Chapter 1:  Computer Systems
Presentation slides for
Java Software Solutions
Foundations of Program Design
Third Edition
by John Lewis and William Loftus
Java Software Solutions is published by Addison-Wesley
Presentation slides are copyright 2002 by John Lewis and William Loftus. All rights reserved.
Instructors using the textbook may use and modify these slides for pedagogical purposes.

Focus of the Course
Object-Oriented Software Development
problem solving
program design, implementation, and testing
object-oriented concepts
classes
objects
interfaces
inheritance
polymorphism
graphics and Graphical User Interfaces
the Java programming language

Computer Systems
We first need to explore the fundamentals of computer processing
Chapter 1 focuses on:
components of a computer
how those components interact
how computers store and manipulate information
computer networks
the Internet and the World Wide Web
programming and programming languages
graphic systems

Hardware and Software
Hardware
the physical, tangible parts of a computer
keyboard, monitor, disks, wires, chips, etc.
Software
programs and data
a program is a series of instructions
A computer requires both hardware and software
Each is essentially useless without the other

CPU and Main Memory

Secondary Memory Devices

Input / Output Devices

Software Categories
Operating System
controls all machine activities
provides the user interface to the computer
manages resources such as the CPU and memory
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Unix, Linux, Mac OS
Application program
generic term for any other kind of software
word processors, missile control systems, games
Most operating systems and application programs have a graphical user interface (GUI)

Analog vs. Digital
There are two basic ways to store and manage data:
Analog
continuous, in direct proportion to the data represented
music on a record album - a needle rides on ridges in the grooves that are directly proportional to the voltages sent to the speaker
Digital
the information is broken down into pieces, and each piece is represented separately
music on a compact disc - the disc stores numbers representing specific voltage levels sampled at specific times

Digital Information
Computers store all information digitally:
numbers
text
graphics and images
video
audio
program instructions
In some way, all information is digitized - broken down into pieces and represented as numbers

Representing Text Digitally
For example, every character is stored as a number, including spaces, digits, and punctuation
Corresponding upper and lower case letters are separate characters

Binary Numbers
Once information is digitized, it is represented and stored in memory using the binary number system
A single binary digit (0 or 1) is called a bit
Devices that store and move information are cheaper and more reliable if they have to represent only two states
A single bit can represent two possible states, like a light bulb that is either on (1) or off (0)
Permutations of bits are used to store values

Bit Permutations

Bit Permutations
Each permutation can represent a particular item
There are 2N permutations of N bits
Therefore, N bits are needed to represent 2N unique items

A Computer Specification
Consider the following specification for a personal computer:
950 MHz Pentium 4 Processor
512 MB RAM
30 GB Hard Disk
CD-RW 24x / 10x / 40x
17” Video Display with 1280 x 1024 resolution
56 Kb/s Modem
What does it all mean?

Memory

Storing Information

Storage Capacity
Every memory device has a storage capacity, indicating the number of bytes it can hold
Capacities are expressed in various units:

Memory
Main memory is volatile  -  stored information is lost if the electric power is removed
Secondary memory devices are nonvolatile
Main memory and disks are direct access devices - information can be reached directly
The terms direct access and random access often are used interchangeably
A magnetic tape is a sequential access device since its data is arranged in a linear order  -  you must get by the intervening data in order to access other information

RAM vs. ROM
RAM  -  Random Access Memory (direct access)
ROM  -  Read-Only Memory
The terms RAM and main memory are basically interchangeable
ROM could be a set of memory chips, or a separate device, such as a CD ROM
Both RAM and ROM are random (direct) access devices!
RAM probably should be called Read-Write Memory

Compact Discs
A CD-ROM is portable read-only memory
A microscopic pit on a CD represents a binary 1 and a smooth area represents a binary 0
A low-intensity laser reflects strongly from a smooth area and weakly from a pit
A CD-Recordable (CD-R) drive can be used to write information to a CD once
A CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) can be erased and reused
The speed of a CD drive describes how fast it can write information to a CD-R (24x), a CD-RW (10x), and how fast it can read (40x)

