CS142 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE (3UNITS)

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi

Faculty of science
Department of mathematical sciences

CS142
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE
(3 units)

LECTURE NOTES

2015/2016 session

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CS142 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE (3UNITS)
CS142
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE
LECTURE NOTES

PART ONE: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL OF COMPUTERS

Introduction to Computers

The word Computer comes from the word “compute” which means to calculate. Just as a driver drives a
vehicle, a welder welds the iron rods, a tiller puts the tiles, a computer is normally considered to be a
calculating device that can perform arithmetic operations at enormous speed (E.g. : millions of calculations
per second) which in all sense is true. But today more than 80% of the work done by the computers is of non
mathematical or non numeric nature.

A computer may be defined as a device that operates upon data or information. A computer can store,
process and retrieve data as and when desired. Hence it may, be referred to as data processor. As a data
processor a computer may gather data from different incoming data sources, merge them (process of mixing
or putting together), sort them (arrange them in desired fashion) and finally print them in the desired
format. None of them is an arithmetic operation.
Hence we can define computer
As an electronic, data processing device that takes the data as input from external world,
processes the same, store the same and generates the output in the desired fashion.

1.1 Characteristics of Computer

The following are some acceptable characteristics of computer
2. Speed: A computer is a very fast device. It can perform in a few seconds the amount of work that a
human being would do it in a year’s time if he/she worked day and night without doing anything else.
3. Accuracy: The accuracy of a computer is consistently high and the degree of accuracy of a particular
computer depends upon its design. Errors do occur in computers but it is due to the imprecise
thinking and analysis of humans.
4. Diligence: Unlike humans, computers are free from monotony, tiredness, and lack of concentration
and hence can work together for hours without creating any errors or grumbling.
5. Versatility: It is one of the most wonderful characteristics of computer. One moment it may be
preparing the result sheet of an examination, another moment it may be playing an audio, in the next
moment it may be helping someone with searching and editing of a letter. Computer is capable of
performing any task provided that task is reduced to a series of logical steps.
6. Power of Remembering: computer can store and recall any amount of information as long as it is
desired by the user. Even after several years, the information would be as accurate as on the day
when it was fed into the computer. A computer forgets and looses certain information only when it is
asked to do so. Otherwise a
7. No I.Q.: A computer can perform any task at unthinkable speed and accuracy. But it still possesses no
intelligence of its own and is commonly referred to as an “Idiot Box.” That’s because its I.Q. is zero.

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8. No Feelings: Computers are devoid of feelings and emotions. They have no instincts and feelings, as
they are machines. Computers cannot make judgments on their own; their judgments are based on
the instructions given to them in form of programs written by humans.

1.2 Evolution of computers

The earliest device or rather the most primitive device that qualifies as a computer is “abacus” or “soroban.”
This device permits the users to represent the numbers by positions of beads on a rock. Simple addition and
subtraction can be carried out rapidly and efficiently by positioning the beads appropriately..

Another manual calculating device was John Napier’s cardboard multiplication calculator commonly called
Napier’s Bone. It was designed in early 17th century and their upgrade versions were in use even around
1890.

Blasé Pascal invented the first mechanical adding machine in 1642. Later in the year 1671, Baron Gottfried
Wilhelm Von Leibniz of Germany invented the first calculator for multiplication. Keyboard machines,
originated in United States around 1880 and is extensively used till today.
Around this period only Dr. Herman Hollerith came up with the concept of punched cards and Census
Machine that read those cards. These cards were extensively used as an input media in primitive digital
computers. Business machines and calculators made their appearance in Europe and America towards the
end of 19th century.

Charles Babbage, a Professor at Cambridge University in 19th century is considered to be the Father of
modern digital computers. During his period, mathematical and statistical tables were prepared manually by
clerks who after much precaution contained many errors. So Babbage started thinking of building a machine
that could compute tables guaranteed to be error free. In this process Babbage designed a prototype called
“Difference Engine” in the year 1822 which could produce reliable tables. In the year 1842, Babbage came
out with the new idea of “Analytical Engine” that was intended to be completely automatic. It was to be
capable of performing basic arithmetic functions for any mathematical problems at an average speed of 60
additions per minute. Unfortunately, Babbage could not produce the working model of this machine because
precision engineering required to manufacture these machines were unavailable that time. But his efforts
established a number of principles which have been the fundamental steps towards the designing of any
digital computer
Some well known early computers are;

 The Mark I Computer (1937 – 1944)

It was also known as automatic sequence controlled calculator. It was the first fully Automatic calculating
machine designed by Howard A. Aiken of Harvard University in collaboration with IBM. Its design was based
on the techniques already developed for punched cards machinery. Although this machine proved to be
extremely reliable it was very complex in design and huge in size. It used over 3000 electrically actuated
switches to control its operation and was approximately 50 ft. long and 8 ft high.

It was capable of performing 5 basic arithmetic operations viz. addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,
and table reference. A number as big as 23 decimal digits could be used in this machine. It took
approximately 0.3 seconds to add two numbers and 4.5 seconds to multiply two numbers.

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 The Atanasoff Berry Computer (1939 – 1942)
This electronic machine was developed by Dr. John Atanasoff to solve certain mathematical equations. It
was called Atanasoff Berry Computer or “ABC” after its inventors Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford
Berry. It used 45 vacuum tubes for its internal logics and capacitors for storage purposes.

 The ENIAC (1943 – 1946)

Also called Electronic Numeric Integrator And Calculator. It enjoys the prestige of being termed as the first
all electronic computers. It was constructed at the Moore School of Engineering of University of
Pennsylvania, USA by a design team led by Prof. J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. The ENIAC was
developed as result of military need. It took a wall space 20X40 sq. ft. room and used 18,000 vacuum tubes.
The addition of two numbers was performed in 200 microseconds and multiplication in 2000 microseconds.

 The EDVAC (1946 – 1952)

Also called Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer, It was primarily developed to overcome the
problems of programs utilizing wiring boards as it was in ENIAC. It was the first computer to be using the
stored program concept that is the base of EDVAC was the concept of “stored programs” proposed by John
Von Neumann. The basic idea behind the stored program concept was that sequence of instructions as well
as data can be stored in the memory of the computer for the purpose of automatically directing the flow of
operations.

 The EDSAC (1947 – 1949)

Also called Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator, It was developed by British parallel to EDVAC that
was developed by Americans. This machine executed its first program in May 1949. In this machine, the
addition operations were accomplished in 1500 microseconds and multiplication in 4000 microseconds.

 The UNIVAC (1951)

Also referred to as Universal Automatic Computer, It enjoys the prestige of being the first digital computer
for commercial usage. The first UNIVAC machine was installed in 1951 in Census Bureau in USA and was used
extensively for 10 years. The first business use of UNIVAC was in the form of UNIVAC I by GEC in 1954.

1.3 The computer generations

Generation in computers refer to steps in technological advancements. Originally, it was used to distinguish
between varying hardware technologies. But nowadays it has been extended to include both the hardware
and the software which together makes up the entire computer system.

The history of computer development is often, referred to in reference to the different generations of
computing devices. Each generation of computer is characterised by a major technological development that
fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, and more
efficient and reliable devices. These generations are as follows;

1. First Generation Computers (1942 – 1955: Vacuum Tubes)

Some of the very early computers like ENIAC, EDVAC, BENDIX, and EDSAC come under this category. These
machines use vacuum tubes for circuiting and magnetic drums for memory and were using a great deal of
electricity, generating a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunction. First generation computers
rely on machine language to perform operation and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was
based on punch cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.
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Advantages
 Vacuum tubes were the only electronic components available during those days.
 Vacuum tube technology made possible the advent of electronic digital computers.
 These computers were the fastest calculating devices of their time. They could perform computation
in milliseconds.
Disadvantages
 They were too bulky in size, one computer can fill a room
 They were totally unreliable devices.
 It generates lot of heat, which as a result lead to malfunction.
 Due to the emission of large amount of heat, air conditioning was required.
 It was prone to frequent hardware failures.
 It required constant maintenance.
 They were non portable.
 It required manual assembly of individual components into functioning units.
 Their commercial production was difficult and very costly.
 It had a very limited commercial usage.

2. Second Generation Computers (1955 – 1964: Transistors)

The “transistor,” a small and more reliable successor to vacuum tubes was invented in 1947. However, the
computers that used transistors in their architecture came into picture a decade after its invention. The
second generation emerged with transistor being the brain of the computers. The transistors were far
superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to be more smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient,
and more reliable than first generation predecessors. Though the transistors still generated a great deal of
heat that subjected the computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for out put.

Second generation computer moves from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly
languages which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. It also sees the development of High
level language, such as early version of COBOL, and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that
stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.
Advantages
a. Smaller in size as compared to first generation computers.
b. They were more reliable.
c. Lesser heat was generated from them
d. These computers were able to reduce the computing time from milliseconds to microseconds.
e. Less prone to hardware failure.
f. Better Portability
g. Wider commercial use.
Disadvantages
a. Air conditioning required
b. Frequent maintenance required.
c. Manual assembly of individual components into a functioning unit was required.
d. Commercial production was difficult and costly as many thousands of individual components had to
be assembled manually into functioning circuits.
e. The manual assembly of individual components and cost of labour involved at this assembly stage
made the commercial production of these computers difficult and costly.

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3. Third Generation Computers (1964 – 1971: Integrated Circuits)

Advances in electronics technology continued and the advent of “microelectronics” technology made it
possible to integrate large number of circuit elements in a very small (less than 5 sq. mm) surface of silicon
known as “Chips” This new technology was termed as “Integrated Circuits” or “ICs.” The third generation
computers were based on IC technology and computers that were built using IC were called third generation
computers.

Jack Kilby created the first integrated circuit at Texas Instruments to prove that resistors and capacitors
could exist on the same piece of semiconductor material. His circuit consisted of a sliver of germanium with
five components linked by wires.

Instead of punch cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards,
monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device run many different applications
at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became
accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.
Advantages
 They were smaller in size as compared to previous generation computers.
 They were even more reliable than second generation computers.
 Even lesser heat generated than second generation computers.
 These computers were able to reduce the computational time from microseconds to nanoseconds.
 Maintenance cost was low as hardware failure was less.
 They were easily portable.
 They were designed for totally general purpose usage. Widely used for various commercial
applications all over the world.
 They had less power requirement than previous generation computers.
 Manual assembly of individual components into a functioning unit not required. Thus, human labour
and cost involved at assembly stage reduced drastically.
 Commercial production of these machines was easier and cheaper.
Disadvantages
 Air conditioning was still a prime requirement.
 Highly sophisticated technology was required for the manufacture of the ICs.
4. Fourth Generation Computers (1971- Present: Microprocessors)
Initially the integrated circuit contained only 10-20 components. This technology was termed as small scale
integration. Later with the advancement in technology for manufacturing ICs, it became possible to integrate
up to a 100 components on a single Chip. This technology was called Medium Scale Integration or MSI, after,
came the era of Large Scale Integration (LSI) where it became possible to integrate over 30,000 components
onto a single chip. Efforts continued for further miniaturization which resulted in incorporation of millions of
components onto a single chip. This technology which is still in use till date is termed a VLSI (Very large Scale
Integration). The fourth generation computers had the VLSI chips that formed the brain of this generation of
machines and is called Microprocessor.
Advantages
 They are smallest in size because of the high component density.
 They are very reliable.

