COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
UNIT 6: User-Computer Interface
Introduction

A computer system consists of hardware and software. The computer hardware cannot perform
any task on its own. It needs to be instructed about the tasks to be performed. Software is a set of
programs that instructs the computer about the tasks to be performed. Software tells the
computer how the tasks are to be performed; hardware carries out these tasks. Different sets of
software can be loaded on the same hardware to perform different kinds of tasks. For example, a
user can use the same computer hardware for writing a report or for running a payroll program.
The components like monitor, keyboard, processor, and mouse, constitute the hardware.

Types of Software
Software can be broadly classified in two categories:

1. System Software, and

2. Application Software.

System software provides the basic functions that are performed by the computer. It is necessary
for the functioning of a computer. Application software is used by the users to perform specific
tasks. The user may choose the appropriate application software, for performing a specific task,
which provides the desired functionality. The system software interacts with hardware at one end
and with application software at the other end. The application software interacts with the system
software and the users of the computer. Figure 2 shows the hierarchy of software, hardware and
users.

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 Figure 2 Software hierarchy

System Software
System software provides basic functionality to the computer. System software is required for
the working of computer itself. The user of computer does not need to be aware about the
functioning of system software, while using the computer. For example, when you buy a
computer, the system software would also include different device drivers. When you request for
using any of the devices, the corresponding device driver software interacts with the hardware
device to perform the specified request. If the appropriate device driver for any device, say a
particular model of a printer, is installed on the computer, the user does not need to know about
the device driver, while printing on this printer.

The purposes of the system software are:

 To provide basic functionality to computer,

 To control computer hardware, and
 To act as an interface between user, application software and computer hardware.

On the basis of their functionality, system software may be broadly divided into two categories
(Figure 3) as follows—

System software for the management and functionality of computer relates to the
functioning of different components of the computer, like, processor, input and output
devices etc. System software is required for managing the operations performed by the
components of computer and the devices attached to the computer.

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 It provides support for various services, as requested by the application software.
Operating system, device drivers, and system utilities constitute the system software for
management of computer and its resources.

System software for the development of application software provides services required
for the development and execution of application software. System software provides the
software tools required for the development of application software. The programming
language software, translator software, loader, and linker are also categorized as system
software, and are required for the application software development.

Figure 3 System software

Operating System
Operating System (OS) is an important part of a computer. OS intermediates between the user of
a computer and the computer hardware. Different kinds of application software use specific
hardware resources of a computer like CPU, I/O devices and memory, as needed by the
application software. OS controls and coordinates the use of hardware among the different
application software and the users. It provides an interface that is convenient for the user to use,
and facilitates efficient operations of the computer system resources. The key functions of OS
are:

 It provides an environment in which users and application software can do work.

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  It manages different resources of the computer like the CPU time, memory space, file
storage, I/O devices etc. During the use of computer by other programs or users,
operating system manages various resources and allocates them whenever required,
efficiently.

 It controls the execution of different programs to prevent occurrence of error.

 It provides a convenient interface to the user in the form of commands and graphical
interface, which facilitates the use of computer.

Some available operating systems are Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS- DOS), Windows
7, Windows XP, Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Device Driver
A device driver acts as a translator between the hardware and the software that uses the devices.
In other words, it intermediates between the device and the software, in order to use the device.

Some devices that are commonly connected to the computer are—keyboard, mouse, hard disk,
printer, speakers, microphone, joystick, webcam, scanner, digital camera, and monitor. For
proper working of a device, its corresponding device driver must be installed on the computer.
For example, when we give a command to read data from the hard disk, the command is sent to
the hard disk driver and is translated to a form that the hard disk can understand. The device
driver software is typically supplied by the respective device manufacturers.

Programmers can write the higher-level application code independently of whatever specific
hardware devices it will ultimately use, because code and device can interface in a standard way,
regardless of the software superstructure, or of the underlying hardware. Each version of a
device, such as a printer, requires its own hardware-specific specialized commands. In contrast,
most applications instruct devices (such as a file to a printer) by means of high level generic
commands for the device, such as PRINTLN (print a line). The device-driver accepts these
generic high-level commands and breaks them into a series of low-level, device-specific
commands, as required by the device being driven.

Nowadays, the operating system comes preloaded with some commonly used device drivers, like
the device driver for mouse, webcam, and keyboard. The device drivers of these devices are pre-
installed on the computer, such that the operating system can automatically detect the device
when it is connected to the computer. Such devices are called plug and play devices. In case the
computer does not find the device driver, it prompts the user to insert the media (like a CD which
contains the corresponding device driver) provided along with the device.

