CS 101 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCES

1. CS 101 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCES

2. COURSE CONTENT • History of the Computer • Functional Components of a Computer • Characteristics of a Computer • Computer Applications • Problem Solving • Pseudocode and flowcharts • Computer Programming • Statements • SymbolicNames • Array Subscript • Expression and control statements • Introduction to Programming Language

3. General Introduction to the course • What is Computer Science Contrary to popular opinion Computer Science is not just about “computers” Computer Science is concerned about the application of Scientific principles in the design, development and maintenance of computers A Computer is device that processes and or stores data according to instructions

4. A Computer Includes your Brain • On the face of it , it may seem a contradiction but a computer includes various things from your own brain to minute processors hidden all over your lives. • The fastest growing fields of computer science have nothing to do with what the average person will call “computer science” these include:- • Bioinformatics- using computers for genetic computation and medical research • Brain Computer interface- Mind over matter and the use of computers to replace damaged body organs • Artificial Intelligence- the advance towards technological singularity

5. The Emotive Head Band allows you to control systems ranging from video games to your car • Advances in the 1990’s allowed doctors to replace the vision of a blind patient

6. History of the Computer • The Antikythera Mechanism from ancient Greece 150-100BC is the oldest known analog computer • Badi’al-Zaman Al-jazari’s (1136-1206) Castle Clock is the oldest known programmable computer

7. The Astrolab used by Arab explorers and the chineese Abacus were all precursors to the modern computer

8. Jacquard’s Loom • In 1801 Josepph –Marie Jacquard developed a loom controlled by punched cards. These inspired the information recording revolution in music. It triggered the industrial revolution.

9. The Babbage Era • The difference engine developed by Charles Babbage in1803 is a mechanical calculator able to compute polynomial functions.

10. Although it never was actually built, the difference engine laid down the foundation of the “programmable “ machine in the west. Augusta Ada Byron. The FIRST computer programmer in the west developed many programs for the difference machine. In her honor the Language Ada was named.

11. The Turing Revolution • Alan Turing 1912-1954 Became known as he father of modern computing when in 1936 he developed the concept of the “Turing machine”. John von Neumann later used this concept to develop the Von Neumann architecture- the computer architecture upon which all modern computers are based.

12. ENIAC and First generation computers • Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer EDVAC and the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer were built on vo Neumann principles

13. The Transistor • The invention of the transistor in the 1950’s led to the fazing away of the Vacuum tube. These smaller, cheaper instruments led to the development of the Second Generation of Computers. • The second Generation of computers also brought about a tremendous improvement in storage capabilities. Also, the foundation of modern computer networking was laid here with the introduction of teletype terminal and the use of telephone lines for networking.

14. The Integrated Circuit – Third Generation. • The miniaturization of transistors in the 1960’s led to the birth of the integrated circuit. An enormous number of components can now be fitted into incredibly small places. This gave birth to the third generation of computers.

15. Functional Components of a Computer • Input Unit • Output unit • Memory unit • Storage unit • CPU • Control unit • ALU