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 The heat generated by these systems is negligible so no specific requirement of air conditioning
systems is there except if desired by users for their comforts.
 They are much faster in computation than their previous generation counterparts.
 The hardware is failure minimum in these machines.
 They require very less maintenance then their predecessors.
 They are easily portable because of their small size.
 These are totally general purpose machines and could be used in any disciplines.
 They involve minimal Labour and cost involved at the assembly stage.
 They are cheapest among all generations.
Disadvantages
 They require highly sophisticated technology for the manufacture of VLSI chips.

5. Fifth Generation Computers (Present Era and Beyond: Artificial Intelligence)

Scientists are now working the fifth generation computers which is a promise but not yet a reality. They aim
to bring machines with a genuine I.Q. and the ability to reason logically and with real knowledge of the
world. Thus, unlike the last four generations which naturally followed its predecessor, the fifth generation
will be totally different, totally novel, and new.

The goal of this generation is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of
learning and self-organisation.

1.4 Classification of computers

Computers are classified as Digital, Analog, and Hybrid. This classification is made on the basis of how they
process the data.
 Analog Computer
The Analog computers are those which continuously measure physical magnitude through transducers viz.
Pressure, Temperature, Voltage, and Speed etc. The Analog computers do not operate directly on numbers
& these computers are used for scientific engineering application.
 Digital Computer
Digital computers operate directly on number expressed in binary numbering system. They possess certain
characteristics and abilities that are particular to them. They can:
1. Perform complex and repetitive calculations rapidly and accurately.
2. Store large amount of data.
3. Provide information in textual and graphical manner.
 Hybrid Computer
These are combination of Analog and Digital Computers.

1.5 Types of computers

Depending upon the cost and performance capability of machines, the computers may
also be classified as follows
 Microcomputer
 Minicomputer
 Mainframe
 Supercomputer

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1. Microcomputer
A microcomputer is the smallest general purpose processing system that can execute program instructions
to perform a variety of tasks. They are further classified as Personal Computers and Home Computers.
Typical of the PC category is the IBM-PC which has become the world standard for Personal Computers in
the office.
2. Minicomputers
A minicomputer may be defined as a small general-purpose computer that is capable of handling large
amount of data from multiple users working simultaneously. Today’s mini systems are costlier and have
large storage capacity speed of arithmetic operations, and ability to support a greater variety of faster-
operating peripheral devices as compared to PCs. Further, while most PC systems remain oriented toward
single users, mini systems are usually designed to simultaneously handle the processing needs of multiple
users.
3. Mainframes
A computer that is more powerful than a mini is called a mainframe computer. Mainframe computers are
capable of handling a large number of application programmers. Most of the application packages designed
in the past by the larger software development firms have been written for mainframe computers. All
popular high level programming languages can be used on available for mainframes, and their operating
system programs offer very high level of sophistication.
4. Supercomputers
Supercomputers are the most powerful and the most expensive computers so far made. Only few of these
computers are produced each year, because only few organizations need their processing capabilities.
Supercomputers are a national resource. The calculations needed in some scientific research and
development areas simply cannot do without Supercomputers. These computers are used in energy sector
space exploration, medicine, industry, and other critical areas.

PART TWO: HOW COMPUTERS WORK

A computer is a machine that can be programmed to accept data (input), process it into useful information
(output), and store it away (in a secondary storage device) for safekeeping or later reuse. To function, a
computer system requires four main aspects of data handling: input, processing, output, and storage. The
processing of input to output is directed by the software but performed by the hardware. A computer
therefore comprises of both hardware and software components.

A computer requires instructions that direct how data should be processed to produce the desired output.
These instructions are called a 'software program'. Software allows the hardware to do something
useful; without software, the hardware wouldn't know what it was supposed to do. So software depends on
hardware and hardware depends on software.

Software programs are stored as files on a storage device such as the hard disk, DVD or memory sticks.
When they need to run, they are loaded into the computer's memory (RAM).

2.1 Computer hardware

The hardware is the physical equipment associated with the computer system. Computer hardware refers to
the physical parts or components of a computer such as the monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data

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storage, hard drive disk (HDD), system unit (graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard and chips),
etc. all of which are physical objects that can be touched.

Figure 1: Computer Hardware

The hardware responsible for these four functions as follows:

Figure 2: Hardware Component (Source www.explainthatstuff.com)

 Input devices accept data in a form that the computer can use; they then send the data to the
processing unit.
 The processor, more formally known as the central processing unit (CPU), has the electronic circuitry
that manipulates input data into the information people want. The central processing unit executes
computer instructions that are specified in the program.
 Output devices show people the processed data-information in a form that they can use.
 Storage usually means secondary storage. Secondary storage consists of devices, such as diskettes,
which can store data and programs outside the computer itself. These devices supplement the
computer's memory, which, as we will see, can hold data and programs only temporarily.

The hardware devices attached externally to the computer are called peripheral equipment. Peripheral
equipment includes all input, output, and secondary storage devices. In the case of personal computers,
some of the input, output, and storage devices are built into the same physical unit. In many personal

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computers, the CPU and disk drive are all contained in the same housing; the keyboard, mouse, and
screen are separate.

In larger computer systems, however, the input, processing, output, and storage functions may be in
separate rooms, separate buildings, or even separate countries. For example, data may be input on
terminals at a branch bank and then transmitted to the central processing unit at the headquarters bank.
The information produced by the central processing unit may then be transmitted to the international
offices, where it is printed out. Meanwhile, disks with stored data may be kept in bank headquarters and
duplicate data kept on disk or tape in a warehouse across town for safekeeping.

Although the equipment may vary widely, from the simplest computer to the most powerful, by and
large the four elements of a computer system remain the same: input, processing, output, and storage.

2.1.1 Input Devices

Input is the data that you put into the computer system for processing. Input is done by connecting some
specialized peripheral devices to the computer via ports. Some examples of input devices include...

 Keyboard: Used to select or enter commands, enter text, QWERTY keyboards are not particularly
user friendly but they are likely to be replaced by voice/speech recognition at some as yet
unspecified time in the future.
 Mouse: Used to move the cursor, select commands and features from the on-screen menus, also
used for many actions in drawing diagrams.
 Digitising Tablets and the associated puck are used to move the cursor, select commands and
features, enter co-ordinates, mainly used for computer aided drawing (CAD) or map making.
 Joysticks can be used to move the cursor, select commands and features, but they are not often used
for general work as they are slower than a mouse. However they are commonly used in computer
games.

2.1.2 Output Devices

Output is usable information; that is, raw input data that has been processed by the computer into
information. The most common forms of output are words, numbers, and graphics. Word output, for
example, may be the letters and memos prepared by office people using word processing software. Other
workers may be more interested in numbers, such as those found in formulas, schedules, and budgets. In
many cases numbers can be understood more easily when output in the form of charts and graphics.

Output devices are peripheral devices which are used to present, to a human operator, the result of the
programming instructions on the data provided. The most common output devices are computer screens
and printers. You can produce output from a computer in other ways, including film and voice output. Some
common output devices include:

 Printers: Are used to produce the hardcopy of text or drawings.

 Plotters: Can be used to produce the hard copy of large drawings, architectural plans.
 Screens, VDUs (Visual Display Unit) and Monitors: Used to display in graphic or textual form, the
results of the CPU's processing of data in accordance with the instructions given.

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 Ports: Are connections by which the CPU can pass data to the outside world as raw data for use by
other computers or electronic devices.

2.1.3 Storage Devices Storage is the medium of keeping data

Primary Storage
Computer memory, also known as primary storage, is closely associated with the central processing unit but
separate from it. Memory holds the data after it is input to the system and before it is processed; also,
memory holds the data after it has been processed but before it has been released to the output device. In
addition, memory holds the programs (computer instructions) needed by the central processing unit.
Memory is a fast storage for moving data to and from the CPU very quickly. A computer has two types of
memory: RAM and ROM.

1. Random Access Memory (RAM): This type of memory specifically holds programs and data that the
user is currently working on. These include operating system files, device drivers, applications and
currently active data files. Every program that needs to run and data that is being processed is held in
RAM. In current multi-tasking computers, this means that several programs and multiple user files
could reside in memory at once.

RAM is volatile because it only holds data temporarily while the computer is powered on. When a computer
is switched off or re-booted, all the data stored in the RAM is lost. RAM’s major application is to provide fast
access to data and programs for the CPU. This type of storage is more expensive than other types of
secondary storage.

2. Read Only Memory (ROM) This type of memory is a permanent or non-volatile memory store and is
used to store data or applications which the computer needs in order to function. These may be...
Character sets, internal programs such as the BIOS, certain device drivers that control the disks,
cooling fans etc. The data in ROM is permanently burnt into the memory chips during manufacturing
and cannot be erased or deleted.

The data in ROM is used to boot a computer and likewise when the computer is operating the CPU
frequently accesses critical data from ROM that it uses for its operation.

There are other types of ROM that are electrically alterable or re-programmable, but the principle is the
same. The information is retained when the power is switched off. They can only be re-programmed by a
deliberate act and sometimes requires removal from the circuit board concerned. Reprogramming the ROM
in modern computers is simpler and can be done by a process known as flashing. Flashing enables the user
to download a program from the manufacture’s site and follow strict instructions on how to use the
program. If problem occurs during this process, the computer becomes unusable.

Reprogramming ROM is rarely required and may only be needed to support newer hardware or technology
that was not available when the current version of ROM was produced by the manufacturer.

Secondary Storage
Secondary storage provides additional storage separate from memory. Secondary storage has several
advantages. For instance, it would be unwise for a college registrar to try to keep the grades of all the

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students in the college in the computer's memory; if this were done, the computer would probably not have
room to store anything else. Also, memory holds data and programs only temporarily.
Secondary storage is needed for large volumes of data and also for data that must persist after the computer
is turned off. Because secondary storage costs less it is convenient to use secondary storage to hold large
amounts of data. All forms of data including the operating system files, application files and user data are
stored in secondary storage.

Usually during a computer operation, only the required programs and user data will be copied to RAM from
the secondary storage.

Backing store memory is usually some type of magnetic storage media i.e. magnetic cassette tape or
magnetic disks (both hard and floppy), but other media forms can be used including punched paper tape,
punched cards, plastic media and CD-ROMs (including DVDs).