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Most device manufacturers, host the device drivers for their devices on their companies’
websites; users can download the relevant driver and install it on their computer.

Each device has its own device driver. Whenever a new device is connected to a computer, its
device driver has to be loaded in the computer’s memory, to enable use of the device. When you
buy a new printer, you get the device driver CD with it. You must install the device driver on
your computer, to use the new printer. Each printer comes with its own device driver. If you
replace your old printer with a new model, you need to install the device driver for the new
printer.

Device drivers can be character or block device drivers. Character device drivers are for
character based devices like keyboard, which transfer data character by character. Block device
driver are for devices that transfer data as a block, like in hard disk.

System Utilities
System utility software is required for the maintenance of computer. System utilities are used for
supporting and enhancing the programs and the data in computer. Some system utilities may
come embedded with OS and others may be added later on. Some examples of system utilities
are:

 Anti-virus utility to scan computer for viruses.

 Data Compression utility to compress the files.
 Cryptographic utility to encrypt and decrypt files.
 Disk Compression utility to compress contents of a disk for increasing the capacity of a
disk.
 Disk Partitioning to divide a single drive into multiple logical drives. Each drive is then
treated as an individual drive and has its own file system.
 Disk Cleaners to find files that have not been used for a long time. It helps the user to
decide what to delete when the hard disk is full.
 Backup Utility to make a copy of all information stored on the disk. It also restores the
backed up contents in case of disk failure.
 System Profiling Utility provides detailed information about the software installed on the
computer and the hardware attached to it.
 Network Managers to check the computer network and to log events.

The system utilities on a computer working on Windows XP OS and Windows 7 can be viewed
by clicking <Start><All Programs><Accessories><System Tools>.

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Programming Languages
A Programming Language consists of a set of vocabulary and grammatical rules, to express the
computations and tasks that the computer has to perform. Programming languages are used to
write a program, which controls the behavior of computer, codify the algorithms precisely, or
enables the human-computer interface. Each language has a unique set of keywords (words that
it understands) and a special syntax for organizing program instructions. The programming
language should be understood, both by the programmer (who is writing the program) and the
computer. A computer understands the language of 0’s and 1’s, while the programmer is more
comfortable with English-like language. Programming Language usually refers to high-level
languages like COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN, C, C++, Java etc.

Programming languages fall into three categories (Figure 4):

 Machine Language is what the computer can understand but it is difficult for the
programmer to understand. Machine languages consist of numbers only. Each kind of
CPU has its own unique machine language.
 Assembly Language falls in between machine language and high-level language. They
are similar to machine language, but easier to program in, because they allow the
programmer to substitute names for numbers.
 High-level Language is easier to understand and use for the programmer but difficult for
the computer.

Figure 4 Programming Language Categories

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Regardless of the programming language used, the program needs to be converted into machine
language so that the computer can understand it. In order to do this a program is either compiled
or interpreted.

The choice of programming language for writing a program depends on the functionality
required from the program and the kind of program to be written. Machine languages and
assembly languages are also called low-level languages, and are generally used to write the
system software. Application software is usually written in high-level languages. The program
written in a programming language is also called the source code.

Machine Language

A program written in machine language is a collection of binary digits or bits that the computer
reads and interprets. It is a system of instructions and data executed directly by a computer’s
CPU. It is also referred to as machine code or object code. It is written as strings of 0’s and 1’s.
Some of the features of a program written in machine language are as follows:

 The computer can understand the programs written in machine language directly. No
translation of the program is needed Program written in machine language can be
executed very fast (Since no translation is required).
 Machine language is defined by the hardware of a computer. It depends on the type of the
processor or processor family that the computer uses, and is thus machine-dependent. A
machine-level program written on one computer may not work on another computer with
a different processor.
 Computers may also differ in other details, such as memory arrangement, operating
systems, and peripheral devices; because a program normally relies on such factors,
different computer may not run the same machine language program, even when the
same type of processor is used.
 Most machine-level instructions have one or more op-code fields which specify the basic
instruction type (such as arithmetic, logical, jump, etc), the actual operation (such as add
or compare), and some other fields.
 It is difficult to write a program in machine language as it has to be written in binary
code. For e.g., 00010001 11001001. Such programs are also difficult to modify.
 Since writing programs in machine language is very difficult, programs are hardly written
in machine language.

