the floppy disk drives,

the CD ROM, and the DVD ROM. The flash

memory, the USB data card etc.
Floppy discs

A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is

composed of a disk of thin, flexible floppy)
magnetic storage medium encased in a square or
rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read
and written by a floppy disk drive.

Application
Any use where small files such as word
processing, small spreadsheets and databases
need to be moved from one computer to another.
Useful to backup small data files.

Fixed hard discs

A

games

hard disk drive is the

device used to store large
amounts of digital
information in computers and
related equipment like iPods and
consoles such as the Xbox 360 and

PS3.
Hard disk drives are used to store operating
systems, software and working data.
These are suitable for any application which
requires very fast access to data for both reading
and writing to. However, Hard disk drives may
not be suitable for applications which need
portability.
Almost all computers used a fixed hard disc. Used
for on-line and real time processes requiring
direct access. Used in file servers for computer
networks to store large amount of data.

Portable hard discs

Portable hard discs are good fun because you can
carry data about all over the place and transfer
information, programs, pictures, etc between
computers.

Advantages:

Greatly improved data cargo carrying

capacity (relative to the 1.44 Mb floppy disc).

You don't need to worry about the other

person having the same type of special cartridge
drive as yourself.

Disadvantages:

Hard drives have to be handled quite

carefully, and when being transported should be
wrapped in something soft and put in a padded
bag.

More expensive than other forms of

removable media.

Application
Portable disc discs are used to store very large
files which need transporting from one computer
to another and price is not an issue.

Magnetic tapes
Magnetic tape has
been used for data
storage for over 50
years. When storing
large amounts of
data, tape can be
substantially less expensive than disk or other
data storage options. Tape storage has always
been used with large computer systems. Modern
usage is primarily as a high capacity medium
for backups and archives.

Drawbacks
Writing and retrieving data is
slow. It uses serial access for
reading and writing.

Application
Magnetic tapes are used for
application which requires extremely large
storage capacity where speed of access is not an
issue.
It is commonly used for backups of file servers for
computer networks, in a variety of batch
processing applications such as reading of bank
cheques, payroll processing and general stock
control.

Optical backing storage media such

as CDs and DVDs

CDs tend to be used for large files

(but smaller than 1Gb) which are
too big for a floppy disc to hold
such as music and general
animation.

DVDs are used to hold very large

files (several Gb) such as movie films. Both CDs
and DVDs are portable i.e. they can be
transported from one computer to another. Both
can be used to store computer data.

CD ROM/DVD ROM Applications which require

the prevention of deletion of data, accidental or
otherwise. CDs used by software companies for
distributing software programs and data; by
Music companies for distributing music albums
and by book publishers for distributing
encyclopaedias, reference books etc. DVDs used
by film distributors.

CD R/DVD R Applications which require a

single burning of data, e.g. CDs - recording of
music downloads from the Internet, recording of
music from MP3 format, recording of data for
archiving or backup purposes. DVDs recording
of film movies and television programs.

CD RW/DVD RW Applications which require

the updating of information and ability to record
over old data. Not suitable for music recording
but is very useful for keeping generations of files.
DVDs have between five and ten times the
capacity of CDs.
Solid state backing storage

These are the smallest form of memory

available in the market today.

Widely used as removable storage.

They are more robust than other forms of

storage.
Though expensive than other forms they can
be easily written to and updated.

Memory sticks/Pen drives

USB flash drives are typically
removable and rewritable, much
smaller than a floppy disk. Storage capacities
typically range from 64 MB to 64 GB. USB flash
drives offer potential advantages over other
portable storage devices, particularly the floppy
disk.
They have a more compact shape, operate
faster, hold much more data, have a more
durable design, and operate more reliably due to
their lack of moving parts. Flash drives are widely
used to transport files and backup data from
computer to computer.

Flash memory cards

A memory card or flash
memory card is a solid-state
electronic flash memory data
storage device used with digital cameras,
handheld and Mobile, telephones, and other
electronics. Nowadays, most new PCs have builtin slots for a variety of memory cards and
Memory Stick also.

Operating
systems

-SARJOON AHAMEDWhat is an operating system?

An operating system is the most important
software that runs on a computer. It manages
the computers memory , processes, and all of
its software and hardware. It also allows you
to communicate with the computer without
knowing how to speak the computer's
language. Without an operating system, a
computer is useless.

Examples of computer operating

systems
Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1 - PC and IBM
compatible operating system. Microsoft Windows
is the most common and used operating system.
Apple MacOS - Apple computer operating
system. The only Apple computer operating
system.
Ubuntu Linux - A popular variant of Linux used
with PC and IBM compatible computers.

Functions of an operating system

The basic functions of an operating system are:
i.

Booting the computer

ii.

Performs basic computer tasks eg managing

the various peripheral devices eg mouse,
keyboard

iii.

Provides a user interface, e.g. command line,

graphical user interface (GUI)

iv.

Handles system resources such as

computer's memory and sharing of the
central processing unit (CPU) time by various
applications or peripheral devices

v. Provides file management which refers to the

way that the operating system manipulates,
stores, retrieves and saves data.

Booting the computer

The process of starting or restarting the
computer is known as booting. A cold boot is
when you turn on a computer that has been
turned off completely. A warm boot is the process
of using the operating system to restart the
computer.

Performs basic computer tasks

The operating system performs basic computer
tasks, such as managing the various peripheral
devices such as the mouse, keyboard and
printers. For example, most operating systems
now are plug and play which means a device
such as a printer will automatically be detected
and configured without any user intervention.