An example of memory hierarchy, which is common to most computer Architecture is given below;

Figure 3: Storage Hierarchy

Registers: Internal CPU Storage

The Register is the highest level of the memory hierarchy. Registers are temporary storage areas for
instructions or data. They are not a part of memory; rather they are special additional storage locations that
offer the advantage of speed. Registers work under the direction of the control unit to accept, hold, and
transfer instructions or data and perform arithmetic or logical comparisons at high speed. The control unit
uses a data storage register the way a store owner uses a cash register-as a temporary, convenient place to
store what is used in transactions.

Computers usually assign special roles to certain registers;

o An accumulator this collects the result of computations.

o An address register this keeps track of where a given instruction or piece of data is stored in
memory. Each storage location in memory is identified by an address, just as each house on a
street has an address.
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o A storage register this temporarily holds data taken from or about to be sent to memory.
o A general-purpose register this is used for several functions.

Registers are built from fast multi-ported memory cells. They must be fast: a register must be able to drive
its data onto an internal bus in a single clock cycle. They are multi-ported because a register must be able to
supply its data to either the A or the B input of the ALU and accept a value to be stored from the internal
data bus.

In a modern processor, it's considered necessary to have at least 32 registers for integer values and often 32
floating point registers as well. Thus the register file is a small, addressable memory at the top of the
memory hierarchy.

Cache Memory

A CPU cache is a memory used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average
time to access data from the main memory. The cache is a smaller, faster and more expensive memory
which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations.

The CPU uses cache memory to store instructions that are repeatedly required to run programs, improving
overall system speed. When the processor needs to read from or write to a location in main memory, it first
checks whether a copy of that data is in the cache. If so, the processor immediately reads from or writes to
the cache, which is much faster than reading from or writing to main memory.

The advantage of cache memory is that the CPU does not have to use the motherboard’s system bus for
data transfer. Whenever data must be passed through the system bus, the data transfer speed slows to the
motherboard’s capability. The CPU can process data much faster by avoiding the bottleneck created by the
system bus.

Data representation and Measurement

Computers store data in digital format. This is represented by either 0 or 1. Each 0 or 1 value is called a bit
(short for binary digit) and is the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. Eight bits grouped together as
a unit form a byte. A byte provides upto 28 (i.e 256) different combinations of 0s and 1s to represent data.

The table below summarizes typical storage measurements.

Table 1 storage measurement

Data Measurement Size

Bit Single Binary Digit (1 or 0)

Byte 8 bits

Kilobyte (KB) 1,024 Bytes

Megabyte (MB) 1,024 Kilobytes

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Gigabyte (GB) 1,024 Megabytes

Terabyte (TB) 1,024 Gigabytes

Petabyte (PB) 1,024 Terabytes

Exabyte (EB) 1,024 Petabytes

2.1.4 Processor components and its Operations

The computer does its primary work in a part of the machine we cannot see, a control center that
converts data input to information output. A computer processor is the center of activity. This control
center, also called the central processing unit (CPU), is a highly complex, extensive set of electronic
circuitry that executes stored program instructions as well as communicates with the input, output, and
storage devices.

The processor is totally solid state with no moving parts. It is usually fabricated on one thin plate of doped
silicon with circuitry architecture that is incredibly small, resulting in short transmission paths and high data
rates. The CPU interprets and executes program instructions,

It is the central processing unit that actually transforms data into information. Data is the raw material to be
processed by a computer. Such material can be letters, numbers, or facts like grades in a class, baseball
batting averages, or light and dark areas in a photograph. Processed data becomes information, data that is
organized, meaningful, and useful. In school, for instance, an instructor could enter various student grades
(data), which can be processed to produce final grades and perhaps a class average (information). Data that
is perhaps uninteresting on its own may become very interesting once it is converted to information. The
raw facts (data) about your finances, such as a paycheck or a donation to charity or a medical bill may not be
captivating individually, but together, these and other acts can be processed to produce the refund or
amount you owe on your income tax return (information).

As mentioned earlier, the CPU interacts closely with primary storage, or main memory, referring to it for
both instructions and data. The CPU organises all the functions of the computer system and consists of three
sections.

Figure 4: (source: www.tech-ict.com)

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The Control Unit ... Co-ordinates all the computers functions by interpreting and carrying out the instruction
sent to it by an input device or program.

The control unit contains circuitry that uses electrical signals to direct the entire computer system to carry
out, or execute, stored program instructions. The control unit does not execute program instructions; rather,
it directs other parts of the system to do so. The control unit must communicate with both the
arithmetic/logic unit and memory.

The Control Unit has three main tasks:

1. It controls and monitors the hardware attached to the system to make sure that the commands given
to it by the application software are used. For example, if you send something to print, the control
unit will keep a check that the instructions are sent to the printer correctly.
2. It controls the input and output of data so that the signals go to the right place at the right time
3. It controls the flow of data within the CPU - which is the Fetch-Execute cycle described below.

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit): the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) contains the electronic circuitry that executes all
arithmetic and logical operations.

The arithmetic/logic unit can perform four kinds of arithmetic operations, or mathematical calculations:
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As its name implies, the arithmetic/logic unit also
performs logical operations. A logical operation is usually a comparison. The unit can compare numbers,
letters, or special characters. The computer can then take action based on the result of the comparison. This
is a very important capability. It is by comparing that a computer is able to tell, for instance, whether there
are unfilled seats on airplanes, whether charge- card customers have exceeded their credit limits, and
whether one political candidate has more votes than another.

Logical operations can test for three conditions:

 Equal-to condition (=). In a test for this condition, the arithmetic/logic unit compares two values to
determine if they are equal. For example: If the number of tickets sold equals the number of seats in
the auditorium, then the concert is declared sold out.
 Less-than condition (<). To test for this condition, the computer compares values to determine if one
is less than another. For example: If the number of speeding tickets on a driver's record is less than
three, then insurance rates are N93,500; otherwise, the rates are N110000.
 Greater-than condition (>). In this type of comparison, the computer determines if one value is
greater than another. For example: If the hours a person worked this week are greater than 40, then
multiply every extra hour by 1.5 times the usual hourly wage to compute overtime pay.

A computer can simultaneously test for more than one condition. In fact, a logic unit can usually discern six
logical relationships: equal to, less than, greater than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, and not
equal.

Operation of the CPU

A machine cycle also called is the basic operation performed by a central processing unit (CPU). It is the time
period during which one instruction is fetched from memory and executed when a computer is given an
instruction in machine language.

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The machine cycle is a 4 process cycle that includes reading and interpreting the one instruction, executing
the code and then storing that code.

A machine cycle has several synonyms that include processor cycle, fetch-and-execute cycle, fetch-decode-
execute cycle.

Figure 5: Fetch and Execute

Step 1. Fetch - The first step the CPU carries out is to fetch some data and instructions (program)
from main memory then store them in its own internal temporary memory areas. These
memory areas are called 'registers'.

This is called the 'fetch' part of the cycle. For this to happen, the CPU makes use of a vital
hardware path called the 'address bus'. The CPU places the address of the next item to be
fetched on to the address bus.

Data from this address then moves from main memory into the CPU by travelling along
another hardware path called the 'data bus'.

Step 2. Decode - The next step is for the CPU to interpret the instruction it has just fetched. This
process is called 'decode'.

The CPU is designed to understand a specific set of commands. These are called the
'instruction set' of the CPU. Each make of CPU has a different instruction set.

A CPU’s instruction set is stored in ROM. The CPU then translates the retrieved instruction
into a series of computer commands.

Step 3. Execute – This is the part of the cycle when data processing actually takes place. The
instruction is carried out upon the data (executed). The result of this processing is stored in
yet another register.
Step 4. Store – In this final step the result generated by the operation is stored in the main memory,
or sent to an output device. Again the CPU places the address of where the results will be
stored on to the address bus and the result is moved to the specified address via the data bus.
CPU Speed.

The first and second steps take place in the control unit whereas steps three and four occur in the ALU.

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Speed of a CPU

A computer can only process one instruction at a time. But the immense speed of the computer enables it to
do millions of such steps in a second.

To the user it may appear that many things are happening simultaneously, for example you may be listening
to music while writing an essay and also downloading some software from the internet. But in reality,
computers can only do one thing at a time. It is just that the machine is processing so fast that everything
seems to happen at once.

A CPU processes digital data by taking each piece of data one-at-a-time and performing an action on it. The
amount of time that it has to process each piece of data is controlled by a quartz clock inside the CPU.

With every tick of the clock, the CPU is able to process one piece of data or execute just one instruction.

Figure 6: Clock Speed

The CPU clock speed is measured in cycles per second. 1 cycle per second is also known as 1 Hertz. A
computer running at 1GHz can carry out a thousand million instructions per second.

The clock on a modern desktop computer runs extremely quickly, typically three thousand million times a
second (3 GHz).

It is hard to imagine just how fast this is, but it does mean that a CPU running at this clock speed can handle
a huge amount of data in a very short time. This is why you can listen to music on the computer while you
are also browsing the web and doing some work.

Naturally the speed of the clock determines the basic performance of the CPU - the faster it goes, the more
powerful the computer.

Types of channels and function

Data is transferred internally within the circuitry of the computer along electrical channels. Each channel,
called a bus, allows various devices inside and attached to the system unit to communicate with each other.
The bus contains multiple wires (signal lines) that contain addressing information that describes the memory
location of where the data is being sent or where it is being retrieved. Each wire in the bus carries a single bit
of information, which means the more wires a bus has the more information it can address.

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The bus width, or size of the bus, determines the number of bits that can be transferred at one time. The
larger the bus width, the fewer number of transfer steps required and the faster the transfer of data. In most
computers word size (the number of bits the CPU can process at a given time) is the same as the bus width.

Figure 7: (a) Figure 7 (b)

A bus also has a clock speed. The higher the bus clock speed, the faster the transmission of data, which
results in applications running faster. A computer's bus speed is listed as a MHz, e.g. 100MHz FSB. The
throughput of a bus is measured in bits per second or megabytes per second.

A computer has two basic types of buses. The internal bus or system bus carries data within the
motherboard. The external bus or expansion bus carry data to peripherals and other devices attached to the
motherboard. Buses are of three types:

 Data Bus: the data bus is used to transfer data to and from the CPU, main memory, and peripheral
devices. The number of lines or wires in data bus affects the speed of data transfer between
different components. The data bus consists of 8, 16, 32, or 64 lines. A 64-line data bus can transfer
64 bits of data at one time.

