Application Software:
A program which allows us to apply ourselves to a particular task, such as editing an image, accessing Internet resources, or playing a game.
ASCII:
American Standard Code for Information Interchange; an international standard for encoding characters into 7-bit codes; ASCII is the basis of the more modern and inclusive Unicode standard.
Binary Code:
A scheme for encoding data using only the digits 0 and 1; binary code can be used to encode text, images, sounds and programs, amongst other data.
Bit:
Contraction of the term binary digit; hence 0 or 1.
Booting:
The process by which a computer loads its operating system in primary storage from secondary storage using the instructions found in ROM.
Bus:
Electrical connections through which data are transmitted.
Byte:
Contraction of the term binary term; the smallest unit of the information which can be accessed directly by a computer. Most modern computers use 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit bytes.
Character:
A single letter or digit, or a special symbol like punctuation marks, the dollar sign and a blank space.
Computer:
A programmable electronic device for the processing of information.
CPU:
Control Processing Unit; a miniturized electronic component which controls the execution of a computer and which performs basic arithmetic and logical operations. Colloquially called the computer's brain.
Directory:
A logical collection of files stored under a single name.
File:
A logical collection of data stored under a single name.
Firewire:
Apple's name for the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus, also called i Link Sony and Lynx by Texas Instruments.
Gigabyte:
2 to the power of 20 bytes (approx.1 billion bytes)
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Hardware:
The physical parts of the computer; any part of the computer which can be seen and touched.
Information:
Words, pictures and sounds which have meaning to us.
Input Device:
Devices used to put information into a computer. Common examples of input devices are keyboards, mouses, scanners, microphones, game controllers and USB drives.
Kilobyte:
2 to the power of 10 bytes (approx. 1 thousand bytes)
Megabyte:
2 to the power of 20 bytes (approx. 1 million bytes)
Monitor:
A visual display device on which a computer displays information about its internal state, allowing people to monitor the activites of the computer.
Operating System:
A set of programs which tells a computer how to perform its most basic tasks, such as "reading" information from input devices, "writing" information to output devices, and executing the instructions of launch software.
Output Device:
Devices used by a computer to put out information. Common examples of output deivces are printers, earphones, speakers, data projectors, data modems and game controllers.
Peripheral:
Any hardware element which is peripheral to a computer's system unit. Common examples are input devices and output devices. Even output devices which are often found within the system unit are considered peripherals because they are peripherals to the core elements of the computer; CPU, RAM, ROM.
Primary Storage:
A miniaturized electronic component which provides temporary storage of information. Primary storage is volatile and relatively expensive, but it's used because it's fast and(with few exceptions) is the only storage which the CPU can access directly.
Programmable:
Capable of performing varied and different tasks, limited only by the sophistication of the programs provided.
Program:
A set of instructions which tells a computer what to do and when to do it. The instructions must be written in a language which the computer understands.
RAM:
Random Access Memory.
ROM:
Read-Only Memory. A miniaturized electronic component which provides permanent storage of information. In most cases, the information in ROM is "written" only once, at the factory. Thereafter, ROM can be used only to read from, and not to write to.
Root:
Short for "root directory"; the main directory, in a hierachial directory structure, which(logically) contains all other directories; in DOS- and Windows- based systems, the root directory is represented by a backslash(\)Mac-OS, Unix and Linux systems, the root directory is represented by a forwardslash(/).
Secondary Storage:
Any storage medium which provides(relatively) permanent storage of information. Secondary storage is non volatile and relatively inexpensive, but it's slow. With few exceptions, secondary storage cannot be accessed directly by the CPU. The most common examples of secondary storage are magnetic and optical discs, magnetic tape and flash memory.
Software:
A synonym of program.
String:
A collection of like units, treated as a whole; examples: character string and bit string.
System Unit:
A plastic or metal box which contains the principal parts of a computer: the CPU, RAM, ROM, various connecting cables and an AC/DC convertor. In modern microcomputers, it's common to find peripheral devices installed inside the systems unit. Examples include a modem and cord readers.
USB:
Universal Serial Bus; a standard for connecting peripherals to a computer over inexpensive callers.
Application Software:
A complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user (Howe, 2010a). This is in contrast to system software such as the operating system kernel, server processes, libraries which exists to support application programs and utility programs.
ASCII:
Acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127 (Webopedia, 2011a). For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another.
Binary Code:
A number representation where a number is expressed as a sequence of decimal digits and then each decimal digit is encoded as a four-bit binary number (a nibble). E.g. decimal 92 would be encoded as the eight-bit sequence 1001 0010 (Howe, 2010b).
Bit:
The computer term "bit" comes from the phrase "Binary DigIT."A bit is a single digit number in base-2 (a zero or a one) and is the smallest unit of computer data (TechTerms.com, 2011a). A full page of text is composed of about 16,000 bits.
Booting:
When you boot a computer, you simply turn it on (TechTerms.com, 2011b).
Bus:
A set of electrical conductors (wires, PCB tracks or connections in an integrated circuit) connecting various "stations", which can be functional units in a computer or nodes in a network (Howe, 2010c) . A bus is a broadcast channel, meaning that each station receives every other station's transmissions and all stations have equal access to the bus.