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Assembly Language

A program written in assembly language uses symbolic representation of machine codes needed
to program a particular processor (CPU) or processor family. This representation is usually
defined by the CPU manufacturer, and is based on abbreviations (called mnemonics) that help
the programmer remember individual instructions, registers, etc. Small, English-like
representation is used to write the program in assembly language. Some of the features of a
program written in assembly language are as follows:

 Assembly language programs are easier to write than the machine language programs,
since assembly language programs use short, English-like representation of machine
code. For e.g.:

ADD 2, 3

LOAD A

SUB A, B

 The program written in assembly language is the source code, which has to be converted
into machine code, also called object code, using translator software, namely, assembler.
 Each line of the assembly language program is converted into one or more lines of
machine code. Hence assembly language programs are also machine-dependent.
 Although assembly language programs use symbolic representation, they are still difficult
to write.
 Assembly language programs are generally written where the efficiency and the speed of
program are the critical issues, i.e. programs requiring high speed and efficiency.

High-level Language

A program in a high-level language is written in English-like language. Such languages hide the
details of CPU operations and are easily portable across computers. A high-level language
isolates the execution semantics of computer architecture from the specification of the program,
making the process of developing a program simpler and more understandable with respect to
assembly and machine level languages. Some of the features of a program written in high-level
language are as follows:

 Programs are easier to write, read or understand in high-level languages than in machine
language or assembly language. For example, a program written in C++ is easier to
understand than a machine language program.
 Programs written in high-level languages is the source code which is converted into the
object code (machine code) using translator software like interpreter or compiler.

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  A line of code in high-level program may correspond to more than one line of machine
code.
 Programs written in high-level languages are easily portable from one computer to
another.

Different Generations of Programming Languages

In addition to the categorization of programming languages into machine language, assembly

language, and high-level language, programming languages are also classified in terms of
generations in which they have evolved. Table 6.1 shows the classification of programming
languages based on generations.

Table 1 Generations of programming languages

First Generation Machine language

Second Generation Assembly language
Third Generation C, COBOL, Fortran, Pascal, C++, Java, ActiveX (Microsoft) etc.
Fourth Generation .NET (VB.NET, C#.NET etc.)
Scripting language (JavaScript, Microsoft FrontPage etc.)
Fifth Generation LISP, Prolog

Translator Software

Translator software is used to convert a program written in high-level language and assembly
language to a form that the computer can understand. Translator software converts a program
written in assembly language, and high-level language to a machine-level language program. The
translated program is called the object code. There are three different kind of translator software:

 Assembler,
 Compiler, and
 Interpreter.

Assembler converts a program written in assembly language to machine language. Compiler and
interpreter convert a program written in high-level language to machine language. Let’s now
discuss, briefly, the different kinds of translator software.

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Assembler

Assembly language is also referred to as a symbolic representation of the machine code.

Assembler is software that converts a program written in assembly language into machine code.
There is usually a one- to-one correspondence between simple assembly statements and machine
language instructions. The machine language is dependent on the processor architecture, though
computers are generally able to carry out the same functionality in different ways. Thus the
corresponding assembly language programs also differ for different computer architectures.

Compiler

A program written in a high-level language has to be converted to a language that the computer
can understand, i.e. binary form. Compiler is the software that translates the program written in a
high-level language to machine language. The program written in high-level language is referred
to as the source code and compiled program is referred as the object code. The object code is the
executable code, which can run as a stand-alone code. It does not require the compiler to be
present during execution. Each programming language has its own compiler. Some languages
that use a compiler are C++, COBOL, Pascal, and FORTRAN. In some languages, compilation
using the compiler and linking using the linker are required for creating the executable object
code.

The compilation process generally involves two parts—breaking down the source code into
small pieces and creating an intermediate representation, and, constructing the object code for
the intermediate representation. The compiler also reports syntax errors, if any, in the source
code.

Interpreter

The purpose of interpreter is similar to that of a compiler. The interpreter is used to convert the
high-level language program into computer- understandable form. However, the interpreter
functions in a different way than a compiler. Interpreter performs line-by-line execution of the
source code during program execution. Interpreter reads the source code line-by- line, converts it
into machine understandable form, executes the line, and then proceeds to the next line. Some
languages that use an interpreter are BASIC and Python.