The data bus lines are bi-directional. It means that:

- CPU can read data from memory using these lines

- CPU can write data to memory locations using these lines

 Address Bus: the address bus is used to specify the physical address of data or instructions between
memory and the CPU. When a processor or DMA-enabled device needs to read or write to a memory
location, it specifies that memory location on the address bus (the value to be read or written is sent
on the data bus). The width of the address bus determines the amount of memory a system can
address. For example, a system with a 32-bit address bus can address 232 (4,294,967,296) memory
locations. If each memory address holds one byte, the addressable memory space is 4 GB.

The address bus is a unidirectional bus. It can carry information only in one direction.

 Control Bus: the control bus is used to send out signals to coordinate and manage the activities of
the motherboard components. It transmits commands or control signals from the CPU and returns
status signals from the components.

A control signal contains the following:

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- Timing information: It specifies the time for which a device can use data and address bus.
- Command Signal: It specifies the type of operation to be performed.

2.2 Computer software

Definition: Computer software or simply software is any set of machine-readable instructions that directs a
computer's processor to perform specific operations. Software components of a computer system have no
physical presence, they are stored in digital form within computer memory. Software usually performs a
well defined function.

Classifications of software

Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes, system software, programming
software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, but the two major categories of
software including system software and applications software.

2.2.1 System software

System software is the software used to manage and control the hardware components and allows
interaction between the hardware and the other types of software. System software comprise of the
Operating System, utility programs and drivers that manage computer resources at a low level.

1. Utility software performs specific tasks related to the management of computer functions. They help
analyze configure, optimize and maintain the computer. Operating systems typically contain the necessary
tools for this, but separate utility programs can provide improved functionality.

Examples of utility programs are antivirus software, backup software and disk tools. Let's look at each of
these in a bit more detail.

 Antivirus software, as the name suggests, helps to protect a computer system from viruses and other
harmful programs. A computer virus is a computer program that can cause damage to a computer's
software, hardware or data. It is referred to as a virus because it has the capability to replicate itself
and hide inside other computer files; e.g
 Backup software, they are software that are used to copy files and keep incase computer develop a
problem (Crash).
 Disk tools are tools that are used to manage hard disk drives and other storage devices. E.g disk scan,
disk cleaners to remove any unnecessary files, and disk defragmenters to re-organize file fragments
on a hard disk drive to increase performance..

2. Device driver is a computer program that controls a particular device that is connected to your
computer. Device drivers act as a translator between the operating system of the computer and the device
connected to it. For many types of devices, the necessary drivers are built into the operating system. When
you plug in a device, the operating system starts looking for the right driver, installs it and you are ready to
start using the device. This is referred to as plug-and-play and is much preferred over having to manually
install the correct drivers.

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3. An Operating System (OS) is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and
provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of
system software in a computer system. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to
run other programs. It manages the computer's memory, processes, and all of its software and hardware. It
also allows you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer's
"language."

The operating system's tasks, in the most general sense, fall into six categories:

 Processor management
 Memory management
 Device management
 Storage management
 Application interface
 User interface

The purpose of systems software is to unburden the applications programmer from the details of the
particular computer complex being used, including such accessory devices as communications, printers,
readers, displays and keyboards, and also to partition the computer's resources such as memory and
processor time in a safe and stable manner.

Programming software

Programming software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing computer programs, and
software using different programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include:

i. Compiler
ii. Debuggers
iii. interpreter
iv. linkers
v. text editors

An Integrated development environment (IDE) is a single application that attempts to manage all these
functions.

Application software

Application software allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (not directly computer
development related) tasks. Typical applications include:

i. Word processing Application software: example Microsoft office word

ii. Spreadsheet Application Software: example Microsoft office excel
iii. Database Application software: example Microsoft office Access
iv. Desktop Application software: example Microsoft office Power point
v. Special Application software: example AUTOCAD, SPSS, etc

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Other example of application software are; industrial automation, business software, computer games,
quantum chemistry and solid state physics software , telecommunications, educational software, medical
software, military software, molecular modelling software, image editing, decision making software. Etc

PART THREE: THE CONCEPT OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Computer touched our lives from different angles. It is often difficult to mention any discipline or area of
human endeavour where computer are not heavily relied upon. Computer has become part of today’s
modern societies.

Computers are versatile. They can be employed to solve different kinds of problems. For example,
computation of organization’s payroll, computation of students’ CGPA in tertiary institutions, processing of
orders and inventory control in business, ecommerce applications, airline reservation applications, managing
monetary transactions in banks, games, simulation of complex scientific and engineering processes, and
many more.

Computer frees people from repetitive and boring tasks. Computer allows us to do tasks more efficiently,
quickly, and accurately than we could by hand – if at all we could do them by hand. In order for this powerful
machine (computer) to be a useful tool, it must be programmed. That is, we must specify what we want the
computer to do and how it should be carried out. We do this through programming. – that is, writing
programs.

The hardware gets its versatility from its ability to be programmed to do different jobs.

Problem solving using computer involves instructing computer to solve problems. The only way to instruct
computer to carry out task is to provide or write program.

3.1 What is programming?

Computer program is a set of instructions that computer follows to carryout task. Computer program tells
computer what to do. Software is a set of instructions that direct the operation of computer system.

The term software and program are often used interchangeably because they essentially refer to the same
thing – instructions that direct computer to perform task. However, technically, software is like general term
which comprises of the program (set of instructions), the configuration data and all the necessary
documentation that users required to operate the software correctly.

Programming is an act of writing computer programs. A person who writes computer program is a called
programmer. Computer programs are not written in English, French, or any other natural languages familiar
to you. Instead, computer programs are written using artificial formalisms called programming language.

Programming language is an artificial formalism purposely created for instructing computer to carry out a
particular task. There are many programming languages in existence. Examples of programming languages
are:, FORTRAN, BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Haskel, Python, Perl, MATLAB, Java, C#, PHP, Objective C, etc.

Programming languages broadly are classified into two; low level language and high level

1. Low level languages are programming language that provides little or no abstraction of the computer
system. Low level languages are sometimes described as being "close to the hardware” rather than being
closer to human languages. Low level languages are machine dependant. Programming using them is difficult
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and it requires extensive knowledge of the hardware. Machine language and assembly language are popular
examples of low level languages.

 Machine Language – In machine language, 0s and 1s (binary digits) are used to specify
instructions. This is the language that computer understands directly. It is difficult to learn and also
difficult to write programs using it.
 Assembly Language – In this language, symbolic codes called mnemonics are used instead of
the 0s and 1s. Programming in assembly language is simpler compared with programming using
machine language. For computer to execute program written in assembly language, a translator
called ASSEMBLER is required.

2. High level languages are programming languages that provides high degree of abstraction of the
underlying hardware. It hides the complexity of computer's instruction set architecture. High level languages
are closer to human languages. They contain some terminologies similar to those used in human languages.
The programming languages mentioned above (FORTRAN, BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Haskel, python, Perl,
MATLAB, Java, C#, PHP, Objective C, etc) are all high level languages.

The main advantage of high-level languages over low level languages is that programs written using high
level language are easier to read and understand. Programs written using low level languages are often
difficult to understand.

3.2 Language translators

Language translators are software that; after a program has been written using any of the high level
language, a language translator is needed to translate the program into its equivalent machine executable
form. The reason behind the translation is because computer only understands instructions in 0s and 1s
format (binary digits). Data and instructions are represented in digital computers in 0s and 1s. The
representation of data or instructions in the computer’s memory is a stream of bits (binary digits).

Therefore, the work of language translator is to translate source code to object code which computer uses
for execution.

Types of language translators are:

 Assembler – translates program written in assemble language to machine code.

 Compiler – a program translates the entire source code to object code once at a time. Compiler is
faster than interpreter.
 Interpreter – a program that performs translation of the source code to machine understandable
form one line at a time.

3.3 The Program Development Life Cycle (PDLC)

Programs or software are created to solve problems. In the process of creating the programs programmers
do follow series of steps. These series of steps form what is known as PDLC.

Thus, to write a program, it is recommended to follow some steps in PDLC. These steps are equally called the
problem solving steps using computer.

PDLC is composed of distinct phases or activities that a program undergoes right from initial stage of its
development to completion. The steps of PDLC are:
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1. Understanding the problem
2. Problem analysis and specification
3. Problem design and algorithm development
4. Coding
5. Testing Understand Problem analysis
6. Documentation the problem and specification
7. Maintenance

Program design and

algorithm development
Analysis and design phase

Implementation phase Coding

Maintenance
Testing

Documentation

Figure 12:

The steps of PDLC can be grouped into two distinct phases: problem solving and implementation

a. Understand the problem

In order to solve a particular problem effectively, understanding the problem is necessity. If you
didn’t understand a problem, there is no way you can solve it. In this phase, you define what the
program should do?
b. Problem analysis and specification
Problem analysis deals with determining how the solution is going to be by identifying:
i. Inputs (i.e the data you will work with),
ii. Output (the desired result), and
iii. Any additional constraint on the solution.
Having known the input and the kind of output needed, you will gain an idea of the approach to use
in solving the problem.
c. Program design and algorithm development
Having understood the problem, you should come up with a precise plan of the steps the computer
will follow to solve the problem. In other word, you should provide algorithm.
An algorithm is a precise and unambiguous sequence of instructions for solving a problem. – More
about algorithm later!
d. Coding
When the programmer is satisfied with the algorithm, he or she translates it into a programming
language. Translating an algorithm into a programming language is called coding. Coding means
converting or writing the steps in the algorithm (pseudo code or flowchart) using the syntax of a
programming language. This is where the knowledge of programming language comes in.

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e. Testing
Testing is the process of running program with the intention of finding bugs or error. Once the
algorithm has been implemented or written using a programming language, it can be run or executed
with different set of data to see the results (output) it produces. The essence of running it with
different sets of data is to find out whether it produces expected result and whether it ultimately
meets its specification or not.

When a program is run, if all is well, you should see correct output. However, it is possible for the
program to produce wrong results (output)or failed to run at all. In that case, it is possible that the
algorithm is not properly implemented. Therefore, the program is said to contain bugs or errors.
Therefore, you should debug it….

f. Debugging is the process of finding and fixing errors or bugs in programs. It is often a very time –
consuming task, since the programmer must read the code line by line in an attempt to uncover
error. During testing, the programmer will be looking for both syntax errors and logic errors, as well
as exploring other section that may cause the program to either not work properly or not run at all.
g. Documentation
Documentation includes written explanations of the problem being solved and the organization of
the solution, comments embedded within the program itself, and user manuals that describe how to
use the program. Documentation is a task that should be done right from the first stage of program
development. Many different people are likely to work on a program over a long period of time. Each
of those people must be able to read and understand the code.
h. Maintenance
Program/software maintenance can be described as the modifications or changes that can be made
to software after it has been put into use. Once a program has been put into use, it is often necessary
to modify it. Modification may involve fixing an error that is discovered during the use of the program
or changing the program in response to changes in the user’s requirements. Each time the program is
modified, it is necessary to repeat the problem-solving and implementation phases for those aspects
of the program that changed. This phase of the software development process (maintenance)actually
accounts for the majority of the effort expended on most programs.