Byte:
A byte is a unit of measurement used to measure data. One byte contains eight binary bits, or a series of eight zeros and ones (TechTerms.com, 2011b). Therefore, each byte can be used to represent 2^8 or 256 different values.
Character:
In computer software, any symbol that requires one byte of storage. This includes all the ASCII and extended ASCII characters, including the space character (Webopedia, 2011b). In character-based software, everything that appears on the screen, including graphics symbols, is considered to be a character. In graphics-based applications, the term character is generally reserved for letters, numbers, and punctuation.
Computer
A machine that can be programmed to manipulate symbols (Howe, 2010d) . Computers can perform complex and repetitive procedures quickly, precisely and reliably and can quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data.
CPU:
The part of a computer which controls all the other parts (Howe, 2011e) . Designs vary widely but the CPU generally consists of the control unit, the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), registers, temporary buffers and various other logic.
Directory:
A listing of the files contained in a storage device, such as a magnetic disk TheFreeDictionary.com (2009).
File:
A file is a collection of data stored in one unit, identified by a filename (TechTerms.com, 2007c). It can be a document, picture, audio or video stream, data library, application, or other collection of data.
Firewire:
This high-speed interface has become a hot new standard for connecting peripherals (TechTerms.com, 2011d) Created by Apple Computer in the mid-1990's, Firewire can be used to connect devices such as digital video cameras, hard drives, audio interfaces, and MP3 players, such as the Apple iPod, to your computer.
Gigabyte:
Gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage (Wikipedia, 2011a) . The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units (SI), therefore 1 gigabyte is 1000000000bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte is GB or Gbyte, but not Gb (lower case b) which is typically used for the gigabit.
Hardware:
Refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips (Webopedia, 2011c).
Information:
The result of applying data processing to data, giving it context and meaning (Howe, 2010f) . Information can then be further processed to yeild knowledge.
Input Device:
An input device is any device that provides input to a computer (TechTerms.com, 2008e).
Kilobyte:
The kilobyte (symbol: kB) is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information (WIkipedia, 2011b). Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information technology.
Megabyte:
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: 1048576 bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes (106, see prefix mega-) generally for computer storage (Wikipedia, 2011c). The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000 000", with exceptions allowed for the base-two meaning. In rare cases, it is used to mean 1000 x 1024 (1024000) bytes. It is commonly abbreviated as Mbyte or MB.
Monitor:
Another term for display screen (Webopedia, 2011d). The term monitor, however, usually refers to the entire box, whereas display screen can mean just the screen. In addition, the term monitor often implies graphics capabilities.
Operating System:
The most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other program (Webopedia, 2011e). Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.
Output Device:
Any machine capable of representing information from a computer (Webopedia, 2011e). This includes display screens, printers, plotters, and synthesizers
Peripheral:
A computer peripheral is any external device that provides input and output for the computer (TechTerms.com, 2011f). For example, a keyboard and mouse are input peripherals, while a monitor and printer are output peripherals
Primary Storage:
Primary storage is the main area in your computer where information is stored for quick access by the computers processor (jerusha2009, 2011). With today's smaller computers the term RAM is more often used when referencing a computers primary storage.
Programmable:
Capable of being programmed for automatic operation or computer processing (Dictionary.com, 2011) .
Program:
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer (Wikipedia, 2011d) .
RAM:
A data storage device for which the order of access to different locations does not affect the speed of access (Howe, 2010g) . This is in contrast to, say, a magnetic disk, magnetic tape or a mercury delay line where it is very much quicker to access data sequentially because accessing a non-sequential location requires physical movement of the storage medium rather than just electronic switching.
ROM:
A type of data storage device which is manufactured with fixed contents. (Howe, 2010h). In its most general sense, the term might be used for any storage system whose contents cannot be altered, such as a gramophone record or a printed book; however, the term is most often applied to semiconductor integrated circuit memories, of which there are several types, and CD-ROM.
Root:
In the computer world, "root" refers to the top-level directory of a file system (TechTerms.com, 2009g).
Secondary Storage:
Secondary storage technology refers to storage devices and storage media that are not always directly accessible by a computer (TechTerms.com, 2008h). Examples of secondary storage devices include external hard drives, USB flash drives, and tape drives.
Software:
The instructions which control what a computer does; computer programs (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2011) .
String:
A linear series of things, such as bits or characters (The Dictionary You Can Understand, 2010).
System Unit:
The main part of a personal computera (Webopedia, 2011f). The system unit includes the chassis, microprocessor, main memory, bus, and ports, but does not include the keyboard or monitor, or any peripheral devices. A system unit is sometimes called a box or main unit.
USB:
The most widely used hardware interface for attaching peripherals to a computer (PCMag.com, 1996). There are typically at least two USB ports on laptops and four on desktop computers, while USB "hubs" allow many more connections (see below). After appearing on PCs in 1997, USB quickly became popular for connecting keyboards, mice, printers and hard drives, eventually replacing the PC's serial and parallel ports.