Computer Systems and Software Fundamentals

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering hardware architecture, networking, web technologies, data representation, and the software development life cycle.

DIKW Pyramid

A hierarchy used to illustrate the transition from raw Data to Information, Knowledge, and finally Insight/Wisdom.

Control Unit

A main component of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) that fetches and executes instructions.

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

A component of the CPU responsible for performing arithmetic operations.

Registers

Components that supply operands to the ALU and store the results of its operations.

Hertz

The unit used to measure clock speed (instructions per second), usually expressed in $GHz$.

HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

A storage device featuring mechanical spinning magnetic disks; it is generally slower and more susceptible to shocks compared to SSDs.

SSD (Solid State Drive)

A storage device with no moving parts that uses flash memory, offering faster speeds and better durability.

Byte (B)

A unit of digital information consisting of $8\,bits$ ($b$), representing one character.

Bit (binary digit)

The most basic unit of information in computing, represented as a $0$ or $1$.

Mainframes

Large and powerful computers used by large organizations to process vast amounts of data, primarily for commercial purposes.

Supercomputers

The fastest and most powerful computers, used for complex calculations in scientific research and simulation.

Computer Network

Multiple devices connected to each other to communicate and share resources, which can be wired or wireless.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A computer network that covers a small geographical area, like a home or office.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A computer network that extends over a large geographical distance.

Routers

Devices that forward data packets across a network.

Bandwidth

A measure of the maximum rate of data transfer, often expressed in $MBps$.

Internet

A global network of interconnected computers allowing for data exchange and communication.

World Wide Web (WWW)

An internet-based system of interlinked hypertext documents, invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 at CERN.

Hyperlinks

Connections that allow users to navigate between web pages and websites seamlessly.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

The foundation for data communication on the Web, enabling the retrieval of linked resources.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

The standard markup language used to create and design web pages and web applications.

Web Browser

Software application used for accessing information on the Web by interpreting HTML files and displaying content.

IP address

A unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network (e.g., $208.80.153.224$).

Domain Name

A human-readable address that directs users to a specific location on the Internet by translating to an IP address through DNS.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

The complete address used to access a specific webpage or file, including the protocol, domain name, and path.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; a 7-bit system that can represent 128 characters.

Unicode

A character encoding standard that uses between $8$ and $32\,bits$ per character to represent many different languages.

Resolution

The concentration of pixels in a specific area of an image.

Image Size Formula

$$\text{Image Size} = \text{No of pixels} \times \text{No of bits per pixel}$$

BIOS (Basic Input Output System)

The first software to run when a computer starts; it initializes hardware and loads the Operating System.

Firmware

Low-level software embedded in a device's hardware providing basic instructions for its operation.

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)

A structured methodology used to develop and maintain software systems, consisting of stages like Planning, Analysis, and Design.

Syntax

The formal set of rules defining the correct structure of code in a programming language.

Semantics

The meaning and behavior of code, which is judged by the output of the programmed equation or task.

High-Level Languages

Programming languages designed to be easy to read and understand (e.g., Python, Java, C++) that are translated into machine code by compilers or interpreters.