So far, we came across some strange terminologies like pseudo code, flowchart and programming errors.
The following section presents brief notes on them.

3.4 Algorithms

An algorithm is a precise and unambiguous sequence of instructions for solving a problem. Algorithm can
also be defined as a finite and unambiguous step-by-step procedure to accomplish a task. The term
algorithm is not only restricted to the field computer science alone, it applies to any method of solving a
problem.

Algorithm is not the same as a program. Algorithm is more like an idea of the steps a computer will follow to
perform a task. Algorithms can be written or expressed in any language.

We use algorithms every day. Recipes, instructions, and directions are all examples of algorithms. When you
start your car, you follow a step-by-step procedure (algorithm) –the algorithm for starting a car might look
something like this:

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1. Insert the key.
2. Make sure the transmission is in Park (or Neutral).
3. Turn the key to the start position.
4. If the engine starts within six seconds, release the key to the ignition position.
5. If the engine doesn’t start in six seconds, release the key and gas pedal, wait ten seconds, and repeat
Steps 3 through 5, but not more than five times.
6. If the car doesn’t start, call the garage.

When algorithm is implemented using a programming language, it iscalled a program.

Attributes of an Algorithm

1. Precision
Precision of an algorithm has to do with its ability to give clear and correct solution in all case.
2. Un ambiguity
Ambiguity in algorithm means having more than one step performing the same task. An algorithm is
unambiguous if it doesn’t have series of steps performing the same task.
3. Finite
An algorithm is finite if it ends. That is, it does not be run forever. It must end somewhere.
4. Efficiency
Efficiency of algorithm has to do with how much of various types of resources (processing time and
memory space) it consumes. Some algorithms consume much memory and time when executed. In
computer science, we are interested in algorithms that are time and space (memory) efficient.

An algorithm can be expressed in form of pseudo code. To have a better understanding of the steps in
algorithm, flowchart can be used to represent the algorithm.

Therefore, pseudo code and flowchart are programming tools that help programmers express algorithm in a
way that simplifies implementation.

Pseudo code

Pseudo code is used as a way of describing a computer program without completely following the syntax of
programming language. Alternatively, a pseudo code can be seen as an informal set of instructions that
imitate the structure of a program but does not adhere completely to the syntax of programming language.

3.5 Flowchart

In computer science, one way of understanding the steps in an algorithm is by using flowchart. A flowchart is
a pictorial representation of an algorithm that uses symbols to show the operations and decisions to be
followed by a computer in solving problem. A flowchart is a convenient technique to show the flow of
control in a program. Flowchart is one of the programming tools that help programmers to understand
algorithm better.

In fact, flowcharts are the plan to be followed when the program is written. Expert programmers may write
programs without drawing the flowcharts. But for a beginner it is recommended that a flowchart should be
drawn before writing a program. This reduces the number of errors and omissions that might occur during
program creation.

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The explanation of basic flowchart symbols is given below.

Start/Stop symbol

This symbol is used for two purposes: to indicate the starting point (START or BEGIN of the algorithm and to
indicate the end point (END) of the algorithm.

Flow Lines

Flow lines, are arrowheads that are used to indicate the direction of the flow of control in a flowchart. This
means the flow lines indicate the next statement to be executed.

Input/Output symbol

Input/output symbols are used to indicate input/output operations. The input operation is the entry of data
into the computer while the output operation is the display of the result of processing. If the step in the
algorithm requires input, then you have to use this symbol. Similarly, a step is to print or display output, you
have to use this symbol.

Processing Symbol

Processing symbol is used to indicate any processing activity such as assigning value to a variable. Therefore,
all arithmetic operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are represented with processing
symbol.

Decision Symbol

Decision symbol is used whenever decision has to be taken in program. The symbol has one entry point and
at least two exit paths depending upon the outcome of the decision made. The decision is usually in form of
Boolean condition which can be evaluated to ether true or false. When a condition to true, the path marked
“true or yes” is followed. If the condition is false, the path for “false or no” is followed.

Connector Symbol

If a flowchart is too big to be accommodated on page, a connector symbol can be used to indicate the
continuation in another page. It is a circle with a number written inside it. If a flowchart is discontinued at
some point, a circle is drawn pointing away from the chart. Another circle with the same number inside is
placed where the flowchart is continued.

The following are some guidelines or rules that are very important when drawing flowcharts

 Only conventional flowchart symbols should be used.

 Arrows can be used to indicate the flow of control in the problem. However, flow lines should not
cross each other.
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 Processing logic should flow from top to bottom and from left to right.
 Words in the flowchart symbols should be common statements and easy to understand. These
should be independent of programming languages.
 Be consistent in using names and variables in the flowchart.
 If the flowchart becomes large and complex then connector symbols should be used to avoid crossing
of flow lines.
 Properly labeled connectors should be used to link the portions of the flowchart on different pages.
 Flowcharts should have start and stop points.

Advantages of Flowchart

i. Flowcharts guide or help programmer in writing the actual program.

ii. A flowchart is an excellent communication technique that explains the logic of a program to other
programmers.
iii. A flowchart is an important tool in the hands of programmers because it helps them to design test
cases (test data) for systematic testing of programs.
iv. Flowcharts are used as working models in designing new programs and software systems

Disadvantages

Some of the disadvantages of flowchart include:

i. The drawing of flowcharts is a very time-consuming process and laborious especially for large and
complex problems.
ii. It is very difficult to include any new step in the existing flowchart; redrawing of the flowchart is the
only solution and it is even more difficult and time consuming.
iii. If an algorithm has complex branches and loops, flowcharts become very difficult to draw.

Although flowcharts can be visually appealing, pseudo code is often the preferred choice for algorithm
development

3.6 Examples

This section presents example of problem which algorithm, pseudo code, and flowcharts can be written for
them.

Example 1

Write an algorithm to calculate the area of rectangle. Represent the algorithm in a flowchart.

Problem analysis

This problem requires the length and breadth of the rectangle to be specified. Hence it requires input. The
length and breadth can be integer or floating point numbers. So the output (area of the rectangle)should be
floating point number (to generalize the case).

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start

print “enter length”

input length
print “enter breadth”
input breadth

print “invalid input.

Length > 0 and N Please try again”
breadth >0

Y
area = length * breadth

print area

stop

Algorithm
1. Start
2. Print “please enter the length ”
3. input a number and assign it to a variable length
4. Print “please enter the breadth”
5. input a number and assign it to a variable breadth
6. If length is greater than 0 and breadth is greater than 0 do step 7, 8 and 9, else goto step 2.
7. Multiply length by breadth and assign the result to a variable area
8. Print area.
9. Stop
Pseudo code
Start
Print “please enter the length”
length = number entered by user
Print “please enter the breadth”
breadth = number entered by user
If length >0 and breadth >0
area = length * breadth
Print area.
else
Print “invalid input” and goto step 2.
endIf
Stop

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Example 2

Write an algorithm to find the average of positive integers from 1 to 20. (ie, 1,2,3,4,….., 20). Represent the
algorithm in aflowchart.

Problem analysis

This problem does not require any input.All that is needed is to have a variable initialized to 1 and then
continuously incrementthe variableuntil it reaches 20 while accumulating the sum.Theoutput should be a
floating point number.

Algorithm
1. Start
2. Declare a variable n and initialize it to 1(ie, number = 1)
3. Declare a variable sum and initialize it to 0 (ie, sum = 0)
4. Declare a variable average.
5. while n is less than or equal to 20, repeat steps 6 and 7, otherwise goto step 8
6. Add nto sum (sum = sum + n)
7. Increment n by 1 (ie, add 1 to n so that n will point to the next integer in the sequence)
8. Divide sum by 20 and assign the result to average.
Pseudo code
9. Print average start
10. Stop n=1
sum = 0
average
start repeat while n ≤ 20
sum = sum + n
n = n+ 1
n=1 end repeat
sum = 0 average = sum / 20
average print average
stop

n<= 20 N

Y
sum = sum + n
n=n+1

average= sum / 20

print average

stop

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Example 3

Given the following algorithm, draw a flowchart for it.

1. Start
2. Declare a variable FIRST_NUMBER
3. Declare a variable SECOND_NUMBER
4. Print “Enter First and Second number”
5. Input FIRST_NUMBER
6. Input SECOND_NUMBER
7. If FIRST_NUMBER <=SECOND_NUMBER, do steps 8 and 9, else do steps 10 and 11
8. DIFF = SECOND_NUMBER – FIRST_NUMBER
9. Print “The Difference btw the two numbers is: ” DIFF
10. SUM = SECOND_NUMBER + FIRST_NUMBER
11. Print “Sum of the two numbers is:” SUM
12. Stop
Pseudo code start
start
FIRST_NUMBER FISRT_NUMBER
SECOND_NUMBER
SECOND_NUMBER
Print “Enter First and Second number”
Input FIRST_NUMBER, Print Enter First and
second numbers
Input SECOND_NUMBER
IFFIRST_NUMBER≤ SECOND_NUMBER
Input FIRST_NUMBER
DIFF = SECOND_NUMBER - FIRST_NUMBER Input SECOND_NUMBER
Print (“The difference btw them is” DIFF)
else
SUM = SECOND_NUMBER + FIRST_NUMBER N FIRST_NUMBER<=
SECOND_NUMBER
Print (“The sum of them is” SUM)
EndIF
stop
Y
SUM = SECOND_NUMBER+FIRST_NUMBER DIFF = SECOND_NUMBER - FIRST_NUMBER

Print “The Sum of Print“Difference btw

them is” SUM them is” DIFF

stop

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EXERCISES

1. Write an algorithm or pseudo code that calculates area of a triangle and draw a flowchart for the
algorithm. Your algorithm should deny entry of any value less than 1.
2. Write an algorithm or pseudo code that display “Hello world” ten times, and represent the algorithm
in a flowchart.
3. Given the following algorithm
1. Start
2. Declare a variable N and assign 1 to it (ie, N=1).
3. While N is less than or equal to 10, do steps 4 and 5 and return to step 3, else go
to step 6
4. Print N
5. Increment N by 1(ie, N = N +1)
6. Stop

(a) Explain what the algorithm does.

(b) Draw the flowchart for the algorithm.