DVDs
A DVD is the same size as a CD, but can store much more information
The format of a DVD stores more bits per square inch
A CD can store 650 MB, while a standard DVD can store 4.7 GB
A double sided DVD can store 9.4 GB
Other advanced techniques can bring the capacity up to 17.0 GB
There are various recordable DVD technologies – the market will determine which will dominate

The Central Processing Unit
A CPU is on a chip called a microprocessor
It continuously follows the fetch-decode-execute cycle:

The Central Processing Unit
The CPU contains:

The Central Processing Unit
The speed of a CPU is controlled by the system clock
The system clock generates an electronic pulse at regular intervals
The pulses coordinate the activities of the CPU
The speed is measured in megahertz (MHz)

Monitor
The size of a monitor (17") is measured diagonally, like a television screen
Most monitors these days have multimedia capabilities:  text, graphics, video, etc.
A monitor has a certain maximum resolution , indicating the number of picture elements, called pixels, that it can display (such as 1280 by 1024)
High resolution (more pixels) produces sharper pictures

Modem
Data transfer devices allow information to be sent and received between computers
Many computers include a modulator-demodulator or modem, which allows information to be moved across a telephone line
A data transfer device has a maximum data transfer rate
A modem, for instance, may have a data transfer rate of 56,000 bits per second (bps)

Networks
A network is two or more computers that are connected so that data and resources can be shared
Most computers are connected to some kind of network
Each computer has its own network address, which uniquely identifies it among the others
A file server is a network computer dedicated to storing programs and data that are shared among network users

Network Connections
Each computer in a network could be directly connected to every other computer in the network
These are called point-to-point connections

Network Connections
Most networks share a single communication line
Adding a new computer to the network is relatively easy

Local-Area Networks

Wide-Area Networks

The Internet
The Internet is a WAN which spans the entire planet
The word Internet comes from the term internetworking, which implies communication among networks
It started as a United States government project, sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) - originally it was called the ARPANET
The Internet grew quickly throughout the 1980s and 90s
Less than 600 computers were connected to the Internet in 1983;  by the year 2000 there were over 10 million

TCP/IP
A protocol is a set of rules that determine how things communicate with each other
The software which manages Internet communication follows a suite of protocols called TCP/IP
The Internet Protocol (IP) determines the format of the information as it is transferred
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) dictates how messages are reassembled and handles lost information

IP and Internet Addresses
Each computer on the Internet has a unique IP address, such as:
204.192.116.2
Most computers also have a unique Internet name, which also is referred to as an Internet address:
spencer.villanova.edu
kant.gestalt-llc.com
The first part indicates a particular computer (spencer)
The rest is the domain name, indicating the organization (villanova.edu)

Domain Names
The last part of each domain name, called a top-level domain (TLD) indicates the type of organization:

Domain Names
A domain name can have several parts
Unique domain names mean that multiple sites can have individual computers with the same local name
When used, an Internet address is translated to an IP address by software called the Domain Name System (DNS)
There is no one-to-one correspondence between the sections of an IP address and the sections of an Internet address

The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web allows many different types of information to be accessed using a common interface
A browser is a program which accesses and presents information
text, graphics, video, sound, audio, executable programs
A Web document usually contains links to other Web documents, creating a hypermedia environment
The term Web comes from the fact that information is not organized in a linear fashion

The World Wide Web
Web documents are often defined using the HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
Information on the Web is found using a Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
http://www.lycos.com
http://www.villanova.edu/webinfo/domains.html
ftp://java.sun.com/applets/animation.zip
A URL indicates a protocol (http), a domain, and possibly specific documents

Problem Solving
The purpose of writing a program is to solve a problem
The general steps in problem solving are:
Understand the problem
Dissect the problem into manageable pieces
Design a solution
Consider alternatives to the solution and refine it
Implement the solution
Test the solution and fix any problems that exist

Problem Solving
Many software projects fail because the developer didn't really understand the problem to be solved
We must avoid assumptions and clarify ambiguities
As problems and their solutions become larger, we must organize our development into manageable pieces
This technique is fundamental to software development
We will dissect our solutions into pieces called classes and objects, taking an object-oriented approach

Java
A programming language specifies the words and symbols that we can use to write a program
A programming language employs a set of rules that dictate how the words and symbols can be put together to form valid program statements
The Java programming language was created by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
It was introduced in 1995 and it's popularity has grown quickly since
It is an object-oriented language

