1.0.1 Hardware & Software: How Computers Do What They Do
At its core, computing is all about the essential elements and functions that let computers do what they do, processing, storing, and sharing information. Now, if we break it down, we can see these operations are made possible by two main categories, hardware and software.
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Hardware & Software: How Computers Do What They Do Exam Answers
Hardware refers to all the tangible computer parts. Think of the physical components like your keyboard, mouse, and hard drive. Software is the intangible part, encompassing all the programs and operating systems that tell the hardware what to do. Hardware and software work hand in hand to make computing as we know it possible. Let’s look at a few different things.
RAM, aka Random Access Memory, is the short term memory of a computer, used to store the operational data and instructions to which the CPU needs immediate access. It is volatile, meaning it only retains data when the computer is powered on. For example, when adjusting the brightness of the screen, this information is temporarily stored in RAM for quick access.
Hard drives, including hard disk drives, HDDs, and solid state drives, SSDs, serve as the long term storage of a computer. HDDs use mechanical parts to read or write data, making them slower but more cost effective than SSDs. Which use flash memory for faster data access. Flash memory is a durable non volatile storage medium that retains data without power, used in devices like USB drives, smartphones, and SSDs. Users saving files or installing software are interacting with the computer’s hard drive.
Cache memory is a smaller, faster type of volatile computer memory that provides high speed data access to the CPU and improves processing speeds by storing frequently used data and instructions. It’s like having your most used apps ready to go when you unlock your device.
Cloud storage is an extension of data storage that allows users to save files to an off-site server, accessed over the internet. This is beneficial for backup and accessing data from multiple devices.
Input and output devices include any peripherals used to interact with the computer. like keyboards or mice for input and monitors speakers or printers for output. These devices allow users to input data into the computer and receive output from the computer. As an example, users often adjust settings such as display resolutions or system volume through their operating system settings menu, which is a software interface that interacts with the computer’s hardware.
Accessing these settings to make simple changes, like adjusting the screen brightness or volume, involves both the software, which presents the user with an interface so that they can specify what changes they want to make, and the hardware, which responds to these adjustments, demonstrating the interconnectedness of hardware and software in computing.