QBASIC

PREFACE
These notes are an introduction to computer programming using the language QBasic. The lecture note is prepared for
CS142 a 100 level undergraduate students and it is aimed to give you an idea of what programming is all about. If you
faithfully work your way through the note, you will learn how some of the gritty details that programming involves that add
up to the wonderful things called "programs." You will be able to write some simple programs yourself. Despite the fact that
these notes are about programming, but they do not try to make you a programmer. Their goal is to increase your
understanding of computers in the modern world. If you are thinking about becoming a programmer, studying these notes is
a good first step. However, these notes are aimed at students who are both computer science majors and those that are not. .
Introduction
Can you guise why it is called BASIC? I meant what do you suppose is the emphasis of the BASIC computer programming
language? The answer is simple; it is called BASIC because the language emphasizes the BASIC ideas found in all
programming languages. BASIC is an acronym, for– Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
The language BASIC was designed in the early 1960s for teaching the basic principles of programming to non-science
majors. It has been popular ever since. There are many versions of BASIC. These notes use QBasic; a Microsoft released a
version of 1985, it is a version that once came free with Microsoft operating systems. With QBasic you can easily write small
programs and get the idea of what programming is about. Other versions of BASIC are intended for professional
programmers who expect to write programs that are many thousands of lines long. Our programs will not get that long.
Lesson 1
Running Your First Program
 Before you can create a program in QBASIC, you need the QBASIC compiler.
 QBASIC compiler can be downloaded from the Internet
 QBASIC compiler has a startup window with blue background.
 The Startup window will normally request you to press optional keys to continue. Press the key that is appropriate.
QBasic on your Computer
 If your computer is running any variety of a Microsoft operating system, it can run QBasic.

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 If you are running a more recent operating system, click on the "Start" button.
o Click on "Run"
o In the "Open" box, enter CMD
o Click "OK" (or hit "Enter")
 When you get a window with the prompt, enter the command: qbasic then press the ENTER key.

Fig 1.0 QBASIC Translator Start Up Screen

First Sample Program
Enter the first sample code in the QBASIC compiler as follows:
REM First QBASIC Program
CLS
PRINT "Hello"
PRINT
PRINT “This is my first Program “
REM – End Program--
CLS

Fig 1.1 QBASIC compiler with code

 Press F5 to run the program OR from the menu bar, click Run then Start OR Press Shift + F5.
 You should now see a black screen as in fig 1.2 below

Fig 1.2 QBASIC Output Screen

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QBASIC Program Building Blocks

QBASIC programming language is made up of some fundamental building blocks which are treated as follows:

a. QBASIC Data Types there are various data types in QBASIC and can be classified into two major
categories:
(i.) Constants and
(ii.) Variables

Constant: Constants are numbers within a program whose values do not change.

 There are two classifications of constants namely:

(i.) Numerical constants: This comprises of Integer Constants and Real Constants.
(ii.) String Constants

Constant Declaration
 To declare constants of any type (integer, real or string), the keyword used in QBasci is CONST.
 Constants can be declared as simply a value or with a descriptive name:
E.g.
CONST CourseUnit = 4.0
CONST CGPA = 4.49
CONST CourseTitle = “CS142”

Variable
Modern computers have a large amount of main memory (also called RAM). This memory is used for many things. When
you run a QBasic program, the statements of the program are stored in main memory. The data for the program also can be
stored in main memory. A variable in QBasic is a small amount of computer memory that has been given a name. You (the
programmer) think of the name you want to use. The QBasic system will use a section of main memory for that name. A
variable is like a small box that holds a value. The value in the variable can change (that is why it is called a variable). Here is
a program that uses a variable:

 A Variable in QBASIC is a small amount of computer memory that has been given a name. The location of a
variable in RAM is called the "address.”
 Variables enable your program to remember values from one program statement to the next.
 A variable is accessed by calling its name. Variable names can have a combination of letters and numbers

In algebra, what do you call symbols like "x" and "y”, as in 3x2 + 2y?

The Answer is: variables

Examples of variable names are:

- Y, num, VALUE, aBc, xyz123

Variable Declaration
There are two methods for variable declaration:

i. Explicit Declaration: Here, you explicitly declare the variable as a type. This is done by using the DIM statement.

The DIM statement is used to declare variables as follows:

DIM state AS STRING

DIM number AS INTEGER
DIM profit AS DOUBLE
DIM gpa AS SINGLE

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state = “Covenant University”
number = 324
profit = 34.987890287
gpa = 4.99
PRINT state
PRINT number, profit, gpa

Examples of declaration with these symbols are:

DIM count$ --- count is of String type
DIM count% --- count is of Integer type
DIM count& --- count is of Long type
DIM count! --- count is of Single Precision type
DIM count # -- count is of double Precision type
ii. Implicit declaration: With this method, you put a symbol after the variable name which is defined as representing
that type.
These symbols are:

$ -- String
% -- Integer
& -- Long
! -- Single
# -- Double

With these symbols, variables could be declared and defined with a single statement using the LET keyword.
E.g.
LET x$ = “QBASIC is cool!”
LET x% = 5
LET x& = 92,000
LET x! = 3.725
LET x # = 3.1417583294

Here is an example of a program that uses a variable:

' Program that uses a variable

'
LET NUM = 23.5
PRINT "The variable contains", NUM
END
When this program runs, the value 23.5 is placed in the variable NUM. Then the following is written to the monitor:

The variable contains 23.5

What do you think the following program will write to the monitor?
' Program with a variable
'
LET NUM = 53
PRINT "The variable contains", NUM
END
Answer:
The program prints: The variable contains 53

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Data Types in QBasic

Table 1.0 Data Types in QBASIC

Names for Variables

Remember that a variable is a small amount of computer memory that has been given a name. it can be given a name such as:
NUM, POUNDS, VALUE, MILE, SUM, CLASSES, AGE

Names for variables must be single words that the programmer picks. The names don't have to be real words, but it they
should wisely choose to help in understanding the program they are. Look over the following rules.

Rules for Variable Names

a. A variable is a small amount of computer memory that has been given a name.
b. The name is:
o up to 40 characters long,
o the first character must be A-Z, a-z,
o The rest of the characters must be A-Z, a-z, 0-9, or "."
o No spaces are allowed inside of a name.
c. You can't use a word that is already used for something else. (You can't use PRINT as a name of a variable.)
d. The last character of the name tells what type of data the memory holds:
o SUM% holds an integer (no decimal point)
o SUM& holds a potentially very big integer
o SUM holds a floating point number (can have a decimal point)
o SUM# holds a potentially very big floating point number
o SUM$ holds a string of characters
e. Different names mean different places in memory.
f. The last character is part of the name, (so SUM% and SUM are different variables.)
g. If two names differ only in upper and lower case characters, they are really the same name.

QUESTION :
Which of the following are OK names to use for a variable that will hold a floating point number?
SUM, GRAND TOTAL, MyValue, 16Candles, SUM23, YEAR%

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Answer:
o SUM --- OK (made up of correct characters, not too long)
o MyValue --- OK (upper and lower case letters can be used)
o SUM23 --- OK (digits can be used after the first letter)
o GRAND TOTAL --- BAD (no spaces allowed)
o 16Candles --- BAD (digits can't be used as first character)
o YEAR% --- BAD (last character % means this is an integer variable)

Case Differences in Variable Names

Look at the last rule again: If two names differ only in upper and lower case characters, they are really the same name in
Qbasic; meaning it is not case sensitive.
This means that:
VALUE , Value , value , vALuE : are really all the same name. In fact, if you try to use more than one of these
versions in your program, the QBasic system will change what you have typed so that only one version is used. Say that you
have typed in the following program:

' Attempt to use two versions of the same name

'
LET VALUE = 123
PRINT value

As soon as you move the cursor out of the PRINT statement the QBasic system will change your program:

' Attempt to use two versions of the same name

'
LET value = 123
PRINT value

QUESTION :
VALUE is the name of a variable. Which of the following name a different variable?

VALUES , value, VALU , vALUe, VALUE$, Value

Answer:

o VALUES --- different, because it ends with an S

o VALU --- different, because the final E is mission
o VALUE$ --- different, because the final $ means a character variable
o value --- same
o vALUe --- same
o Value --- same

When Memory is Found for Variables

The first time a variable is used in a program, the QBasic system finds memory for it. This is true for any statement, not just
the LET statement. If there is no other information, the system will put a zero into a number variable. Here is an example:
' Calculate Miles per Gallon (Buggy Version)
'
LET MILES = (45678.3 - 45149.6)
PRINT MILE / 12.5
END
The name MILE in the PRINT statement is the first time that variable name is seen. (MILES is a completely different name
as far as QBasic is concerned.) So the system finds memory for the new variable MILE, and, lacking any other information,
puts a zero into it. Now there are two variables in memory:

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MILES MILE

528.7 0

The arithmetic expression MILE / 12.5 will get the 0 from MILE and divide it by 12.5, resulting in 0. Finally the PRINT will
write to the monitor:
0
This is a bug, and hard to track down unless you carefully look at the spelling of each variable name in the program. If a
program you write mysteriously calculates an incorrect answer of zero, check the spelling of each variable!
QUESTION 11:
What do you think the following program will write to the monitor?
' Calculate Miles per Gallon (Buggy? or not?)
'
LET MILE = (45678.3 - 45149.6)
PRINT MILE# / 12.5
END
Answer:
The program will print:
0
This is because MILE and MILE# are two different names, for two different variables. MILE# was first used in the PRINT
statement, so that is when memory was found for it. It was initialized to zero, so it held a zero when the division MILE# /
12.5 was done.

Another QBASIC building Block is:

b. Some QBASIC Commands and Their Meanings

Commands tell QBASIC things to do as desired by the programmer. Commonly used QBASIC commands are treated as
follows:

i. INPUT Command
Syntax

INPUT list of variables

OR
INPUT “Prompting Message”, list of variables

ii. READ Command

Syntax

READ variable1, variable2, ... , variable n

.
.
DATA constant1, constant2, ..., constant n

iii. PRINT Command

Syntax
(i)
PRINT list of variables
OR
PRINT “Prompting Message”, list of variables

(ii)
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? list of variables
OR
? “Prompting Message”, list of variables

iv. LET Command

Syntax

LET Variable = Numeric value/String value

OR
LET Variable = Expression
The LET Statement
Look at this program that uses variable again:

' Program that uses a variable

'
LET NUM = 23.5
PRINT "The variable contains", NUM
END

In this program, NUM is a variable. The programmer chose the name NUM . When the program runs, several things
happen when the LET statement executes:
 Memory is reserved for the variable NUM
 The number 23.5 is stored in the variable

So after this statement has executed a section of memory named NUM holds 23.5:

NUM

23.5

After the first statement has executed, the second statement executes:
PRINT "The variable contains", NUM
The variable NUM already exists, so no more memory is reserved for it.
The PRINT statement does several things:
 It prints "The variable contains"
 It looks in the variable NUM for a number.
 It prints out the number it found.

So on the monitor you see: The variable contains 23.5

QUESTION:
What do you think the following program will write to the monitor?
' Program with a variable
'
LET VALUE = 2 + 3
PRINT "The result is", VALUE
END
Answer:
The program will print: The result is 5
Saving a Result
Look at this new program again:
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' Program with a variable
'
LET VALUE = 2 + 3
PRINT "The result is", VALUE
END

The first statement does several things:

1. Memory is reserved for the variable VALUE
2. A number is calculated: 2 + 3 = 5
3. The number 5 is stored in the variable.

