How computers compute

МАРИЙСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧСКИЙ

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HOW COMPUTERS COMPUTE

1. A computer is a numerical transformer, or rearranger of information that has been coded into binary digits, or combinations of 0s and 1s. For example, every time you hit a letter or number on a keyboard, that information is converted to a string of Os and Is and transmitted as electronic pulses through a series of microscopic, rapidly changing on/off switches, or gates.

Since all kinds of information can be coded into binary digits, it doesn't matter to a computer how information starts out - as words in a document, numbers in a complex mathematical problem, or a photograph of your little sister. And the computer doesn't care how the information will be used. It handles all input, or everything it receives, in the same way and with the same basic calculations: it adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides and compares electronically.

2. Based on the information you provide, a computer does what you want it to do because it follows a program, or set of instructions, for each task it performs. In addition to its operating system - a program that tells it how to do the basics - every computer uses application programs for particular jobs.

For example, a designer and an accountant might own the same model computer with the same operating system, but the designer would need graphics programs, while the accountant would need a program capable of generating spreadsheets.

3. The brain of the computer is the central processing unit, or CPU. It understands the commands, runs the programs, and co-ordinates everything that goes on.

You can classify a CPU by its clock speed, measured in megahertz (MHz). Major operations in a computer happen in lockstep, and this is controlled by the microprocessor's clock speed. The greater the hertz, the faster the CPU can handle its work, and the more complex tasks it can do. A 200MHz machine, for example, typically operates about 25% faster than the 166MHz version.

Inside the computer's microprocessor, or CPU, stored instructions determine the flow of data and commands, and control the tasks you're asking the computer to perform.

4. The BIOS, or basic input/output system, works first and last, getting information from you, managing the machine's internal information flow, displaying text or numbers on your screen, and directing the data that's printed, faxed or shared between your computer and another one. The BIOS has been described as the link or arbiter between the software and the hardware.