Difference between a Compiler and an Interpreter

Compiler and Interpreter are used to convert a program written in high-level language to
machine language; however, they work differently. The key differences between a compiler and
an interpreter are as follows:

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  Interpreter looks at a source code line-by-line. Compiler looks at the entire source code.
 Interpreter converts a line into machine executable form, executes the line, and proceeds
with the next line. Compiler converts the entire source code into object-code and creates
the object code. The object code is then executed by the user.
 For a given source code, once it is compiled, the object code is created. This object code
can be executed multiple number of times by the user. However, interpreter executes
line-by-line, so executing the program using an interpreter means that during each
execution, the source code is first interpreted and then executed.
 During execution of an object code, the compiler is not required. However, for
interpretation, both interpreter and the source code are required during execution
(because source code is interpreted during execution).
 Since interpreter interprets line-by-line, the interpreted code runs slower than the
compiled code.

Linker

Linker is a program that links several object modules and libraries to a single executable
program. A source code of a program is often very large consisting of several hundred or more
lines. The source code may also include reference to libraries. All these independent modules
may not be stored in a single object file. The code is broken down into many independent
modules for easy debugging and maintenance. Before execution of the program, these modules
and the required libraries are linked together using the linker software. The compiled and the
linked program are called the executable code.

Loader

The loader software is used to load and re-locate the executable program in the main memory.
Software has to be loaded into the main memory during execution. Loader assigns storage space
to the program in the main memory for execution. The java source file Sample.java is compiled
and converted into a set of bytecodes and are stored in Sample.class file. At runtime, the class
loader loads the bytecodes from the hard disk, checks it, and runs it in an interpreter. The
interpreter executes the bytecode and makes calls to the underlying hardware.

Application Software
The software that a user uses for accomplishing a specific task is the application software.
Application software may be a single program or a set of programs. A set of programs that are
written for a specific purpose and provide the required functionality is called software package.
Application software is written for different kinds of applications—graphics, word processors,
media players, database applications, telecommunication, accounting purposes etc.

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Some examples of application software packages are as follows:

 Word Processing Software: For writing letter, reports, documents etc. (e.g. MS-WORD).
 Image Processing Software: For assisting in drawing and manipulating graphics (e.g.
Adobe Photoshop).
 Accounting Software: For assisting in accounting information, salary, tax returns (Tally
software).
 Spreadsheet Software: Used for creating budget, tables etc. (e.g. MS- Excel).
 Presentation Software: To make presentations, slide shows (e.g. MS- PowerPoint)
 Suite of Software having Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation Software: Some
examples are MS-Office, Google Docs, Oracle LibreOffice, Apple iWork.
 CAD/CAM Software: To assist in architectural design. (E.g. AutoCAD, Autodesk)
 Geographic Information Systems: It captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents
data, images and maps that are linked to different locations. (e.g. ArcGIS)
 Web Browser Software: To access the World Wide Web to search documents, sounds,
images etc. (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome).

Software Acquisition
Different kinds of software are made available for use to users in different ways. The user may
have to purchase the software, can download for free from the Internet, or can get it bundled
along with the hardware. Nowadays with the advent of Cloud computing, many application
software are also available on the cloud for use through the Internet, e.g. Google Docs. The
different ways in which the software are made available to users are:

 Retail Software is off-the-shelf software sold in retail stores. It comes with printed
manuals and installation instructions. For example, Microsoft Windows operating system.
 OEM Software stands for “Original Equipment Manufacturer” software. It refers to
software which is sold, and bundled with hardware. Microsoft sells its operating system
as OEM software to hardware dealers. OEM software is sold at reduced price, without the
manuals, packaging and installation instructions. For example, Dell computers are sold
with the “Windows 7” OS pre-loaded on them.
 Demo Software is designed to demonstrate what a purchased version of the software is
capable of doing and provides a restricted set of features. To use the software, the user
must buy a fully-functional version.
 Shareware is a program that the user is allowed to try for free, for a specified period of
time, as defined in the license. It is downloadable from the Internet. When the trial period
ends, the software must be purchased or uninstalled.

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 Freeware is software that is free for personal use. It is downloadable from the Internet.
The commercial use of this software may require a paid license. The author of the
freeware software is the owner of the software, though others may use it for free. The
users abide by the license terms, where the user cannot make changes to it, or sell it to
someone else.

 Public Domain Software is free software. Unlike freeware, public domain software does
not have a copyright owner or license restrictions. The source code is publicly available
for anyone to use. Public domain software can be modified by the user.

 Open-Source Software is software whose source code is available and can be customized
and altered within the specified guidelines laid down by the creator. Unlike public
domain software, open-source software has restrictions on their use and modification,
redistribution limitations, and copyrights. Linux, Apache, Firefox, OpenOffice are some
examples of open-source software.

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