The LET statement can be used with a variable to save the result of arithmetic. The value saved in the variable will stay there
until another statement changes it, or until the program stops running.

QUESTION 4:
What do you think the following program will write to the monitor?
' Saving a result in a variable
'
LET SUM = 1 + 2 + 3
PRINT "The sum is", SUM
END
Answer:
The program will print: The sum is 6

Exercise
Using LET and other relevant commands, write a QBASIC program that finds the area and perimeter of a triangle.

Another QBASIC building Block is:

c. QBASIC Standard Functions
Standard Functions: These are pre-written subprograms library provided in the compiler environment which allow the
programmer to use them without having to write code for certain tasks. It can be grouped into the following categories:
i.) Numeric Functions
ii.) String Functions
iii.) Graphic Functions
iv.) Sound Functions
v.) File Handling Functions

Numeric Functions
These are functions for mathematical calculations provided in the QBASIC compiler. Numeric functions take numbers as
arguments and returns a number as output. Some of these functions are:

ABS Function: returns the absolute value of a number.

Syntax

Num = ABS(signednumber)

The INPUT Statement

In this section you will learn about the QBasic INPUT statement. The INPUT statement gets data from the
computer keyboard.

Lectures Topics
o Input and Output in a computer system.
o INPUT statement.
o Prompting the user.

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o Entering number data.
o Using several INPUT statements.

Up until now in these notes, all the data a program uses have been part of the program itself. For example:
' Calculate Miles per Gallon
'
LET MILES = 45678.3 - 45149.6
LET GALLONS = 12.5
PRINT MILES / GALLONS
END

The data is the first odometer reading (45149.6), the second odometer reading (45678.3), and the number of gallons.

QUESTION:
Will this program do the same thing each time it is run?
Answer:
Yes.
Input Devices
Consider the program.
LET MILES = 45678.3 - 45149.6
LET GALLONS = 12.5
PRINT MILES / GALLONS
END

Every time you run the program it will do exactly the same thing. The next time you fill up your gas tank again, you
would have to change the program to calculate with the new values. The program is not very useful.
Most useful computer programs input data from various sources when they run. Input means data that comes from
outside the program. A program that does this can work with new data each time it is run.
Sources of Input Data
o The Keyboard
o A Hard Disk
o A Floppy Disk
o A Cd-Rom
o The Mouse
o A Video Camera
o An Audio Digitizer (Part Of A Sound Board)
o The Internet
o Hundreds Of Other Sources

For us, most data will come from the user of a program typing on the keyboard. Some sources of data (like audio
data) require special hardware. A piece of hardware that is a source of input to a computer program is called an
input device.

Output Devices
As they run, most computer programs output data to various places. In programming, output means data that the
program sends outside of itself to some device. For us, output mostly will go to the computer monitor.

Output can be sent to:

o The Monitor
o A Hard Disk
o A Diskette (Floppy Disk)
o The Printer
o A Sound Board
o The Internet

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o Hundreds Of Other Places
A piece of hardware that uses data from program is called an output device.

QUESTION:
Some devices are on the list of input devices and on the list of output devices. What were some of these devices?
Answer:
o a hard disk
o a diskette
o the Internet
I/O
The hard disk of a computer system is used for both Input to a program and Output from a program. Other devices
are exclusively input devices (such as the keyboard or mouse) or output devices (such as the printer and monitor.)
Input and Output are so important to a computer system that the abbreviation I/O is used. Any device which does
either input, output, or both is called an I/O device. The movement of data from or to such a device is often called
"I/O".

The INPUT Statement

QBasic uses the INPUT statement to input data from the keyboard. Here is a program that asks the user for a
number, then prints out that number times two:

' Double a Number

'
PRINT "Type a number" 'Ask the user for a number
INPUT NUMBER 'Get it from the keyboard, put it in NUMBER
PRINT NUMBER * 2 'Print the number times two.
END

Here is how this program looks in the QBasic window:

These statements will execute one by one in sequence. To run the program push "shift-F5" or use the menu "alt-R,
S" (as usual).

QUESTION:
What is the first thing the program writes to the monitor?
Answer:
Type a number

Running the Program

The first statement is an ordinary PRINT statement that writes a string to the monitor.

' Double a Number

'
PRINT "Type a number" 'Ask the user for a number
INPUT NUMBER 'Get it from the keyboard, put it in NUMBER
PRINT NUMBER * 2 'Print the number times two.
END
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Now the second statement INPUT NUMBER executes. The INPUT statement is used to get data from the
keyboard. It will:
o Print a question mark "?" to the screen.
o Wait until the user has typed in a number.
o Get the number when the user hits the "enter" key.
o Put the number in the variable NUMBER.

Just after this statement starts the monitor will look something like:
Type a number
?
The question mark came from the INPUT statement. The INPUT statement is waiting for the user (you) to type a
number. Say that you type 23. Now the monitor looks like:
Type a number
? 23
To enter the number, hit the enter key. The INPUT statement puts the 23 into the variable NUMBER. Next, the
PRINT statement executes.

QUESTION:
What will the monitor finally look like?
Answer:

The program has done both output and input. It output data to the monitor when it wrote "Type a number" and
the "?". It did input from the keyboard when it got the 23 and stored it in NUMBER. Then it did output again when
it wrote 46 to the monitor.
Now hit any key on the keyboard to switch back to the QBasic window from the DOS window.

Several Runs of the Program

You can run the program again, without making any change to it. (Push "shift-F5" to start each run.) You can enter
different data for each run. Here is an example of three runs of the program:

After each run of the program, push any key to return to the QBasic screen. The picture shows the DOS window
after the program was run three times.

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QUESTION:
Does the program work with floating point numbers?
Answer:
Yes. Floating point numbers are those with a decimal point, such as in the second run of the program. The variable
NUMBER can hold floating point values.

Variables with INPUT

The INPUT statement must use a variable as a place to put the data it gets. Remember that a variable is a small
amount of computer memory that has been given name. There is nothing special about the variable used with
INPUT. Here is the same program as before, except that it uses a different variable name. It will do exactly the same
thing as the first version.

' Double a Number

PRINT "Type a number" 'Ask the user for a number
INPUT MyData 'Get it from the keyboard, put it in MyData
PRINT MyData * 2 'Print twice the number.
END

The variable should be the correct type for the expected input. Remember that the last character of a variable name
indicates what the variable is expected to hold. For example, a variable VALUE# can potentially hold a very big
floating point number. A variable DATA% is expected to hold an integer (no decimal point). Here is a program that
does input of an integer:

' Integer Input

PRINT "Type an integer" 'Ask the user for an integer
INPUT DATA% 'Get it from the keyboard, put it in DATA%
PRINT DATA% * 2 'Print twice the number.
END

QUESTION:
Say that the user types 1.2 when the INPUT statement of this program asks for data. What will the monitor show
after the user hits "enter"?
Answer:
Type a number
? 1.2
2
The variable DATA% can only hold an integer, which cannot have a decimal point. The user typed 1.2, but only the
1 was put into the variable. (The 1.2 is said to have been truncated to 1). The 1 was then doubled, and 2 was
output.

Control Structure
Loops
Many machines do their work by using repeated motions, cycles. The engine in your car performs the same
motions over and over again as it burns gasoline to provide power. Electric motors are similar; they convert electric
power into spinning motion. Both of these machines are useful because they do the same things over and over and
can keep going as long as we want.

Computer programs, also, use cycles. Much of the usefulness of computer software comes from doing things in
cycles. In programming, cycles are called loops. When a program has a loop in it, some statements are done over
and over as long as is needed to get the work done. Most computer programs execute millions of program
statements each time they are used. Most of these statements are the same statements being executed over and over
many times. This section of the lesson discusses loops in QBasic.

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Lecture Topics:
o The DO ... LOOP
o Using CONTROL-BREAK to Exit a Loop.
o The Loop Body.
o Indenting Loop Bodies.
o Sequential Execution And Looping Combined.
o The SOUND Statement.

The DO and LOOP statements

Here is a program that uses a loop:
' Example of a loop
'
DO
PRINT "Type a number"
INPUT NUMBER
PRINT "6% of the number is", NUMBER * 0.06
LOOP
END
The DO statement marks the beginning of several statements that will be done again and again. The LOOP
statement marks the end of those statements. When this program runs this is what happens:
o The program starts with the DO statement. The DO shows the beginning of the loop.
o The first PRINT statement is executed and prints "Type a number".
o The INPUT statement is executed and gets a number to put in the variable NUMBER.
o Say that the user typed in 100.
o The second PRINT statement prints "6% of the number is" and then computes and prints six percent of
NUMBER.
o If the NUMBER is 100, the program will print "6% of the number is 6"
o The LOOP statement marks the end of the loop.
o At this point, the statements between DO and LOOP have each executed one time. They are
about to execute a second time.
QUESTION:
What does the monitor look like at this time?
Answer:
At this point the monitor looks like:
Type a number
? 100
6% of the number is 6
But we are not done, yet.
Same Statements, Executed Again
Here is the example program, again:
' Example of a loop
DO
PRINT "Type a number"
INPUT NUMBER
PRINT "6% of the number is", NUMBER * 0.06
LOOP
END
The statements between DO and LOOP have each been executed once. The variable NUMBER has the value 100
in it:

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NUMBER

100

Now the statements inside the loop start again with the first statement after DO:
o For a second time, the PRINT statement prints "Type a number".
o For a second time, the INPUT statement gets a number to put in the variable NUMBER.
o Say that the user typed in 50. The number 50 will replace what was previously in the variable.
o For a second time, the second PRINT statement prints "6% of the number is" and then computes and
prints 50 * 0.06.
o The LOOP statement marks the end of the loop.

At this point, variable NUMBER now has the new value of 50 in it:

NUMBER

50

The monitor now shows:

Type a number
? 100
6% of the number is 6
Type a number
? 50
6% of the number is 3

QUESTION:
What do you suppose happens next? Have the user enter the number 200.
Answer:
The statements inside the loop are executed a THIRD time:
o For the third time, the PRINT statement prints a prompt.
o For the third time, the INPUT statement gets a number to put in the variable NUMBER.
o Say that the user typed in 200. The number 200 will replace what was previously in the variable.
o For the third time, the second PRINT statement prints "6% of the number is" and then computes and
prints 200 * 0.06.
o The LOOP statement marks the end of the loop.
Ending the Loop
Now the monitor shows:
Type a number
? 100
6% of the number is 6
Type a number
? 50
6% of the number is 3
Type a number
? 200
6% of the number is 12

The variable NUMBER has the new value of 200 in it:

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NUMBER

200

The program will continue forever, performing the statements inside the DO ... LOOP again and again. If you run
this program, you will have to stop it, somehow. To stop the program, hit CONTROL-BREAK. (Hold down the key
marked "Ctrl" then tap the key marked "Break.")