Provides a user interface

A user interacts with software through the user
interface. The two main types of user interfaces
are: command line and a graphical user interface
(GUI). With a command line interface, the user
interacts with the operating system by typing
commands to perform specific tasks. An example
of a command line interface is DOS (disk
operating system). With a graphical user
interface, the user interacts with the operating
system by using a mouse to access windows,
icons, and menus. An example of a graphical user
interface is Windows Vista or Windows 7.
The operating system is responsible for providing
a consistent application program interface (API)
which is important as it allows a software
developer to write an application on one
computer and know that it will run on another
computer of the same type even if the amount of
memory or amount of storage is different on the
two machines.

Handles system resources

The operating system also handles system
resources such as the computer's memory and
sharing of the central processing unit (CPU) time
by various applications or peripheral devices.
Programs and input methods are constantly
competing for the attention of the CPU and
demand memory, storage and input/output
bandwidth. The operating system ensures that
each application gets the necessary resources it
needs in order to maximise the functionality of
the overall system.

Provides file management

The operating system also handles the
organisation and tracking of files and directories
(folders) saved or retrieved from a computer disk.
The file management system allows the user to
perform such tasks as creating files and
directories, renaming files, coping and moving
files, and deleting files. The operating system
keeps track of where files are located on the hard
drive through the type of file system. The type
two main types of file system are File Allocation
table (FAT) or New Technology File system (NTFS).

Main Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows (or simply Windows) is a

met family of graphical operating
systems developed, marketed, and sold by
Microsoft. It consists of several families of
operating systems, each of which cater to a
certain sector of the computing industry. Active
Windows families include Windows NT, Windows
Embedded and Windows Phone; these may
encompass subfamilies, e.g. Windows Embedded
Compact (Windows CE) or Windows Server.
Defunct Windows families include Windows
9x and Windows Mobile.
Microsoft introduced an operating
environment named Windows on November 20,
1985 as a graphical operating system shell
for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest
in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Microsoft
Windows came to dominate the world's personal
computer market with over 90% market share,
overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in
1984. However, since 2012, it sells less
than Android, which became the most popular
operating system in 2014, when counting all of
the computing platforms Windows runs on (same
as Android); in 2014, the number of Windows
device sold were less than 25% of Android
devices sold.
As of April 2014, the most recent versions of
Windows for personal
computers, smartphones, server computers and
embedded devices are respectively Windows

8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Server 2012

R2 and Windows Embedded 8. A specialized
version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game
console.
The next version of Windows is Windows 10 and
is currently available as a technical preview; it is
set for release for phones, tablets, laptops, and
PCs in mid-2015.

Mac OS
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based graphical
interface systems developed and marketed
by Apple Inc. It is designed to run
on Macintosh computers, having been preinstalled on all Macs since 2002. It was the
successor to Mac OS 9, released in 1999, the final
release of the "classic" Mac OS, which had been
Apple's primary operating system since 1984.
The first version released was Mac OS X Server
1.0 in 1999, and a desktop version, Mac OS X
v10.0 "Cheetah" followed on March 24, 2001.
Previous releases of OS X were named after big
cats; for example, OS X v10.8 was referred to as
"Mountain Lion". However, with the
announcement of OS X Mavericks in June 2013,
this was dropped in favour of Californian
landmarks. Within the market of desktop, laptop
and home computers, and by web usage, OS X is
the second most widely used OS after Windows.
OS X, whose X is the Roman numeral for 10 and
is a prominent part of its brand identity, is built

on technologies developed atNeXT between the

second half of the 1980s and Apple's purchase of
the company in late 1996. The 'X' is also used to
emphasize the relatedness between OS X and
UNIX. UNIX 03 certification has been achieved for
versions 10.5 for IntelCPUs, and
versions 10.6 through 10.10. iOS, the mobile OS
for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and the 2nd and
3rd generation Apple TV, shares the Unixbased Darwin core and many frameworks with
OS X. An unnamed variant ofv10.4 powers the
first generation Apple TV.
The first releases of Mac OS X from 1999 to 2006
can run only on the PowerPC based Macs of the
period. After Apple announced it would shift to
using Intel x86 CPUs from 2006
onwards, Tiger and Leopard were released in
versions for Intel and PowerPC processors. Snow
Leopard is the first version released only for Intel
Macs. Since the release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion",
OS X has dropped support for 32-bit Intel
processors as well. It now runs exclusively on 64bit Intel CPUs.
Apple offers an application suite for OS X
called OS X Server, for use on servers. It includes
tools to facilitate management of workgroups of
OS X machines, and to provide network services.
It is sold separately through the Mac App Store as
a single item; it remained available until 2014
preinstalled on dedicated server computers.
Before the release of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion", a

separate edition of Mac OS X, called Mac OS X

Server, with additional tools bundled with the
operating system was sold and was preinstalled
on servers.
The latest version of OS X is 10.10 "Yosemite",
which was released to the public on October 16,
2014.

Ubuntu Linux
Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating
system, freely available with both community
and professional support. The Ubuntu
community, backed by Canonical, is built on the
ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that
software should be available free of charge, that
software tools should be usable by people in their
local language and despite any disabilities, and
that people should have the freedom to
customise and alter their software in whatever
way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African
word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu
distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the
software world. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is the current
long term support version, released in April 2012,
codenamed Precise Pangolin.