CHAPTER 2 : COMPUTER SYSTEMS

CHAPTER 2 : COMPUTER SYSTEMS

The principle of the modern computer was proposed by Alan Turing, in his seminal 1936 paper,^[34] On Computable Numbers. Turing proposed a simple device that he called "Universal Computing machine" that is later known as a Universal Turing machine. He proved that such machine is capable of computing anything that is computable by executing instructions (program) stored on tape, allowing the machine to be programmable.

The fundamental concept of Turing's design is stored program, where all instruction for computing is stored in the memory.

Von Neumann acknowledged that the central concept of the modern computer was due to this paper.^[35] Turing machines are to this day a central object of study in theory of computation. Except for the limitations imposed by their finite memory stores, modern computers are said to be Turing-complete, which is to say, they have algorithm execution capability equivalent to a universal Turing machine.

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Computer science is the scientific and practical approach to computation and its applications. It is the systematic study of the feasibility, structure, expression, and mechanisation of the methodical procedures (or algorithms) that underlie the acquisition, representation, processing, storage, communication of, and access to information. An alternate, more succinct definition of computer science is the study of automating algorithmic processes that scale. A computer scientist specializes in the theory of computation and the design of computational systems.^[1]

Its fields can be divided into a variety of theoretical and practical disciplines. Some fields, such as computational complexity theory (which explores the fundamental properties of computational and intractable problems), are highly abstract, while fields such as computer graphics emphasise real-world visual applications. Still other fields focus on challenges in implementing computation. For example, programming language theory considers various approaches to the description of computation, while the study of computer programming itself investigates various aspects of the use of programming language and complex systems. Human–computer interaction considers the challenges in making computers and computations useful, usable, and universally accessible to humans.