QUESTION:
Why not just let the program run until it ends?
Answer:
The program will never end.

Brackets
Look again at the program:
' Example of a loop
DO
PRINT "Type a number"
INPUT NUMBER
PRINT "6% of the number is", NUMBER * 0.06
LOOP
END

The DO and the LOOP are matched like brackets ( ) or [ ]. The statements inside of them will be done over and
over, starting with the first enclosed statement and going on in sequence. You can have as many statements as you
need between DO and LOOP:

DO ' start of loop

' first statement to be repeated
' second statement to be repeated
' third statement to be repeated
'
'
' last statement to be repeated
LOOP ' end of loop
END

QUESTION:
Do you see anything in the DO or the LOOP statement that says how many times the statements between them are
to be repeated?
Answer:
No, neither the DO nor the LOOP (nor the statements between them) say how many times to repeat. The
statements between the DO and the LOOP will be repeated endlessly, or until the user hits CONTROL-BREAK.

A Loop Body
The statements between the DO and LOOP are called the body of the loop. So you can say that for the example
program, the loop body is repeated endlessly. Soon you will learn how to write loops that do not repeat endlessly.
Sometimes, however, endlessly repeating loops are useful.

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A Story Problem
Say that you are in charge of putting price tags on new merchandise in a clothing store. A new shipment of several
hundred items has just arrived. You have a list that tells you the wholesale price of each item. The markup in your
store is 50 percent, so the price tag should be 1.5 times the wholesale price. You would like a program that asks you
for the wholesale price of an item and then prints the retail price, and keeps doing that over and over (since you
have hundreds of items).

QUESTION :
In rough outline, what do you suppose the program looks like?
Click here for a .
Answer:
Here is a rough outline for the program:
DO
' ask the user for the wholesale price of an item
' get the price, put it in a variable
' compute and print out the retail price
LOOP
END
Loop Conditions
The DO WHILE statement acts like a "gate keeper" for the loop body: execution is allowed to enter the loop body only
when a certain condition is true. This chapter will discuss how that condition can be described.
Lesson Topics:
o Review of DO WHILE statements.
o The condition part of DO WHILE statements.
o Comparisons between numbers.
o Ending a loop with a Sentinel value.
o Examples of programs using sentinel values.
o General Scheme for DO WHILE loops with sentinels.
QUESTION:
(Review:) What is a loop condition?
Answer:
A loop condition is a test that is part of the DO WHILE statement.

Review of the DO WHILE statement

Look at the following program:
' Loop with a loop condition
'
LET COUNT = 0 'Statement 1
'
DO WHILE COUNT <= 5 'Statement 2
PRINT COUNT 'Statement 3
LET COUNT = COUNT + 1 'Statement 4
LOOP
END

Here the DO WHILE in statement 2 is the loop condition (the gate keeper). Execution enters the loop body only if
COUNT <= 5
That is, only if the number stored in COUNT is less than or equal to 5. Then statements 3 and 4 are executed, and then
LOOP sends execution back to the DO WHILE. The test COUNT <= 5 must be true every time the loop body starts to
execute.

QUESTION:
Say that Statement 4 has just changed COUNT to 5. Now the LOOP statement sends execution back to the DO WHILE.
Will the loop body execute again?

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Answer:
YES, because COUNT has a 5 stored in it, and:
COUNT <= 5
^
|
+----- holds a 5
is true because 5 is less than or equal to 5.

General form of the DO WHILE Statement

In general, the DO WHILE statement looks like this:
DO WHILE condition
. . . loop body . . .
LOOP
o The DO and the LOOP are brackets that mark the loop body.
o The WHILE condition lets execution enter (or re-enter) the loop body only if condition is true.
o condition is a test involving variables and numbers.

So far in these chapters the condition has tested if one number is less than or equal to another number. You can also test if
one number is LESS THAN another number:
COUNT < 5
This tests if COUNT is LESS THAN 5. Here is the program, slightly modified.
' Loop with LESS THAN test
'
LET COUNT = 0 'Statement 1
'
DO WHILE COUNT < 5 'Statement 2
PRINT COUNT 'Statement 3
LET COUNT = COUNT + 1 'Statement 4
LOOP
END

Now the DO WHILE lets execution into the loop body only if COUNT is less than (but not equal) to 5.

QUESTION:
Say that Statement 4 has just changed COUNT to 5. The LOOP statement sends execution back to the DO WHILE. Will
the loop body execute again?
Answer:
NO, because COUNT has a 5 stored in it, and:
COUNT < 5
^
|
+----- holds a 5
is FALSE because 5 is NOT less than 5.

Decision Making
In this section we will look at how computer programs make decisions based on numbers and variables. This is done with a
statement called the IF-THEN-ELSE statement. This is a very useful statement. It will be an important building block in
building up large programs.
Lesson Topics:
 Two-way Decisions.
 QBasic IF-THEN-ELSE statement.
 Outline of a two-way decision.
 Relational Expressions.

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 Relational Symbols.
 Example Programs.

QUESTION:
You are driving in your car and it starts to rain. The rain falls on your windshield and makes it hard to see. What should you
do with the windshield wipers?
Answer:
Turn the windshield wipers on.

Two-way Decisions
The windshield wipers are controlled with an ON-OFF switch. The decision to turn the switch on looks like this:

In this picture of a decision, you are supposed to start at the top, then follow the line to the question:
is it raining?
The answer to the question is either TRUE or FALSE.
o If the answer is TRUE,
o follow the line labeled TRUE,do the directions in the box "turn wipers on", follow the line to "continue"
o If the answer is FALSE
o follow the line labeled FALSE,
o do the directions in the box "turn wipers off", follow the line to "continue"

QUESTION:
How many ways can you go from "start" to "continue"?
Answer:
There are two paths through this chart.

QBasic Two-way Decision

The "windshield wiper" decision is a two-way decision (sometimes called a "true-false" decision.) It seems small, but in
programming very complicated decisions can be made up of many small decisions.

Here is a QBasic program that includes a two-way decision:

PRINT "Enter a Number"

INPUT NUMBER
IF NUMBER >= 0 THEN
PRINT "The number is zero or positive" ' true branch
ELSE
PRINT "The number is negative" ' false branch
END IF
PRINT "Bye" ' this statement is always done
END

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The words IF, THEN, ELSE, and END IF are brackets that divide the part of the program into two branches. The ELSE is
like a dividing line between the "true branch" and the "false branch".

 The IF statement always asks a question (usually about the number in a variable).
o The answer will be TRUE or FALSE.
 If the answer is TRUE only the true-branch is executed.
 If the answer is FALSE only the false-branch is executed.
 No matter which branch was chosen, execution continues with the statement after the END IF.

A two-way decision is like picking which of two roads to take to the same destination. The fork in the road is the IF
statement, and the two roads come together just after the END IF statement.

QUESTION:
The user runs the program and enters "12". What will the program print?
Answer:
Enter a number
? 12
The number is zero or positive.
Bye

The true branch was executed because the answer to the question NUMBER >= 0 was true.
The Program as a Chart
Here is the program again, done as a chart. Because the answer to the question was "true", the path on the left was done.

The "two-way split" of the program is easy to see in a two dimensional chart. It is harder to see this in a program.

QUESTION:
The user runs the program and enters "-5". What will the program print?
Answer:
Enter a number
? -5
The number is negative.
Bye
ONLY the FALSE branch was executed because the answer to the question NUMBER >= 0 was FALSE.
More than one Statement per Branch
Here is the program again with some added statements:
PRINT "Enter a Number"

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INPUT NUMBER
'
IF NUMBER >= 0 THEN
PRINT "The number is zero or positive" ' true branch
PRINT "Positive numbers are > 0" ' true branch
ELSE
PRINT "The number is negative" ' false branch
PRINT "Negative numbers are < 0" ' false branch
END IF
'
PRINT "Bye" ' this statement is always done
END

The statements in the true branch are executed when the question in the IF statement is TRUE. There can be as many
statements as you want in the true branch. The true branch consists of the statements between the IF statement and the ELSE
statement. Of course, the statements in the false branch are executed when the question in the IF statement is FALSE. There
can be as many statements as you want in the false branch. The false branch consists of the statements between the ELSE
statement and the END IF statement.

QUESTION:
In answer to the question, the user enters a 17. What will the new program print?
Answer:
Enter a number
? 17
The number is zero or positive
Positive numbers are > 0
Bye
The TRUE branch was executed because the answer to the question NUMBER >= 0 was TRUE. The true branch consists
of two statements this time.

Outline of a Two-way Decision

Here is how an outline of how to make a two-way decision:
... statements done before the decision
'
IF condition THEN
.... ' true branch
....
.... ' true branch
ELSE
.... ' false branch
....
.... ' false branch
END IF
'
... statements done after the branch comes back together
Here are some details:
 The IF condition THEN must be on one line.
 The condition compares variables and values.
o The statements in the true branch must be one per line.
o There can be as many statements in the true branch as you need.
 The ELSE statement must be by itself on a line.
o The statements in the false branch must be one per line.
o There can be as many statements in the false branch as you need.
 The END IF statement must be by itself on a line.
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The condition looks like the part of a DO WHILE condition statement that compares what is held in a variable with other
values. You can use the same comparisons: <, <=, =, and so on.

QUESTION:
Is the following program correct?
PRINT "Enter a Number"
INPUT NUMBER
'
IF NUMBER >= 0 THEN
PRINT "The square root is:", SQR( NUMBER )
ELSE PRINT "There is no square root"
PRINT "Run the program again."
END IF
'
PRINT "Bye"
END
Answer:
No. The ELSE statement must be alone on its line.

Keeping Branches Separate

The IF, THEN, ELSE, and END IF are like brackets that emphasize the parts of the two-way branch. The QBasic system
requires that you put the ELSE and END IF on their own lines to keep the true and false branches clear.
PRINT "Enter a Number"
INPUT NUMBER
'
IF NUMBER >= 0 THEN
PRINT "The square root is:", SQR( NUMBER )
ELSE PRINT "There is no square root" <---- Wrong!!!
PRINT "Run the program again."
END IF
'
PRINT "Bye"
END
So the above program is incorrect because the ELSE was not alone on its line.

QUESTION:
How would you fix the above program?
Answer:
PRINT "Enter a Number"
INPUT NUMBER
'
IF NUMBER >= 0 THEN
PRINT "The square root is:", SQR( NUMBER )
ELSE
PRINT "There is no square root"
PRINT "Run the program again."
END IF
'
PRINT "Bye"
END

In this program there are a different number of statements in the true branch than in the false branch. This is fine.

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