Java Program Structure
In the Java programming language:
A program is made up of one or more classes
A class contains one or more methods
A method contains program statements
These terms will be explored in detail throughout the course
A Java application always contains a method called main
See Lincoln.java (page 30)

Java Program Structure

Java Program Structure

Comments
Comments in a program are called inline documentation
They should be included to explain the purpose of the program and describe processing steps
They do not affect how a program works
Java comments can take three forms:

Identifiers
Identifiers are the words a programmer uses in a program
An identifier can be made up of letters, digits, the underscore character ( _ ), and the dollar sign
Identifiers cannot begin with a digit
Java is case sensitive - Total, total, and TOTAL are different identifiers
By convention, Java programmers use different case styles for different types of identifiers, such as
title case for class names - Lincoln
upper case for constants - MAXIMUM

Identifiers
Sometimes we choose identifiers ourselves when writing a program (such as Lincoln)
Sometimes we are using another programmer's code, so we use the identifiers that they chose (such as println)
Often we use special identifiers called reserved words that already have a predefined meaning in the language
A reserved word cannot be used in any other way

Reserved Words
The Java reserved words:

White Space
Spaces, blank lines, and tabs are called white space
White space is used to separate words and symbols in a program
Extra white space is ignored
A valid Java program can be formatted in many ways
Programs should be formatted to enhance readability, using consistent indentation
See Lincoln2.java (page 37)
See Lincoln3.java (page 38)

Language Levels
There are four programming language levels:
machine language
assembly language
high-level language
fourth-generation language
Each type of CPU has its own specific machine language
The other levels were created to make it easier for a human being to read and write programs

Programming Languages
A program must be translated into machine language before it can be executed on a particular type of CPU
This can be accomplished in several ways
A compiler is a software tool which translates source code into a specific target language
Often, that target language is the machine language for a particular CPU type
The Java approach is somewhat different

Java Translation
The Java compiler translates Java source code into a special representation called bytecode
Java bytecode is not the machine language for any traditional CPU
Another software tool, called an interpreter, translates bytecode into machine language and executes it
Therefore the Java compiler is not tied to any particular machine
Java is considered to be architecture-neutral

Java Translation

Development Environments
There are many environments for developing Java software:
Sun Java Development Kit (JDK)
Sun Forte for Java
Borland JBuilder
MetroWerks CodeWarrior
Microsoft Visual J++
Symantec Café
Monash BlueJ
Though the details of these environments differ, the basic compilation and execution process is essentially the same

Syntax and Semantics
The syntax rules of a language define how we can put together symbols, reserved words, and identifiers to make a valid program
The semantics of a program statement define what that statement means (its purpose or role in a program)
A program that is syntactically correct is not necessarily logically (semantically) correct
A program will always do what we tell it to do, not what we meant to tell it to do

Errors
A program can have three types of errors
The compiler will find syntax errors and other basic problems (compile-time errors)
If compile-time errors exist, an executable version of the program is not created
A problem can occur during program execution, such as trying to divide by zero, which causes a program to terminate abnormally (run-time errors)
A program may run, but produce incorrect results, perhaps using an incorrect formula (logical errors)

Basic Program Development

Introduction to Graphics
The last one or two sections of each chapter of the textbook focus on graphical issues
Most computer programs have graphical components
A picture or drawing must be digitized for storage on a computer
A picture consists of pixels, and each pixel is stored separately

Representing Color
A black and white picture can be stored using one bit per pixel (0 = white and 1 = black)
A colored picture requires more information; there are several techniques for representing colors
For example, every color can be represented as a mixture of the three additive primary colors Red, Green, and Blue
In Java, each color is represented by three numbers between 0 and 255 that collectively are called an RGB value

Coordinate Systems
Each pixel can be identified using a two-dimensional coordinate system
When referring to a pixel in a Java program, we use a coordinate system with the origin in the top-left corner

Summary
Chapter 1 has focused on:
components of a computer
how those components interact
how computers store and manipulate information
computer networks
the Internet and the World Wide Web
programming and programming languages
graphic systems